How to exercise your patriotism and turn from extremism this Independence Day | Opinion

Extremism has our country by the throat on this Fourth of July. This is not a dramatization, just look at the political narrative.

If anything, the recent presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden was the bizarre, underwhelming and frightening first act to the political theater that has subsequently unfolded in less than a week.

The second act of this terrifying storyline is the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday that Trump cannot be prosecuted for any official acts taken when he was president. And remember that attempting to overturn his electoral loss in the 2020 election was among his acts. The decision seems to give Trump, and future presidents, the power to undermine our democracy. In Trump’s case, it would help him claim that attempting to sway a Georgia election official to give him the votes he needed to win the state or inciting an insurrection was just another part of his job.

And the subtle orchestra being played underneath this horror show is the 2025 Presidential Transition Project, commonly known as Project 2025, a plan created by conservatives that will dismantle and reconfigure the government.

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The project’s website shows that its extremist goal is to “rescue the country from the grip of the radical Left.”

This is not just a plan to execute during the next four years if Trump gets elected. This plan places our control under an authoritarian regime.

“It is not enough for conservatives to win elections,” Project 2025 said on its website. “With the right conservative policy recommendations and properly vetted and trained personnel to implement them, we will take back our government.”

Meanwhile, the Democrats are undermining the values of democracy by attempting to pressure Biden into giving up his bid to be re-elected to the presidency. There have been reports that party donors and activists were disappointed by Biden’s debate performance and have become more skeptical with polling showing a dip in support.

This melodramatic soap opera comes as the nation prepares to celebrate Independence Day, and the guiding words of our national identity that “all men are created equal.”

The only commonality that we seem to share is our channeling of extremist views.

Americans are familiar with extremism

Pro-Palestine protesters occupying universities across the country and pro-Trumpers blindly supporting a man who wants to act like a dictator from the Oval Office, have one thing in common: the need to be on the right side of history.

This produces a desire to worship one’s view while condemning the other, which is the basis for extremism. These exclusionary impulses disregard the foundational principles of our nation that sought to protect the rights of all, over the desires of some.

Our American history is filled with stories of when extremism almost engulfed our country. From the Civil War to the January 6th insurrection in 2021, the extremist views that said a human should be a slave and a tyrant should be our country’s leader, were fueled by the arrogant belief that some values mattered more than others.

American patriotism is at its best when it reflects the selflessness of freedom for someone to see an issue differently and to share in values that everyone might not.

This current story of American politics has been tarnished with the mindset of “getting your way.” One American’s success doesn’t have to mean the failure of another.

An us vs them mentality is ultimately self-defeating for our country.

But the question remains: What is patriotism?

What is patriotism?

I may have to surrender my Millenial membership card, but I think it means believing in the systems and institutions that have endured - not because they symbolize the status quo - but because they were framed and fought for by people who believed in them.

My ancestors fought for a better union and later they fought for Civil Rights. I am patriotic because their contributions will are a fabric of our nation.

Being an American isn’t supposed to be a cookie-cutter experience. We all have our differences, but what we all share is the privilege we have in freedom.

This Independence Day, let’s discard the extremism that causes us to see someone else as an “other” and reaffirm what makes us proud to be American.