“You see my kind of loyalty was loyalty to one’s country, not to its institutions or its officeholders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to.
Institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death.
To be loyal to rags, to shout for rags, to worship rags, to die for rags — that is a loyalty of unreason, it is pure animal; it belongs to monarchy, was invented by monarchy; let monarchy keep it.”
Mark Twain,
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about a song called Deutschland by the German rock band, Rammstein.
Deutschland is what the Germans call Germany in their native tongue. Judging from the title, then, the song may give you the impression that it is simply patriotic. But as you pay closer attention to the song, you may realize that it’s much more complicated than that.
The song expresses the band’s somewhat troubled relationship with their country. On one hand, they love their country, and are proud to be its natives. Undoubtedly, they have a deep attachment to their country, where they were born and raised and are still living in.
Yet, on the other hand, the band feels ashamed of their country’s dark past, especially the unimaginable crimes of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime. The song makes several references to Germany’s turbulent history, much of which is tainted with blood, and which perhaps, Germany hasn’t truly grown out of.
They wish to have an unconditional and undying love for their country, but they couldn’t help but admit that there are certain things about Germany that they “hate” and “damn”. Ultimately, they don’t know where they stand, as they couldn’t give their heart fully to that unconditional love that they wish to have.
“Germany,” as the song goes. “My heart in flames. Want to love you and damn you. Germany, your breath’s cold. So young, and yet so old. Germany…”
The song made me think about what it really means to be patriotic, or to love your country. Is it the same thing as loving its government? Does it mean never sounding your opinions about important issues? Does it mean not feeling any sense of discontent at all?
The way I see it, loving your country isn’t the same thing as loving its government. You can feel love and pride for your home country, and at the same time, feel dissatisfied or even ashamed with the actions of the present or past governments. Essentially, that’s where our hope lies in creating a better future for our country. That’s where we come in as artists, and act as the “antennae of the race” as poet Ezra Pound termed.
With this, then, criticizing our government would in fact be the most patriotic act that we can commit.
As historian Howard Zinn wrote in his essay Artists in Times of War, “We have to be honest about our country. If we are going to be anything, if there is anything an artist should be — if there is anything a citizen should be — it’s honest. We must be able to look at ourselves, to look at our country honestly and clearly. And just as we can examine the awful things that people do elsewhere, we have to be willing to examine the awful things that are done here by our government.”
In order for our country to get better, it’s essential to challenge your belief on what it means to be patriotic. It doesn’t mean being a yes-man or a lackey. It means being a thinking individual. It means being courageous enough to question the status quo where it is relevant. It means being an artist.
This land is your land, and this land is my land. This land was made for you and me.
Izzat Zailan 