PATRIOTISM
=Patriotism as a working principle.=--The vitalized school generates and
fosters patriotism, not merely as a sentiment, but more particularly as
a working principle. Patriotism has in it a modicum of sentiment, to be
sure, as do religion, education, the home, and civilization; but
sentiment alone does not constitute real or true patriotism. The man who
shouts for the flag but pursues a course of conduct that brings
discredit upon the name of his country, belies the sentiment that his
shouting would seem to express. The truly patriotic man feels that he
owes to his country and his race his whole self,--his mind, his time,
and his best efforts,--and the payment of this obligation spells life to
him. Thus he inevitably interprets patriotism in terms of industry,
economy, thrift, and the full conservation of time and energy, that he
may render a good account of his stewardship to his country.
=Spelling as patriotism.=--With this broad conception in mind the
teacher elevates patriotism to the rank of a motive and proceeds to
organize all the school activities in consonance with this conception.
Actuated by this high motive the pupils, in time, come to look upon
correct spelling not only as a comfort and a convenience, but also as a
form of patriotism in that it is an exponent of intelligent observation
and as such wins respect and commendation from people at home and people
abroad. Or, to put the case negatively, if we were all deficient in the
matter of spelling, the people of other lands would hold us up to
ridicule because of this defect; but if we are expert in the art of
spelling, they have greater respect for us and for our schools. Hence,
such a simple matter as spelling tends to invest the flag of our country
with better and fuller significance. Thus spelling becomes woven into
the life processes, not as a mere task of the school, but as a privilege
vouchsafed to every one who yearns to see his country win distinction.
=Patriotism a determining motive.=--In like manner the teacher runs the
entire gamut of school studies and shows how each one may become a
manifestation of patriotism. If she has her pupils exchange letters with
pupils in the schools of other countries, they see, at once, that their
spelling, their writing, and their composition will all be carefully
assessed in the formation of an estimate of ourselves and our schools.
It is evident, therefore, that the pupils will give forth their best
efforts in all these lines that the country they represent may appear to
the best advantage. In such an exercise the motive of patriotism will
far outweigh in importance the motive of grades. Besides, the letters
are written to real people about real life, and, hence, life and
patriotism become synonymous in their thinking, and all their school
work becomes more vital because of their patriotism.
=History.=--In the study of history, the pupils readily discover that
the men and women who have given distinction to their respective
countries have done so, in the main, by reason of their attainments in
science, in letters, and in statesmanship. They are led to think of
Goethals in the field of applied mathematics; of Burbank in the realm of
botany; of Edison in physics; of Scott and Burns in literature; of Max
Müller in philology; of Schliemann in archæology; of Washington and
Lincoln in the realm of statesmanship; and of Florence Nightingale and
Clara Barton in philanthropy. They discover that France deemed it an
honor to have Erasmus as her guest so long as he found it agreeable to
live in that country, and that many countries vied with one another in
claiming Homer as their own. Phillips Brooks was a patriot, not alone
because of his profession of love for his country, but because of what
he did that added luster to the name of his country.
=Efficiency.=--The study of physiology and hygiene affords a wide field
for the contemplation and practice of patriotic endeavor. The care of
the body is a patriotic exercise in that it promotes health and vigor,
and these underlie efficiency. Anything short of efficiency is
unpatriotic because it amounts to a subtraction from the possible best
that may be done to advance the interests of society. The shiftless man
is not a patriot, nor yet the man who enervates his body by practices
that render him less than efficient. The intemperate man may shout
lustily at sight of the flag, but his noise only proclaims his lack of
real patriotism. An honest day's work would redound far more to the
glory of his country than his noisy protestations. Seeing that behind
every deliberate action there lies a motive, the higher the motive the
more noble will be the action. If, then, we can achieve temperance
through the motive of patriotism, society will be the beneficiary, not
only of temperance itself, but also of many concomitant benefits.
=Temperance.=--Temperance may be induced, of course, through the motives
of economy, good health, and the like, but the motive of patriotism
includes all these and, therefore, stands at the summit. Waste, in
whatever form, is evermore unpatriotic. Conservation is patriotism,
whether of natural resources, human life, human energy, or time. The
intemperate man wastes his substance, his energies, his opportunities,
his self-respect, and his moral fiber. Very often, too, he becomes a
charge upon society and abrogates the right of his family to live
comfortably and agreeably. Hence, he must be accounted unpatriotic. If
all men in our country were such as he, our land would be derided by the
other nations of the world. He brings his country into disrepute instead
of glorifying it because he does less than his full share in
contributing to its well-being. He renders himself less than a typical
American and brings reproach upon his country instead of honor.
=Sanitation.=--One of the chief variants of the general subject of
physiology and hygiene is sanitation, and this, even yet, affords a
field for aggressive and constructive patriotism. Grime and crime go
hand in hand; but, as a people, we have been somewhat slow in our
recognition of this patent truth. Patriotism as well as charity should
begin at home, and the man who professes a love for his country should
make that part of his country which he calls his home so sanitary and so
attractive that it will attest the sincerity of his profession. If he
loves his country sincerely, he must love his back yard, and what he
really loves he will care for. It does him no credit to have the flag
floating above a home that proclaims his shiftlessness. His feeling for
sanitation, attractiveness, and right conditions as touching his own
home surroundings will expand until it includes his neighborhood, his
county, his State, and his entire country.
=A typical patriot.=--A typical patriot is the busy, intelligent,
frugal, cultured housewife whose home is her kingdom and who uses her
powers to make that kingdom glorious. She regrets neither the time nor
the effort that is required to make her home clean, artistic, and
comfortable. She places upon it the stamp of her character, industry,
and good taste. She supplies it with things that delight the senses and
point the way to culture. To such a home the crude and the bizarre are a
profanation. She administers her home as a sacred trust in the interests
of her family and never for exhibition purposes. Her home is an
expression of herself, and her children will carry into life the
standards that she inculcates through the agency of the home. Life is
better for the family and for the community because her home is what it
is, and, in consequence, her patriotism is far-reaching in its
influence. If all homes were such as this, our country would be
exploited as representing the highest plane of civilization the world
has yet attained. The vitalized teacher is constantly striving to have
this standard of home and home life become the standard of her pupils.
=Mulberry Bend.=--In striking contrast with this home are conditions in
Mulberry Bend, New York, as described by a writer thoroughly conversant
with conditions as they were until recently--conditions, however, now
much bettered: "These alleys, running from nowhere to nowhere, alongside
cellars where the light never enters and where nothing can live but
beast-men and beast-women and rats; behind foul rookeries where skulk
the murderer and the abandoned tramp; beside hideous plague-spots where
the stench is overpowering--Bottle Alley, where the rag-pickers pile
their bags of stinking stuff, and the Whyo Roost where evil-visaged
beings prowl about, hunting for prey; dozens of alleys winding in and
out and intersecting, so that the beast may slay his prey, and hide in
the jungle, and be safe; these foul alleys--who shall picture them, or
explore their depths, or describe their wretchedness and their
hideousness?... Upon the doorsteps weary mothers are nursing little
babies who will never know the meaning of innocent childhood, but will
be versed in the immoral lore of the Underworld before they learn their
alphabet. Ragged children covered with filth play about the pushcarts
and the horses in the street, while their mothers chatter in greasy
doorways, or shout from upper windows into the hordes below, or clatter
about creaky floors, preparing the foul mess of tainted edibles which
constitutes a meal."
With many other phases of this gruesome picture this author deals, and
then concludes with the following: "But in the rookeries which, like
their inmates, skulk and hide out of sight in the crowded street; in
these ramshackle structures which line the back alleys, and there breed
their human vermin amid dirt and rags--in these there is no direct
sunlight throughout the long year. Rookeries close to the front windows,
shutting out light and air, and rookeries close to the rear windows, and
rookeries close to each side, and never a breath of fresh air to
ventilate one of these holes wherein men and women and children wallow
in dirt, and live and fight and drink and die, and finally give way to
others of their kind." So long as such conditions as these continue in
our country, sanitation as a manifestation of patriotism will not have
done its perfect work, and the stars and stripes of our flag will lack
somewhat of their rightful luster.
=Patriotism in daily life.=--When the influences of hygiene and of home
economics, taught as life processes and not merely as prerequisites for
graduation, by teachers who regard them as forms of patriotism,--when
these influences have percolated to every nook and cranny of our
national life,--to the homes, the streets and alleys, the farms, the
shops, the factories, and the mines, such conditions as these will
disappear, and we as a nation shall then have a clearer warrant for our
profession of patriotic interest in and devotion to the welfare of our
country as a whole. But so long as we can look upon insanitary
conditions without a shudder; so long as we permit dirt to breed disease
and crime; so long as we make our streams the dumping places for débris;
so long as we tolerate ugliness where beauty should obtain; and so long
as our homes and our farms betray the spirit of shiftlessness,--so long
shall we have occasion to blush when we look at our flag and confess our
dereliction of our high privilege of patriotism.
=The American restaurant.=--Perhaps no single detail of the customs that
obtain in our country impresses a cultivated foreigner more unfavorably
than the régime in our popular restaurants. The noise, the rattle and
clatter and bang, the raucous calling of orders, and the hurry and
confusion give him the impression that we are content to have feeding
places where we might have eating places. He regards all that he sees
and hears as being less than proper decorum, less than a high standard
of intelligence, less than refined cultivation, and less than agencies
that contribute to the graces of life. He marvels that we have not yet
attained the conception that partaking of food amounts to a gracious and
delightful ceremony rather than a gastronomic orgy. His surprise is not
limited to the people who administer these establishments, but extends
to the people who patronize them. He marvels that the patrons do not
seek out places where there is quiet, and serenity, and pleasing
decorum. He returns to his own land wondering if the noisy restaurant is
typical of American civilization. He may not know that the study of
domestic science in our schools has not had time to attain its full
fruition in the way of inculcating a lofty conception of life in the
dining room.
=Thrift as patriotism.=--Another important phase of patriotism is
thrift; and here, again, we have come short of realizing our
possibilities. There are far too many people who have failed to lay in
store against times of emergency, far too many who care only for to-day
with slight regard for to-morrow. Moreover, there are far too many who,
despite sound bodies, are dependents, contributing nothing to the
resources of society, but constantly preying upon those resources. There
are in our country not fewer than one hundred thousand tramps, and by
some the number has been estimated at a half-million. If this vast army
of dependents could be transferred to the ranks of producers, tilling
our fields, harvesting our crops, constructing our highways of travel,
redeeming our waste places, and beautifying our streams, life would be
far more agreeable both for them and for the rest of our people. They
would become self-supporting and so would win self-respect; they would
subtract their number from the number of those who live at public
expense; and they would make contributions to the general store. They
would thus relieve society of the incubus of their dependence, and
largely increase the number of our people who are self-supporting.
=Some contrasts.=--We are making some progress in the line of thrift
through our school savings and postal savings, but we have not yet
attained to a national conception of thrift as an element of patriotism.
This is one of the large yet inspiring privileges of the vitalized
school. Thrift is so intimately identified with life that they naturally
combine in our thinking, and we have only to reach the conception that
our mode of life is the measure of our patriotism in order to realize
that thrift and patriotism are in large measure identical. The
industrious, frugal, thrifty man is patriotic; the unthrifty, lazy,
shiftless man is unpatriotic. The one ennobles and honors his country;
the other dishonors and degrades his country.
=Conclusion.=--If the foregoing conclusions are valid, and to every
thoughtful person they must seem well-nigh axiomatic, then the school
has a wide field of usefulness in the way of inculcating a loftier and
broader conception of patriotism. The teacher who worthily fills her
place in the vitalized school will give the boys and girls in her care
such a conception of patriotism as will give direction, potency, and
significance to every school activity and lift these activities out of
the realm of drudgery into the realm of privilege. Her pupils will be
made to feel that what they are doing for themselves, their school, and
their homes, they are doing for the honor and glory of their country.
QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES
1. In what ways and to what extent should patriotism affect conduct?
2. Indicate methods in which patriotism may be used as an incentive to
excel in the different branches of study.
3. What branches of study should have for their sole function to
stimulate the growth of patriotism? Discuss methods and give instances.
4. Distinguish from patriotism each of the following counterfeits:
sectionalism; partisanship; nationalism; and jingoism. Should teachers
try to eradicate or sublimate these sentiments? How?
5. What should be the attitude of the teacher of history toward
Commodore Decatur's toast: "My country, may she always be in the right;
but right or wrong, my country"?
6. Cite recent history to prove that temperance and sanitation are
necessary for the realization of national victories and the perpetuation
of the common welfare.
7. Is the "Golden Rule" a vital principle of patriotism? Why?
8. How are culture and refinement related to patriotism? thrift?
9. Make a list of songs, poems, novels, paintings, and orations that are
characterized by lofty patriotic sentiments. Name some that are usually
regarded as patriotic but which are tainted with inferior sentiments.
10. Discuss the adaptability of these to the different periods of
youthful development and the methods whereby their appeal may be made
most effective.