European friends recently visited an NFL football game and marveled at America’s reverence for our national anthem. “This does not happen in Europe,” they said wistfully. But it should. Europe, in its fear of nationalism, has abandoned healthy patriotism.
At American sporting events, the talking quiets, people get up from their seats, baseball caps come off, for many a hand goes over their heart. It doesn’t matter the sporting level; at high school sporting events, it is sung. At every race I’ve run across the country, the last-minute stretching and bathroom runs settle down enough so that the anthem rings out over all participants. For NFL games, we have an expectation of the anthem being there. For stadium events, a massive flag is carried and held on the field during the national anthem.
Often, our military will take time from their duties to do a flyover of the stadium. It is a symbol of the comingling of the riches of American prosperity and security, thousands turning out to watch a sporting event for the sheer fun of it because we are free from fear, and the jets overhead reminding us that our military has the watch, and we can enjoy our hotdogs in peace.
Not so in Europe. Even our closest European cousins, the British, are no longer the same nation that once built up a reputation for their stoicism and a “stiff upper lip,” an ability to withstand pain and suffering, and not show that they were rattled. Perhaps not as defiant as their former colonies, the U.K., at least, had a culture of steely toughness that made it a worthy ally.
Obviously, modern Germany does not gloss over the horrors of WWII, but a nation that only ever dwells on its past sins will not thrive. At some point, Germany must still recognize that it is a people with a history of efficiency, strategy, and a hard work ethic. It still produces brilliant scientists and is capable of greater innovation than its regulatory state allows. Along with a reputation for sternness, it also has the joviality of Oktoberfest and Christmas markets, and many traditions that America has been blessed with through our German immigrants.
Italy and France have long been dominant in the arts and culture and food, but they too have had histories of military strength. Those past flames are but dim flickers today, but they should consider themselves to be the successors of that greatness, the way the United States recognizes our freedom is inherited from past generations, and must be preserved by each new generation.
Europe made a grave mistake in its unfettered immigration policy, leading to almost no cultural assimilation occurring among recent immigrants, and they are now seeing the consequences. The obsession of the New Right with “heritage Americans,” referring to those who have the longest history in the U.S., is contrary to our founding and our creed, because it is the culture that has drawn freedom-loving peoples to America. And U.S. immigration should continue to be intensely vetted, not because the U.S. sees no value in immigrants or believes new citizens are second-tier citizens, but because America wants to preserve a culture where hard work and freedom are valued. America is still the place where you can climb as high as your hard work, creativity, and tenacity can take you, regardless of skin color, gender, or ethnicity.
Our NATO allies are very fond of fawning over their “free healthcare” and view that as a pinnacle achievement. They’ve been sucked away from the strength of individualism in a patriotic nation into the comfort of a coddling government. A government program, though, is no cause for patriotism. But a country that withstood the might of Germany in WWII on its own is worth a hat tip, and the same country that gave the world Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Charles Dickens has a culture worthy of preserving and protecting. A nation that produced the Reformation and the Gutenberg press (what some say is the most important invention in the world) is worthy of defending.
France, in its understanding of preserving the world’s most beloved artwork and the richness and worthiness of a world that values beauty, must know that the love of beauty is worth arming up for. Europe must not view its contributions to the world as merely a gloried history, but as a legacy to build itself upon and decide that it should be strong enough to defend itself, with allies, hopefully, alone if necessary.
The United States sings our anthem everywhere because we are proud of our freedom; it has been hard-won over 250 years, and we have armed ourselves with innovation, military prowess, and freedom so that we may carry it on for another 250 years. Europe must similarly arm itself and recognize that its cultures and histories are worth that same defense.
Ali Holcomb is the Communications Advisor and a National Security Fellow for Advancing American Freedom.