Like Thomas Paine I’m a Citizen of the World
Patriotism Does More Harm Than Good
I didn’t grow up on a steady diet of patriotism.
My father was an evangelical, self-proclaimed latter-day prophet who rendered unto Caesar what was due but believed that war was evil. His convictions insisted that no follower of Jesus would pick up a gun and march with the godless into battle. He was a pacifist. He also didn’t believe he belonged to this country but rather was a citizen of a heavenly kingdom.
Although I left the church years ago, I’ve never been able to embrace patriotism as a noble ideal.
In fact, I feel more like a world citizen than someone bound by borders. And, although I don’t believe in an afterlife like my father did, I’m still a pacifist. I am always opposed to the next war. In my lifetime, all wars have proven to be mistakes and lies. They were undeclared wars that went on for decades with no clear victors. I don’t feel a burning pride for America and would never encourage young people to join the military. Let their fathers go instead. No one younger than 30 should join the military; our brains aren’t fully developed until around age twenty-five.
So what would I rather see?
I’m more interested in developing conflict resolution skills and problem-solving strategies that push the evolution of society into a better future rather than maintain the violent tribal status quo. I live everywhere but nowhere and keep my eye out for free-thinking, creative individuals who refuse to stay cooped up in their cultural boxes or within the tight borders that limit our perspectives.
Patriotism is designed to give people false pride about something they don’t even own — a piece of this planet.
It’s not ours. It’s everybody’s, including the plants and animals that share this world with us. We don’t own anything, really. We’re borrowing, using, or abusing things, but in short order, we die and are gone, just like the ant crushed by a human shoe. Get people to swear allegiance to a country, and mark my words, moms and dads will next be asked to send their children packing straight into the next war. And they’ll do it, too. Every damn time. They won’t remember the lies of the last war because patriotism will cloud their judgment with fear and emotion, not logic. So they’ll willingly sacrifice their own sons and daughters to the forever wars.
I’m a proud non-patriot.
It wouldn’t matter where I lived in the world; I do not march to that drum. Yet, I care a lot about humanity. What I see when I scan the horizon for the enemy is people of all colors, nationalities, and religions struggling to survive, consumed by fear of change and unable to appreciate the power of collective endeavors. Whether it’s solving world problems or sharing bounty within a small community, humans insist on building walls rather than benefiting from the vast diversity that is this world.
Whether we want to admit it or not, diversity is life.
Take a look at this planet and the millions, and millions of plants and animals that are thriving. Take the time to marvel at and appreciate the immense diversity that lives side by side, commingling and contributing while literally making life possible.
They say we’ve entered the sixth mass extinction.
The effects of so many life forms going extinct will have grave consequences for our own existence. We need bees and butterflies, plants of all kinds, and animals of every size and description to flourish. We benefit from humans who speak different languages, have different customs, and live in faraway places. Their perspectives aren’t wrong, just different. They bring ideas to the table that may not occur to you and me because we’re looking at the problem from a completely different cultural level.
Step outside yourself for a few minutes and think big picture.
Bring the lens farther and farther out as you appreciate a wider view of what is and what may be possible. We need ideas — more ideas, not less. The more ideas we can contribute to the art of problem-solving, the better. Whether it’s our own problems or world challenges, these ideas and contrasting perspectives increase our chances of survival.
I’m often stunned at how little humans have progressed.
Technologically, we’ve been pretty impressive, especially in the last 200 years, but socially we’re still struggling. That’s a worry. We’re facing an existential crisis with climate change and diminishing resources. Now is not the time to be fighting wars. Now is the time to be collectively solving the challenging problems that the whole world is facing.
War may be our go-to method of trying to solve problems, but it’s a waste of resources and human life.
It always creates a host of new problems, often worse than the problems that caused us to go to war in the first place. In the meantime, human suffering is elevated to grotesque levels. Children are traumatized, and they, in turn, grow up to carry this legacy of pain and suffering and repeat the same mistakes of their parents.
With all the talk about the sanctity of life and how precious it is, we clearly don’t believe that.
Despite the vast number of believers in a god who forbids killing, we still slaughter mothers, daughters, fathers, sons, and even little babies while carrying a flag that we’ve been told we should be willing to lay down our lives for if called upon to do so.
Bull!
If we invested a third of the time and money that we pour into the war machine into developing problem-solving skills and methods of conflict resolution, we would change the world. Business as usual would cease to be a solution. Children would feel more secure growing up in a world where grown-ups actually acted like grown-ups.
We’d stand a much higher chance of not killing our own offspring.
Money could be poured into so many other things of value. Consequently, life would be better for more people. I had hoped that by the 21st century, humans would have evolved socially and that our technological advancements would be supporting a successful transition into a better world — a Star Trek world.
I’m still waiting.
Teresa is an author and professional myth buster. You can find her books on Amazon.
