Patriots and Whiners

A late night drive home on Rt. 13 through Virginia's Eastern Shore found me with earbuds jammed in tightly against the still of the dark and dreary night. I listened to one of my favorite podcasts to keep me alert.

It was a recent discussion on "Patriotism" (episode #724) by Clay Jenkinson as Thomas Jefferson, the host of The Thomas Jefferson Hour on WHRV, which caused my mental pause.

According to Clay's lifelong scholarly study, Jefferson supported dissent because he believed strongly that we, the people, should protect our rights to affect the direction of our country.

The First Amendment protects dissent. It is a self-check of the people by the people. While dissent oft times may be "over the top" and potentially includes obscenities, this exaggeration of our problems serves to force a look at our collective selves in the mirror. We may see something we don't like, but dissent allows us the candor to vocalize it and correct it.

Many quotes on patriotism were bandied about, but my favorite was this one from Mark Twain: "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it."

With this definition, I can definitely count myself as a patriot and a firm believer in dissent (i.e. to disagree, to differ in opinion) as well. While I'm fairly middle-of-the-road, I do love to play "Devil's advocate".


Hence, I am expressing my "dissent". I heard WHRV's Hearsay on 8/7, and one of the guests was hawking his book. Dick Meyer is the editorial director of NPR's digital media unit and writes about politics, culture and media for Web and print. His new book is Why We Hate Us: American Discontent in the New Millennium.

I strongly, STRONGLY disagree with his comments on my avocation and vocation, which is communication and marketing. Meyer whined that social networks are a "symptom" of the "loneliness" we Americans feel, of people looking for connections online when these connections are best made face-to-face. He's skeptical of "evangelists" (like me!) for virtual communities and communications, claiming that we're naive if we think these networks are helpful.

If it were not for social networks, I would not have met many of the people I now count as personal, face-to-face friends in Hampton Roads and beyond, including the lovely Janel Keen of Vivid Expressions, who, until today, was only one of my Facebook "virtual" friends.

In my experience, social media and networks serve as a conduit to "real" networking, not an excuse for avoiding personal connections. SM allows you to meet, learn about, become friends and do business with people you otherwise would never have the opportunity to meet.

I did like this quote from Mr. Meyer's book (I'm actually loving this one!):
A tribute quoted him (columnist Lars-Erik Nelson) as once saying, "The enemy isn't liberalism. The enemy isn't conservatism. The enemy is bullshit."

Hear! Hear!