BARNEY MTHOMBOTHI: So you want to be a good patriot?
'The true lover of his country is ready to communicate his fears, and to sound alarm, whenever he perceives the approach of mischief. But he sounds no alarm, when there's no enemy'
Patriotism has not always had a good name. Much like religion, the highfalutin among us tend not to want anything to do with it. It's a thing for the lower classes, the humble souls who struggle to know what to do with their lives. They can go wave their flags for entertainment. That should keep them out of mischief. Blame it on Samuel Johnson, the Englishman who lived some three centuries ago. His pronouncement on patriotism is all that many people know about the subject."Patriotism," he said, "is the last refuge of a scoundrel." It's short, pithy and therefore unforgettable. The comment makes it sound as though patriotism is a bad thing. It's often thrown around almost as an insult or an indictment. But Johnson - described as "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history" in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - was apparently referring to what he regarded as false patriotism, or chest-thumping, flag-waving jingoism. An authority on the subject, he als...
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