Thoughts on Independence and Patriotism

I realize that, at its base, July 4th represents a bold moment in this country's history: The signing of the Declaration Of Independence. To bring something new to this day, aside from mindless flag-waving and hamburgers, I offer a distinction from a great historian:

On Patriotism

“While some people think that dissent is unpatriotic, I would argue that dissent is the highest form of patriotism.

In fact, if patriotism means being true to the principles for which your country is supposed to stand, then certainly the right to dissent is one of the those principles and if we’re exercising that right to dissent, it’s a patriotic act.

One of the great mistakes made in discussing patriotism --a very common mistake-- is to think that patriotism means support of your government. And that view of patriotism ignores the founding principles of the country expressed in the Declaration of Independence. That is: the Declaration of Independence makes it quite clear that governments are artificial creations set up to achieve certain ends – equality, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – and when the government becomes destructive of those ends [it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness]…”

- Howard Zinn