Steven B. Smith | Yale University Press | 2021

Reviewed by Rabbi Dr. Stu Halpern

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In Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes, Steven B. Smith sets out to navigate what has become a fraught concept recently. Smith, a professor of both political science and philosophy at Yale, argues that, unlike nationalism, which "cannot be separated from the desire for power, especially the desire to acquire power and prestige for one's own nation at the expense of others," patriotism is grounded upon the "higher truths" that America has long stood for: equality, the protection of individual rights, and liberty. While such values belong to all who might seek to implement them, patriotism in America also "is rooted in our history and collective memories, in the stories we tell ourselves as a people." Our rituals and symbols also hold particular patriotic value. The flag and Pledge of Allegiance, Smith writes, "may simply be ceremonial affirmations that over time become routine, but routines, such as standing when the ark containing the Torah is opened, are crucial reminders of something of incomparable worth and dignity." Smith argues for maintaining a "reasonable pluralism" in America. A healthy politics balances and adjudicates between competing groups, interests, and factions so that none get powerful enough to oppress others. Thus patriotism should not be about the "prideful self-assertion" of one group over another, but an immersion in the best of our collective history, literature, and political theory that allows for modesty and humility when engaging with opposing viewpoints. It should be a "patriotism of ideas," not "fantasies of blood and soil." And we should be modest as well when considering our country's failings. "Patriotism requires us not only to take justified pride in our country's accomplishments," Smith writes, but also to feel "justified moral shame at its shortcomings." Smith humorously quotes Tocqueville's complaint that Americans are too quick to moralize bombastically. The Frenchman lamented that there is "nothing more irritating in the habits of life than this irritable patriotism of the Americans." Citing Lincoln, Smith stresses that patriotism by definition cannot be exclusive to one people or race. "Lincoln's American republic," Smith writes, "is not defined by religion, race, or ethnic identity, but by the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence." In a volume that often invokes America's Hebraic origins, Smith concludes by noting that Americans are "a people of the book." We are meant to revere our beginnings, he argues, in which the Puritans "saw themselves as building a new Jerusalem in the wilderness." Our patriotism is meant to express loyalty as "gratitude to those who have helped us become who we are," a collective self-consciousness held together by what Lincoln called "the mystic chords of memory." To read more Straus Center book reviews, click here. You can learn more about the Straus Center and sign up for our newsletter here. Be sure to also like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Instagram and connect with us on LinkedIn.