Hatred is like darkness: The more there is, the less you can see. For this reason, the object of hatred is never perceived clearly, ever painted in a darker color than the most shadowy recesses of its soul. Anti-American wrath is no exception, either. Why, listening to the hate-America-first crowd, you’d think our country was Hell on Earth instead of the best land this side of Heaven.
The United States does have its defenders, though. And one of them, residing in The Boot (Italy), wants to give anti-Americanism the boot.
Michele San Pietro describes himself as “a sixty-year-old Italian who loves America.” He has visited our country five times, he says, a number that would be higher had his budget allowed.
Among other things, San Pietro appreciates our Constitution and that our political system has remained intact for almost 250 years. As for anti-Americanism, he notes that it’s present both in the U.S. and abroad.
An Irrational Hatred
The problem is worsening, too. As I reported recently, two in three Gen Zers believe America is an unfair society. Not surprisingly, 40 percent of them also claim our Founding Fathers “are better described as villains than heroes.” These are, do note, beliefs that correlate with anti-Americanism.
And San Pietro bemoans it. As he writes today at American Thinker, alluding to anti-Donald Trump sentiment:
No aversion toward a politician justifies an implacable hatred toward his or her country.
Unfortunately, we know what implacable hatred toward a people as such may cause. So any kind of such hatred should be avoided, because it’s a wrong and dangerous hatred.
… Nowadays you only have to look at the pages of Facebook (invented by an American) to realize how intolerable boorish anti-Americanism has become. It’s certainly a minority of degenerates, most of whom don’t know a thing about the United States, but because of that we should not underestimate the problem. Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile. Regrettably, such anti-American keyboard lions hardly ever find anyone who contradicts them. Even Americans don’t react a lot: the overwhelming majority of them love their country, but they know it’s far from perfect, and they tend to think it’s legitimate to criticize it.
We Can’t MAGA Unless We MARA
San Pietro is right about how even “good” Americans often fail to defend their country. In the least they’re confused, and sometimes cowed. This is incredible considering how much America has to recommend her. For example, San Pietro credits the U.S. with Italy’s freedom, and that’s a good place to start.
Being the sole possessor of atomic weapons in WWII’s wake, we could’ve conquered the world. Nazi Germany or the Soviets — and every or virtually every empire in history — surely would have.
We didn’t.
Instead, we spent money getting our former foes back on their feet and then let them spread their wings. It’s a striking departure from historical norms.
In fact, virtually every common anti-American rap is risible. We didn’t invent slavery but inherited it; then, along with other Western nations, we eliminated it. We didn’t originate human-rights abuses; we did develop the gold standard by which they could be identified as human-rights abuses. The list goes on, too, but I won’t. For the problem isn’t mainly a lack of facts but misguided feelings. And if we’re to MAGA, we must MARA: Make attitudes realistic again.
As to this, we should not defend America; that’s being defensive. Rather, we should mount an offense for America. For the “best defense is a good offense.”
Stop With the “Not Perfect” Business
One of the first steps could be to stop taking pains, as even San Pietro does, to emphasize that “America isn’t perfect.” Why? A story:
I used to spend much time with a couple of nephews. Since they were homeschooled back then and lived in the hinterlands, their parents and I (when I was around) were their whole world. Well, they had many questions, of course, as children will. And one day the older boy, about five at the time, posed one and I replied, “I don’t know.” He looked at me, startled, and said “Really?!” I was revered as omniscient, apparently.
Grown now, he takes for granted that Uncle Selwyn doesn’t know everything. It’s an adult characteristic to instinctively understand that nothing and nobody apart from God is perfect. It shouldn’t have to be mentioned. And what does stressing it imply?
Well, imagine you opened a speech about your mother with, “Now, we all know my mother isn’t perfect.” My, she must be quite the reprobate if that warrants emphasis.
The irony here is that it is the most imperfect among us, the most vice-ridden people, who hate America most. And to them we should quote Jesus:
First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
If you find a perfect country, don’t go there. For then it will cease being so.
True Patriotism
Another attitudinal truth relates to patriotism. And philosopher G.K. Chesterton addressed it while critiquing famed writer Rudyard Kipling’s patriotism, a quality the latter was known for. As Chesterton wrote in his 1905 book Heretics, Kipling
admires England, but he does not love her; for we admire things with reasons, but love them without reasons. He admires England because she is strong, not because she is English.
Obviously. If you love your mother, this doesn’t cease because she develops some serious problems, even if they’re moral failings. You may weep for her, though.
This brings us to our mother country. If we love America and want to increase the love for her, we need to make here more lovable. This starts, and ends, really, with cultivating virtue — i.e., “good moral habits” — in ourselves and encouraging it in others. (See the essay here or here.) A good start would be avoiding cursing and salaciousness, as vulgarity and sexualization are major problems today.
Also realize that it’s hard loving your nation if you don’t have a nation, but only a “country.” A nation is an extension of the tribe, itself an extension of the family. In other words, we must stop balkanizing ourselves via destructive immigration policy. This is the prudent thing to do — and Prudence is a virtue.
For that matter, so is Love. Love negates hate, too, and let this happen in you. For whether lovable or damnable, if you hate something, be assured: You’re probably not seeing it clearly.
