Visit A National Park, Monument, Or Historic Site This Summer To Show Your Support And Retain Your Sanity

Allow yourself to indulge in a passage from Timothy Snyder’s 2017 book “On Tyranny“:

What is patriotism? Let us begin with what patriotism is not. It is not patriotic to dodge the draft and to mock war heroes and their families. It is not patriotic to discriminate against active-duty members of the armed forces in one’s companies, or to campaign to keep disabled veterans away from one’s property. It is not patriotic to compare one’s search for sexual partners in New York with the military service in Vietnam that one has dodged. It is not patriotic to avoid paying taxes, especially when American working families do pay. It is not patriotic to ask those working, taxpaying American families to finance one’s own presidential campaign, and then to spend their contributions on one’s own companies. It is not patriotic to admire foreign dictators. …

I don’t think I have to explain to most of you whom that all applies to. Of course, since that book came out, you could add a million other things to the list, like, “It is not patriotic to send a mob of your supporters to storm the Capitol,” or “It is not patriotic to accept a free $400 million luxury jet that you get to keep after your term ends from a foreign government you previously described as ‘a funder of terrorism at a very high level.’”

Every day, some new outrage shows unequivocally that the president of the United States does not respect this country’s founding documents, does not care about those who sacrificed on its behalf, and disdains the working people who keep it running. You will drive yourself crazy trying to puzzle out how this guy’s supporters are the ones draping themselves in the flag and chanting “U.S.A.!”

So, what can you do? Yes, go to protests if you can. Yes, talk to your friends and relatives to the extent they retain any ability to listen. Yes, obviously, vote and volunteer. Still, you can’t do these things all the time, and on a lot of issues, the sad reality is that you can do absolutely nothing right now about the fascist morass we are all increasingly mired in.

I do have a suggestion though: make an extra effort this summer to visit a National Park, National Monument, or National Historic Site.

I have been to a lot of National Park Service sites all over the country, and I have never been disappointed. The NPS system is the envy of the world, and just about anyone will find something that will thrill them at every single NPS-managed site.

It is enjoyable to visit an NPS site, and we certainly all need a few enjoyable diversions to keep our sanity intact these days. Visiting an NPS site is about much more though than, say, a nice afternoon at the golf course or some fun retail therapy.

It is patriotic to learn about the history of this country. That surely includes the history that makes us great, though it just as surely means embracing the many imperfections evident in our collective past. It’s a distinctly American sort of pride to look upon the ugly parts of our history and to trace a path through the almost unimaginable progress made in correcting so many of them.

It is patriotic to marvel at the physical treasures spread across this land. A sunset eruption at Old Faithful will stir the heart of the most TikTok-addled teenager. An ancient saguaro towering overhead, mighty as any oak, will delight the most recalcitrant northerner. There is a reason the wanderings of those who’ve come to know America through the soles of their boots and at the end of a walking stick have become a literary genre.

Stand on the hill where Custer’s doomed men crouched behind their dead horses, close your eyes, and let the wind whip your hair. You’ll know America in a way no blabbering country song about sticking around your little town will ever teach you.

After engaging deeply with a few NPS sites, it’s hard not to become a truer patriot. That doesn’t mean a chanter of mindless campaign slogans or someone for whom the Stars and Stripes are a fashion accessory. It means being the type of person who broadly appreciates the long legacy of this country and is willing to defend the values we’ve long espoused but never fully lived up to.

Go out and visit an NPS site if you can this summer. It will be good for your state of mind, and NPS employees (those who remain) need some extra support at the moment. I know not everyone has money to spend, but a National Parks pass is inexpensive, and most NPS sites don’t charge an admission fee at all. There is usually cheap lodging available in or near NPS sites, and they are widespread enough that one isn’t too far away wherever you happen to be in America.

As for me, last month I was at Keweenaw National Historic Park. If all goes well, while you’re reading this I will either be at or have just visited Devils Tower, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, and Wind Cave National Park. Hope to see some of you out there.

Jonathan Wolf is a civil litigator and author of Your Debt-Free JD (affiliate link). He has taught legal writing, written for a wide variety of publications, and made it both his business and his pleasure to be financially and scientifically literate. Any views he expresses are probably pure gold, but are nonetheless solely his own and should not be attributed to any organization with which he is affiliated. He wouldn’t want to share the credit anyway. He can be reached at jon_wolf@hotmail.com.

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