Patriotism and “Heimatliebe

Yesterday I watched Mitt Romney’s lame speech as he announced his decision to drop out of the presidential race. Mitt declared that he "loved America" and had to sacrifice his presidential ambitions for the "good of the country, while it is at war".  If the opposing party would win, it would represent a "surrender to the terrorists" – implying that the Democrats hated America and are unpatriotic.

Patriotism is a sickness in America. It has infected every aspect of the national discourse, and has resulted in a disastrous, unnecessary war. Our commonwealth is threatened by a $600 billion military budget – dwarfing the combined defense budgets of all other countries in the world, while our nation’s infrastructure collapses and our schools are starved. Patriotism is a cancer on America’s soul.

Nicola Woolcock, writing in the London TImes, urges that children NOT be taught patriotism in British schools:

Patriotism should be avoided in school lessons because British history is
“morally ambiguous”, a leading educational body recommends.

History and citizenship lessons should stick to the bare facts rather than
encouraging loyalty to Britain when covering subjects such as the Second World
War or the British Empire, the Institute of Education researchers said. Teachers
should not instill pride in what they consider great moments of British history,
as more shameful episodes could be downplayed or excluded.[…]

“Countries are morally ambiguous entities: they are what they are by virtue
of their histories.”

The authors added: “It is hard to think of a national history free from the
blights of warmongering, imperialism, tyranny, injustice, slavery and
subjugation, or a national identity forged without recourse to exclusionary and
xenophobic stereotypes.”

I think Kurt Tucholsky had it right in his essay Heimat where he wrote about the difference between Patriotism and Heimatliebe ("Love of the Homeland"). The "Patriots", Tucholsky wrote, are militarists, who will bring only destruction to the nation:

Sie reißen den Mund auf und rufen: »Im Namen Deutschlands …!« Sie
rufen: »Wir lieben dieses Land, nur wir lieben es.« Es ist nicht wahr. (They (the Patriots) shout "In the name of Germany….!" They shout "We love this country, we are the only ones." It is not true.)

But for Tucholsky, it is those who raise critical voices, who reject patriotism, who truly love the Homeland:

Wir haben das Recht, Deutschland zu hassen — weil wir es lieben. Man
hat uns zu berücksichtigen, wenn man von Deutschland spricht, uns:
Kommunisten, junge Sozialisten, Pazifisten, Freiheitliebende aller
Grade; man hat uns mitzudenken, wenn »Deutschland« gedacht wird … wie
einfach, so zu tun, als bestehe Deutschland nur aus den nationalen
Verbänden. Deutschland ist ein gespaltenes Land. Ein Teil von ihm sind wir.“We have the right to hate Germany,
because we love it. When speaking of Germany, we should be taken into
account: we, Communists, young socialists, pacifists, freedom-lover of
all kinds… How easy it is to pretend as Germany is composed only of the
national associations. Germany is a divided country. We are part of It”.

But it was the "Patriots" who drove Kurt Tucholsky from the country he loved. He was driven to suicide a thousand miles from his Heimat. And the "Patriots" went on to destroy their own nation, and much of Europe as well.