A Look at Patriotism: Rome and the USA

In neither Republican nor Imperial Rome were there equal rights for all citizens. To paraphrase what the pig said in Orwell's Animal Farm, some are (were) more equal than others. It is for that reason that the basic idea of patriotism really has to be judged not merely in terms of love of country, but in the country's respect for its citizens. Patriotism, as Livy saw it, was agreeing to the moral rightness of Rome's policies. Today, in America, we also tend to be judged as "patriots" when we agree and act as if our country were always morally superior.

Currently, as this essay is being written, the imminent threat of war is obvious. But, since September 11, 2001, the very idea of patriotism seems to hinge (according to our federal government0 on unswerving loyalty to that government.
Barely six weeks after September 11, 2001, The Congress and the President may have done more damage to our civil liberties and freedom than the terrorists who crashed the planes into the Pentagon and World Trade towers. "On October 26, 2001, President Bush signed the USA Patriot Act (USPAPA) into law. With this law we have given sweeping new powers to both domestic law enforcement and international intelligence agencies and have eliminated the checks and balances that previously gave courts the opportunity to ensure that these powers were not abused" (EFF 2001 1). In other words, patriotism- in the wake of threats by terrorists, meant not merely following the rules, but not making any waves.
There is one very interesting parallel in reading Livy and perusing the Patriot Act. In Livy: "After the guilty had paid the penalty, a notable example of a different nature was provided to act as a deterrent of crime, the informer was assigned a sum of money from the treasury…" (Livy 92). As for The Patriot Act in our generation, "this bill authorizes funds for the Attorney-General and Secretary of State to pay as rewards for "turning in" suspected terrorists who would be found guilty- rewards up to $250,000!" (EFPP 2001 2).