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Matter of Opinion

The Complex Truth About American Patriotism

Matter of Opinion

New York Times Opinion

Society & Culture, Ross Douthat, News, New York Times, Journalism

4.27.2K Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2022

⏱️ 37 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

An American flag, football, the national anthem, “Make America Great Again” — all of these can be symbols of American patriotism, but to whom? In 2022, the notion of being a patriot is complex to say the least, and in a divided nation one might ask: Who gets to be called a patriot, and what does patriotism really mean in America? This week, Jane and her guests dig into how each of them feels about patriotism and how our two dominant political parties use the idea to their own ends. Ben Rhodes, former deputy national security adviser from 2009 to 2017, posits that a fundamental sense of patriotism still holds in America today. “This has always been about the story we tell about ourselves and that we don’t live up to,” Ben says. “I think patriotism is basically about the effort to live up to the better version of the story that America tells us about itself.” Jamelle Bouie is a columnist with Times Opinion and resists the idea that it’s possible to forge a unifying sense of patriotism across the country. America is simply too large and too diverse to unite on a baseline of meaning. Patriotism, he argues, rests at the individual level: “I think all you have to do is identify what are the things that are valuable to you? What are the things that are important to you? And you pursue them,” he says. What does patriotism mean to you? Would you call yourself a patriot? We want to hear from you. Share your thoughts in the comments on The New York Times website once you’ve listened to the debate.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Today on the argument, what does it actually mean to love your country?

0:09.0

I'm Jane Kostin and this week I'm Jerry Riggin, a makeshift recording studio at one of my

0:13.9

favorite places on earth.

0:17.1

Greetings from the University of Michigan.

0:19.8

I am using as a laptop stand.

0:22.4

It's selected works of marks and angles and marks is cup of tall.

0:26.4

So we've got more cues.

0:27.4

We've got some contien and imperative.

0:29.8

It's very, I feel very informed.

0:31.4

Very call it, yeah, very university.

0:33.6

And the settings are actually pretty fitting for the topic this week, which is kind of

0:37.8

heady.

0:38.8

See, I've been thinking about what Patriots is a means in 2022.

0:44.5

Maybe you think it's embodied by taking a knee during the national anthem or teaching

0:48.5

your kids about slavery in school or make America great again or none of those things.

0:54.4

We all have an idea about what's patriotic and what's not.

0:58.1

In case it's like the January 6th attack, our visions can be completely at odds.

1:03.0

I know this sounds like a conversation about feelings or semantics or fives, but what

1:08.2

you think patriotic means matters at the ballot box.

1:12.2

Patrioticism or performative patriotism as I would argue, you know, flag pins, can determine

1:17.5

how invested or alienated we feel about the direction of our country.

1:21.3

So today I'm diving into this idea with two political thinkers.

...

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