Thoughts About America on Memorial Day

What does it mean to honor those who have fallen in service to their country? That is the question I have been pondering today, how best to show appreciation for the sacrifices that have been made by those who came before us, not to mention the sacrifices being made every day by soldiers and veterans in Iraq and Afghanistan, and by their families and loved ones on the home front. It is fashionable today to be anti-American, especially among many liberals, who seem to favor self-loathing and hyper criticism to the flag waving bumper sticker patriotism of many conservatives. Personally I don't care for either stance, I think they are both oversimplifications of a complex, ever changing, and hard to define, diverse society. Like people, a nation consists of good and bad, sometimes doing things that make you proud, other times carrying out policies that make you cringe. So there is a danger in going overboard with the patriotic rhetoric, making ourselves out to be something we aren't, convincing ourselves that we are the chosen people and that everything we do is right simply by virtue of the fact that we have done it. This way of thinking is exemplified by the overconfidence we had in how we would be received after the invasion in Iraq, also by the notion that many had that success would come with relative ease. Let's face it, liberal Bush bashing over the mission accomplished speech is pretty easy now, but how many of us, whether we favored or opposed the invasion, were feeling pretty good about things when we saw Saddam's statue come down and when we saw the president giving his triumphant speech aboard the aircraft carrier. We often have an overinflated sense of who we are as a nation and what we can accomplish.

On the other hand, there are those who believe that America is an evil empire, imperialist pigs of the 21st century. There are many who believe that the only reason for the invasion was in order to get our hands on Iraqi oil, to enrich certain defense contractors, and because our president had a grudge to carry out in the name of his father. These same people can find sinister motives in almost everything that America is associated with, and who see our nation as selfish, greedy, and seemingly incapable of doing anything good in the world or in our own country. To this set, the flag-wavers are a bunch of ignorant simpletons who lack the ability to think for themselves, a bunch of blind sheep who go where they are told and never challenge authority. While to those who still believe in the flag and apple pie, the other group is a bunch of self-loathers, defeatists, who wouldn't sacrifice their individual privileges for the common good. They lack respect for God, country, and all that should be held sacred. Such is the state of our nation at this juncture, two seemingly polar opposites, one group that lives in the big cities, mostly on the coasts and drives BMW's while talking on their cell phones and sipping $5 lattes, the other a bunch of rednecks and hicks, living in the middle of the country, driving old pickup trucks with gun racks and a 12 pack of Budweiser at the ready on the passenger seat.

So back to the original question, how do we honor those who have fallen and sacrificed for the greater good, if we can't even agree upon what that greater good is, or whether or not this sacrifice is even worthy of being honored. Can we find common ground, are we less divided than many would have us believe, or are we hopelessly splintered, incapable of carrying on as a unified nation, having become so big and diverse as to be a number of different factions and splinter groups with no sense of the common good. The answer is, I don't know. In many ways this election is about whether we can come together and attempt a new kind of post-partisan politics under the leadership of a unifying force, or whether we will continue down the path of liberals and conservatives shouting each other down, red states versus blue states, rich versus poor, city versus country, white collar versus blue collar, young versus old, and so forth.

I suppose everyone has to answer these kinds of questions for themselves, so here goes my answer. I believe in America, I believe in our ideals as a nation, "conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal," as President Lincoln so eloquently waxed in his Gettysburg Address. We have not always lived up to those ideals, and most likely will continue to fall short in many ways, just as individuals don't always live up to the ideals that they profess for themselves. But there is something to be said for a nation that strives to such lofty ideals as freedom, justice, equality, and liberty, both at home and abroad, a nation that at least attempts and has made great sacrifices historically in order that the world be made safe for democracy. I believe that the people that make up this country are inherently and mostly good, despite the nativists, xenophobes, sexists, and racists in our midst. Most American people, as I would imagine most people throughout the world, are basically good and kind, and strive to be quality human beings, even if we often fall short of our goals. It is easy to be cynical, now more than ever. It is easy to give up on America, to suppose that the glory days are forever in the rear view mirror. It is much simpler to criticize and complain than to get into the arena and fight the good fight every day. But too many have sacrificed too much for us to simply throw in the towel because we hit a few bumps in the road. My generation really has no idea what tough times are, we've never been through a Great Depression, or a world war, or a civil war. So the only way I know how to honor the sacrifices of so many on this day is to simply think about what has been done and to appreciate the opportunities that I have, and that my children will have. To go about my business the best way I know how, to be a good father and husband, son, brother, and friend, to be a quality teacher, an honorable citizen, and the best person I know how to be. I'll continue to fall short, as will my country, but we'll keep on striving towards lofty ideals, so that, in the words of President Lincoln seven score and five years ago, "these dead will not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."