Showing Up for the Republic
A Reflection on Patriotism, Boy Scouts, Citizenship, and Civic Ritual
Ever since Jan 6th (yes, that Jan 6th), I have been thinking about “What does it mean to be a patriot?”
I am not talking about performative patriotism with its bumper stickers, slogans, & tribal costumes. I am interested in exploring the essence of patriotism. Today, it seems that patriotism has been conflated with loyalty. I.e., unless you express loyalty to a movement or a man (it is mostly men who demand this), you are then, by definition, not a patriot. And this seems to me, at least, to be a fundamental misunderstanding of what we need from patriots today. As Thomas Paine wrote in Rights of Man (1791), “The duty of a true patriot is to protect his country from its government.” This kind of patriotism is quieter and far more challenging. It presupposes shared ideals, loyalty to the republic and its people, all of them. It requires those who aspire to be patriots to show up differently.
Which brings me to yesterday.
A Living Lesson in Citizenship
I spent the day on the USS Hornet, a decommissioned aircraft carrier docked in Alameda. The Hornet had a significant role in WWII, patrolling the same oceans I cruised through on the USS Abraham Lincoln in the 1990s. My grandfather served on its sister ship, the Intrepid, in WWII, and when I walk the Hornet’s flight deck or go up in the tower I think of the few stories he told me about the gruesome battles he fought on board in the Pacific.
The Hornet is now a museum, as is the Intrepid (in NYC), and both are worth visiting if you can. We have taken our boys to the Hornet over the years for a multitude of events, including Memorial Day Celebrations and overnights with the Scouts.
Yesterday, I helped out as a merit badge counselor for two badges: Citizenship in the Nation and Citizenship in the Community. Over the course of eight hours, I worked with two groups of Scouts, and we talked about the founding documents (the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and the Bill of Rights). We read and analyzed several of the Constitution’s articles and amendments from the Bill of Rights, which led to a conversation about the definition of who and who was not considered a citizen in the original Constitution, the women’s suffrage movement, the civil rights movement, and where we stand today in terms of the role of all citizens in shaping our republic.
Throughout the day, I was conscious that we were having this conversation on the deck of a ship that once projected American power around the world and which has suffered incredible death and injury in the service of the republic's ideals. To that point, in her 27 years of service, the Hornet had 300 deaths from battles, accidents, and suicides. However, today, the real work of patriotism isn’t out there; it’s here, at home, and we need to invest in institutions like the Scouts to help educate our children.
During our time together, I was surprised to find that many of these kids had never read the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution before. I also realized that, for some, this may be the only time someone asks them to consider what it actually means to be a citizen in a democratic republic. I am not suggesting that I will have a significant impact on any of these young folks' worldviews during those 8 hours, but it did make me realize how important it is for us to be having these conversations with our children and that it's not happening in our schools.
Passing It Down
That realization stayed with me: if these conversations aren’t happening in our schools, then we have to find other places to have them. For our family, one of those places has been Scouting. I never made it far in the Boy Scouts. I was a Cub Scout for a while, but eventually drifted away. I had too many other things going on, and frankly, back then, I thought most Scouts were nerds. You were either into sports or you were into Scouting. But years later, as a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy, I met a lot of Eagle Scouts. They were some of the most capable, squared-away, and service-oriented people I’d ever known. I remember thinking: Maybe I missed something important.
Throughout my experience at the Naval Academy and then in the eight years I served on active duty, I came to understand patriotism not as a symbol or sentiment, but as a daily discipline. So when our boys were still young, I started looking into local Cub Scout troops. Dana, my wife, had real reservations. At the time, some of the Scouts’ national policies were badly out of step with our values. But she thought it was probably innocuous and was willing to give it a go. That decision impacted the next fifteen years of our lives. Both of our sons are now Eagle Scouts, and we could not be more proud. They have both turned into young men like the ones I met at the Naval Academy. They are gracious, kind, service-oriented, and have a deep respect for the republic.
The Flag and the Pledge: Symbols That Still Mean Something
Every Scout meeting begins with the Pledge of Allegiance. It’s ritualized, maybe even rote. But it’s also radical, if you stop and really consider the words:
One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
We don’t all agree. . . We’re not supposed to. The flag doesn’t symbolize unanimity — it symbolizes unity. The promise of a republic is not that we think the same way, but that we commit to work together despite our differences. Scouting, at its best, reflects that. It teaches civic literacy, public service, leadership, outdoor stewardship, and the habit of showing up. It’s not performative patriotism — it’s practiced citizenship. And that distinction matters more than ever.
The Patriot vs. The Loyalist
The American Revolution was sparked by a core philosophical divide: Are you loyal to a person, or to a principle? During our conversation on the Hornet, the Scouts and I discussed what it meant to be loyal to the crown/king or to a concept enshrined in a document like the Constitution. It feels to me that many people have forgotten that the term “patriot” originally meant someone loyal to the land of their fathers, not to the government of the day. In fact, the original “patriots” were the ones resisting a government. Today, that line has blurred. Some groups of people wave the flag while undermining the very ideals it represents, and others confuse loyalty to a party or personality with love of country. As Paine said in his quote above, real patriotism isn’t about submission; it’s about stewardship. It’s about understanding what that flag stands for and doing the work to keep the republic alive.
The Evolution of Patriotism in the American Story
That tension — between loyalty to power and loyalty to principle — didn’t end with the Revolution. In fact, it marked the beginning of a long and evolving conversation about what it means to be a patriot in America. Each era has reinterpreted the term in light of its own challenges, stretching and reshaping it to fit the crises of the moment. One thing has been true: the patriot’s role, it turns out, is not static. It has evolved over the past 250 years.
In the Revolutionary era, a patriot resisted tyranny (think Thomas Paine and others).
In the nation-building era, a patriot built institutions and culture (think Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt).
In the wartime era, a patriot fought external enemies (think FDR and Eisenhower).
In the civil rights era, a patriot demanded a truer fulfillment of the founding promises (think Martin Luther King).
Across these eras, the essence of patriotism has remained remarkably consistent: it is not obedience to the moment, but allegiance to enduring principles. As John Adams wrote to Abigail in 1775, “Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.” Which brings us to today. I think the role of the modern patriot is to protect the republic from apathy, disinformation, and decay — often from within.
How Patriotism Lives Today: Four Reflections
In other writing, I’ve used the four P’s framework (principle, policy, process, and practice) to think about what is happening and what we can do about it. I believe it can be effective when considering what modern patriotism might look like when rooted not in performance, but in responsibility.
Principle: What We Pledge Ourselves To
Patriotism begins with remembering what we’re actually loyal to, i.e., a set of ideals — liberty, justice, equality, and the rule of law—versus a man.
“The duty of a true patriot is to protect his country from its government.” — Thomas Paine, Rights of Man (1791)
That’s not rebellion. That’s responsibility.
Policy: Where Beliefs Meet Action
Policy is where principle begins to take shape in the real world. It’s the connective tissue between values and governance — how we decide what should be done, for whom, and at what cost. Engaging with policy doesn’t mean agreeing with a party platform; it means understanding the tradeoffs behind the laws and priorities that affect our lives. You don’t have to be an expert, but you do have to care enough to ask: Whose interests are being served? Whose voices are being heard?
Process: How the Republic Actually Works
If policy is what we argue about, then process is the system that makes the argument possible. It’s what the Constitution and the Bill of Rights brought to manifest. During the conversation with the Scouts, we talked about the 3 branches of government and how there was a deliberate design of institutions built to safeguard liberty even in conflict.
“True patriotism consists in the desire to serve one’s country and to live under its laws.” — Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws (1748)
Practice: How We Show Up
Ultimately, patriotism isn’t just what we believe — it’s what we do. It involves teaching, serving, listening, & VOTING. It is raising our kids to read history and ask hard questions. It also means helping a neighbor get to the polls or standing on the deck of an old aircraft carrier, handing middle schoolers copies of the Bill of Rights and inviting them to wrestle with what it all means. And that leads us to the work ahead.
The Work Ahead
As I discussed with the Scouts, citizenship carries obligations. We need to vote, pay attention, and understand how power operates and who it serves. As I have argued in other essays, our governmental “system” is imperfect, but it is still ours to shape. Being a citizen means that we should participate in the daily maintenance of the system. By contrast, I think patriotism asks for something more.
To paraphrase Paine again, true patriotism is a form of moral stewardship. It requires us to actively participate in the republic, not just enjoy its benefits. Patriotism doesn’t begin and end with a ballot; it is measured by how we show up, how we engage, and how we hold ourselves accountable for the country we leave behind. As Cicero warned during the slow collapse of the Roman Republic, “A nation can survive its fools... but it cannot survive treason from within.” (Paraphrasing his orations against Catiline, 63 BC.)
There is a nuance in Cicero’s warning that is relevant to today. It doesn’t just apply to dramatic acts of betrayal (e.g., January 6th); it applies equally to the quieter erosion of shared responsibility. Over the past 20 years-ish (with both parties in power) is a growing tendency to retreat into factions, to abandon the hard work of citizenship, to confuse loyalty to a person with fidelity to a principle. For me, Cicero’s quote hits uncomfortably close to home today. A republic cannot survive on symbols alone. We need patriots willing to stand and be counted. If citizenship is the foundation of that work, then patriotism — real patriotism — is the choice to keep building, even when it would be easier to ignore and go back to watching Netflix.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, and I am grateful you volunteered with the Scouts. I have a lot of ties to your essay, as an Eagle Scout, as the son of a Naval Aviator, as a certified SAR (Son of the American Revolution - genealogical verified lineage to soldiers who fought for our Independence), student of history, as one deeply concerned with policy, a political activist & appointee to US Congressman’s advisory councils, and key member of a US Senate campaign. I am also a self-described Patriot (a description with which you would appear to strongly disagree based on your essays).
You mention a little history of the USS Hornet but omitted a key highlight, one of the most daring raids ever attempted, one of the first “Joint” Army & Navy operations. Jimmy Doolittle (born in Alameda!) earned the Medal of Honor for courageously leading Army B-25 Mitchell bombers off the deck of the Hornet to hit Tokyo just 5 months after Pearl Harbor was attacked, with no way home for his aircrews. A symbolic mission of the highest risk, unconventionally creative, performed for love of country patriotism, to inspire others to follow and fight back.
You also dropped a mention of the USS Intrepid in NYC as another carrier museum worth visiting, but omitted the USS Midway museum in San Diego. Midway was the longest-serving aircraft carrier in the 20th century, named after the turning point battle of the Pacific Theater, and built in just 17 months. I want to note that it is also “a carrier museum worth visiting,” even better than Intrepid in my opinion after touring both several times.
Beyond carrier recommendations, I think your sense of fellow American citizens may need recalibration. You wrote “It feels to me that many people have forgotten that the term “patriot” originally meant someone loyal to the land of their fathers, not to the government of the day…Some groups of people wave the flag while undermining the very ideals it represents, and others confuse loyalty to a party or personality with love of country.” This “feeling” of yours seems quite superficial, and out of touch with most of the substantive reasons explained to me by people demonstrating affinity for a party or waving a flag. I would encourage anyone with these similar “feelings” to critically examine the “news” they consume, and to engage with folks to seek understanding rather than accept the manipulative headlines of proven propagandists and the soundbites of talking heads in echo chambers. I am continually astonished by the smugness of people who claim to know the motivations and rationale of others because they were told so by their preferred narrative-generators, and have not actually spoken to a person with a different perspective.
I applaud your concept that enemies of liberty and our Republic are “apathy, disinformation, and decay,” and I agree we must actively combat them. I take issue with your diction of “protect” as it implies centralized, top-down measures. Some well-meaning folks have already leapt on the censorship bandwagon in order to “protect” against disinformation, despite it being anathema to liberty and our inherent right of free expression.
I like your description of seeking unity vs unanimity, and we ought to acknowledge our systems allow us to debate and deliberate ideas, and even settle for being different in some ways with our dual sovereignty of states and freedom of maneuver amongst them.
I sincerely appreciate you putting thoughts to paper, and working to improve citizenship, and encouraging the asking of “hard questions.” One of the hardest questions is checking consistent application of principles or appearing inauthentic with double standards. Is it acceptable to wink at and overlook offenses in one person or party for which you want accountability and punishment for another? Is there tribal pressure to virtue signal to gain a sense of moral superiority, with limited understanding of various interests and interpretations, or worse, with willful ignorance of the complex context of an issue and misrepresentation of opposing views? The long-form dialogue of the Lincoln-Douglas debates may be making a comeback with the popular rise of many podcasts, helping to dive deep beyond soundbites and challenge myths, beliefs, and narratives. Perhaps your Substack and others’ comments will introduce new lenses to look at current events and history, and enlighten folks to different perspectives, the way letters from our Founders did.
Respectfully,
BV