What is a patriot?

Pikes Peak from the Garden of the Gods. Photo by Mark Gallagher, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.

(Pikes Peak in Colorado was the inspiration for the song America the Beautiful.)

According to the Miriam Webster online dictionary, a patriot is a person who loves and strongly supports or fights for his or her country. That means I’m a patriot.

I love my country, particularly its courageous survivors:

*the rolling hills and mountains not yet sheared off by mining companies, still there to be climbed with joy,

*the gracious ancient forests not yet cut down for logging or building, still there yielding shade and replenishing our air,

*the enticing hills and valleys, not yet torn apart through fracking, still home to countless flora and fauna to elate our eyes and ears,

*the lakes and rivers not yet polluted by ruthless despoilers, still gifting us with the foundation of life.

I strongly support my country, particularly

*our basic Constitutional structure, with its balance of powers, and basic rights and assurances–which include freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion but not a right to carry automatic weapons and multiple rounds of ammunition into schools and other public places,

*today’s Constitution, which, unlike its earliest version, recognizes that people of color and women are people too, but says nothing, I would argue, about corporations being people with human rights,

*the millions of my compatriots who speak out against the destruction of our environment and the corruption of our Constitution by a tiny power elite that can elect and buy many (but not all) politicians.

I fight for my country. I do that by

*speaking out against the warmongers, war profiteers, and destroyers of social justice

*contributing to many of the groups that fight to rescue what is left of our natural environment

*writing this blog.

Please join me in this form of patriotism.

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology

Don’t buy “dirty gold”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OWj1ZGn4uM

The desire for control of natural resources has been at the root of many wars—including imperialist wars in the Middle East and the global south.

How many Americans know that not just their cell phones but bombs and other deadly weapons use coltan extracted from mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)? Or that the past three years of deadly fighting in the DRC have resulted in the loss of three million lives?

And what have the militia been fighting each other for? Control of the rich mineral resources in DRC:

  • Richness that leaves most inhabitants in dire poverty
  • Riches in the form of gold on wrists and around necks
  • Riches in the form of weapons containing coltan
  • Riches made possible by the labor of women and children who work—and often die—in the mines.

As you think ahead to holiday giving, please don’t buy “dirty gold.”

To learn more about what makes coltan mining bloody, watch the video above.  To learn more about makes gold “dirty,” watch this video.

Even if you do not want to confront the inhumane mining processes that produce the gold for our jewelry and the coltan in our electronic devices and bombs, please learn more about the No Dirty Gold campaign and the Golden Rules for Responsible Mining (this link opens a pdf).

Surely there must be ways for people to pursue gift-giving and happiness without wasting countless lives in the process.

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology