“I chose the phrase ‘The Everyday Patriot’ as the title of this book for several reasons. The word ‘patriotism’ and its derivative ‘patriot’ have unfortunately become controversial in our time, due to primarily being misused. I’ve devoted my life as a public philosopher to reclaiming certain concepts like success, happiness, wisdom and virtue from various modern misunderstandings and bringing them back to their ancient and best meanings for our present and future. I hope to do that now with the idea of patriotism. …
Proper patriotism is an inner determination and commitment to act for the good of our country and all who live within it, together with an outer world pattern of ongoing action that delivers real value to the larger world. It’s a beneficial involvement in the life of our nation, with a lively concern for what we can contribute beyond its borders, in making our positive difference to the common good on however small or great a scale. ...
We’re angry about something and ill-disposed to others who don’t share our views. We marinate in irritation or even fury as we blame ‘those people’ for our troubles. And this has created a terrible unhealthiness in our nation that has to be overcome quickly and decisively by as many of us as possible. There are serious problems we need to solve, and if we don’t address them soon and create more positive ways forward for our collective endeavor here in America, we may lose the chance to do so at all. But that will require lots of us coming together in a committed mindset that wants to take healthy and crucial actions at all levels of our national life. We need to release whatever is holding us back, let go of the negatives that have sadly come to define our time, and enter into a new culture of positive patriotism throughout the land that’s based on the founding values and ideals of our distinctive nation. That’s what this book is all about, and how to do it together.”
~ Tom Morris from The Everyday Patriot
As you know if you’ve been following along, I love Tom Morris.
Tom has two PhDs from Yale—one in Philosophy and the other in Religious Studies. He taught at Notre Dame for fifteen years before becoming a public philosopher.
He’s one of my all-time favorite authors and at least tied for first as my favorite living philosopher. We’ve featured a number of his books thus far, including True Success, Plato’s Lemonade Stand, The Stoic Art of Living, Superheroes and Philosophy, and The Art of Achievement.
Over the last several years, I’ve gotten to know Tom personally and I consider him a dear friend and soul uncle. So, when he sent me a copy of this book, I read it immediately as I knew that he would provide an important philosophical frame to the current crisis we face as a nation divided.
The book is a simple collection of short essays in which Professor Morris challenges us to reconsider what it means to be a citizen and an “everyday patriot” in the modern world—committed to upholding the virtues of our highest ideals in our everyday lives.
I don’t talk about “politics” per se and I intend to continue to approach the subject from a non-partisan philosophical perspective. AND... This is a really important discussion. If you’d like to immerse yourself in his practical philosophical wisdom, you can get a copy of the book here.
For now, I’m excited to explore a handful of my favorite Big Ideas with more wisdom in less time that we can apply to our lives TODAY, so let’s jump straight in.
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