The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1930-07-10
Patriotism and Supernationality

Can a man be a patriot and yet a friend Of world
peace and human progress? Can ne holo the eagle
in one hand and the olive branch OF Geneva In tne
other? Miss E. Ruth Pyrtle, president of the National
Education Association, believes that patriotism and an
international outlook are not incompatible. Indeed, a
man first must be a patriot to be internationally
minded.
"Can one be a good patriot, a good American cltl-
zen and vet think internationally? Is there not a
conflict between the national and the international?
I do not think so. On the contrary, only on the
sound foundation of national ideals, being a faithful
and loyal patriot, can one really begin to think on
international lines, or as I prefer to say, 'superna-
tionally.'"
Whether Miss Pyrtle is right or not depends en-
tirely upon ones conception Of what it is to be a
patriot. If one means by patriotism civic ideallsnl-
devotion 10 the highest good of a particular political
communicated one may, indeed, be a patriot ana
a friend of decency and justice on a world scale.
A man who is not decent at home will not be likely
to think decently about matters beyond his national
boundaries. The man who is devoted intelligently to
his homeland must of necessity take a ~statesmanlike
view of international affairs.
e recognizes, as did Immanual Kant, that the
good of any state is bound up with amicable rela-
tons with its neighbors and with freedom from the
expense and suffering Of organized warfare.
1QdJ we d 41lOCL A4oVAOA40 c1hUJ W40A
hundred percentism"-whic is the usual meaning
of patriotism in the schools-is a position that hardly
can be defended. The my country right or wrong"
psychology does not travel in the same company
with the common sense in international affairs.
The hundred percenter, while for his country
right or wrong, is sure that it always has been right.
He holds that the pacifist is a traitor st heart. He
believes that any man less conservative than the late
Judge Gary is Communist. anarchist and atheist.
Everything which savors of devotion to social JUS
tice ne holds to be subsidized by Moscow. Peace can
be secured only by preparedness to fight. We must
step softly, but carry a big stick" We must protect
ourselves from the pauperizing foreigners by an i'm
~pregnable tariff wall.
To our less developed neighbors we must execute
the white mans burden through the agency of the
marines. God is on our side in all disputes. The nag
and the cross are intertwined.
Almost anybody will admit that it would be hard
to reconcile such notions as the above with any de-
gree of internationalism. But many would say that
nobody holds such views-that we have been erect
ing a mythical man of straw.
Let the doubter read the bulletins of Harry lungs
American Military Intelligence Society and Vigilant
Protective Association, and of those societies which
use lungs material, such as the National Civic
Federation, the Better America Federation, the D
A. R, and the like. Even some of the pamphlets OF
the National Association of Manufacturers get dan
gerouSly close to such views.
But Miss Pyrtle is right in holding that interna-
tionalism must start at home. A sensible patriotism
leads inevitably to internationaliSm. The discerning
patriot realizes that no state can be safe in a condi-
ton of international anarchy.