Abstract

Contributions

The article presents views of some prominent personalities on the question of just what patriotism is and ought to be, invited by the journal "The Nation" in order to mark its 125th anniversary. Is there a patriotism that is not nationalistic? How does the historic internationalism of the liberal left relate to the concept of patriotism? According to constitutional lawyer Floyd Abrams, the left has always had a problem with patriotism. According to college teacher Walter Dean Burnham, patriotism at its best is the affirmation of certain essential human values that bond one individual to another, in what one might call a country-specific way. Patriotism at its worst is fetishistic idolatry, the worship of the tribe and hence of oneself. It is one of three great emotive expressions that mark modern history, the other two being the religion and socialist internationalism.