What Is Liberal Patriotism? Tell Me.

A call for submissions as America reaches 250.

Photo by Fernando Strabuli on Unsplash

I’ve been feeling oddly patriotic this week.

This is… unfamiliar. And it’s not because of the US government, the executive of which is toggling between losing a disastrous war of choice and throwing combination motocross / UFC fight / audience fist-fight 80th birthday parties on the White House lawn. It’s not because of the ongoing primary elections, where there are few candidates who genuinely excite me and where the Democratic Party seems to have no coherent case, let alone strategy. It’s definitely not because I’m watching billionaires (and now a trillionaire) reap the benefits of American generosity and innovation, and then use their largesse and influence to take food and medicine away from the poorest children in the world. It’s not because America is turning 250, and certainly not because Trump’s GOP has decided to polarize that, too. It’s not even because I am missing my New York City more than usual this week, although I am, and the vibes truly do seem immaculate.

It’s because of the World Cup.

Yeah sure there are Europeans eating American gas station nuggets and seeing their lives (and cholesterol) change. There has been the usual American cruelty and xenophobia, most notably in barring a Somali ref from coming to work a game. But there has largely been broad national hospitality — not just welcoming the stranger, but wearing his flag and inviting him to sleep on the cot in your basement if he’s in a pinch. There has been a pride in America’s diversity, our openness, our unpretentiousness.

Since Trump took office for the second time, conservatives, largely led by JD Vance, have made the case that America is not an idea but a homeland for a people. In their telling, “heritage Americans” — those who can trace their lineage back to America’s earliest settlers — are fundamentally more American than the rest of us. The implication is that others — immigrants, people who are not white, people who are not Christian — may be welcome in small numbers, but they should know their place, and they will always only be America-adjacent. I find this not just ideologically repugnant, but profoundly anti-American.

Liberals and leftists, though, have long struggled with the concept of patriotism (the opening scene in this Yoni Applebaum piece is a powerful example). And I also cringe at the word. But living abroad has also in so many ways made me feel more like an American than I ever did living in America (although to be honest I still identify as a New Yorker first). I can tell you all more about that later. But America the idea is particularly powerful when you understand that the ideas that make up America are not exactly globally embraced, and you find yourself living according to a different set of rules. My politics revolve around making America a better place. But I wouldn’t be so invested in doing that if I didn’t think the many good things about America make improvement possible.

So we don’t have to embrace “patriotism” the word, but I am curious about America the idea — your idea of what America is, and what America could be.

So: This is an open call for submissions from all of you, who I know are a thoughtful bunch (I also know many of you are writers, given how popular our annual Writing Practice is). If you’d like, send me your short essays on what actually makes America good. I’m not necessarily interested in big lofty ideological sweeps, but in specifics. When have you felt like your idea of America was illustrated or encapsulated? Tell me about details and particulars: an interaction with a stranger, a play you saw, a concert you attended, a trip you took, a book you read. A thing, a moment, an event.

To submit, just hit reply to this email, or send a note to jill@substack.com. I’ll pick a few to publish over the coming weeks. I look forward to hearing from you.

xx Jill