Van Jones is publishing a new book where he outlines his version of “cheap patriotism”:
Of course, it will not be easy to stop the dream killers. Tax policy that burdens working families and gives the biggest breaks to the super-rich has helped to keep more and more of our national wealth locked in the private safes of the top 1 percent. This alarming economic polarization, combined with the constant flow of good-paying jobs overseas, threatens to end our status as a middleclass nation. Too many of our big banks and largest corporations are behaving in a manner that is both irresponsible and unpatriotic. Their conduct makes it that much worse for the many patriotic and responsible businesses—especially small businesses—that follow the rules and provide good jobs to their employees.
Additionally, many well-intentioned people have been recruited into a powerful crusade—the Tea Party movement—that promises the American people economic relief by slashing taxes and taking a wrecking ball to America’s government. The impact of the Tea Party’s reckless policies would be to financially decimate our government, further dismantle America’s middle class, and strengthen the chokehold that the top 1 percent has on the economy. Nonetheless, the Tea Partiers effectively seized the public narrative in 2009 and congressional power in 2010, quelling the wave of hope generated by the 2008 election. They have succeeded at painting their agenda “red, white, and blue.” If we are to have an economy that works for the remaining 99 percent, this kind of “cheap patriotism” must be sidelined in favor of a “deep patriotism”—one that honors the accomplishments of our parents and grandparents. After all, they used the tools of both free enterprise and democratic government to build a society that sets the global standard.
I wonder where this avowed Communist read this term?
Cheap Grace and Cheap Patriotism
November 6, 2011
Dietrich Bonhoeffer sacrificed his life to show his obedience to God. He is also known for giving the world the concept of “cheap grace“:
“Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession…. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
Our churches today serve cheap grace and bow at the altar of the government for tax exempt status instead of costly grace. This concept can be extended to other facets of our lives but this article will concentrate on “cheap patriotism“.
“Cheap patriotism is the patriotism we bestow on ourselves. Cheap patriotism is the preaching of freedom without sacrificing our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor. Cheap patriotism is patriotism without discipline, morality, virtue, historical knowledge and faith.”
I will take my definition of cheap patriotism over the distortions put out by this disgraced Obama Green Jobs Czar. How’s that Green Revolution working out for the administration?
David DeGerolamo
