Last week, Time columnist and author Eric Liu visited Syracuse University to give the liberal argument for what patriotism should mean.

In his lecture, titled “The True Meaning of Patriotism,” Liu said that true patriotism is putting country over self, and that individualism hurts America.

He echoed sentiments from his 2007 book, “The True Patriot,” which advocated shared sacrifice and service to others as the essence of patriotism.

The truth is, these progressive principles are directly at odds with what true patriotism is.

The word “patriotism” may literally be defined as “love that people feel for their country,” but in America, that doesn’t mean love for the country’s government or citizens.

American patriotism is the belief in our founding principles and the willingness to defend them.

Progressive principles fuel the machine that works to take us away from our founding principles. To progressives, “progress” is that machine at work.

When progressives like Liu advocate country over self, they are advocating self-sacrifice for the good of the collective.

The country was founded upon the belief that man’s life and work belong to himself, but the progressive principle of collectivism holds that man’s life and work belong to the state, thus denying his most basic rights.

Of course, when progressives advocate self-sacrifice, it is not really self-sacrifice they are advocating.

Self-sacrifice, by definition, is the noble act of willingly giving up ones belongings in the hope of helping someone else or furthering a cause of their choosing.

When progressives advocate self-sacrifice, they are advocating the forcible removal of one’s belongings by the state, to be used at the state’s discretion — an act that is neither noble nor moral.

Progressive principles are steeped in irony, defined by a pessimistic view of the individual and an optimistic view of the state.

They do not trust the individual to care for his neighbor through genuine self-sacrifice, but trust the state to do so, even when it means violating the most basic rights of its subjects.

They do not trust the individual with a gun because of the violence he may cause, but trust the state with a monopoly over firearms and violence alike.

Whatever the circumstances, progressive principles fear the decisions made by the individual, and entrust the state to make the decisions on his or her behalf. America was founded on the importance of the individual, and on distrust for the decisions made by those in power.

Progressive principles aim to help those in need, to make the world safer and to give everyone a fair chance. They may have the best of intentions, but they have no basis in fact, outcome or most importantly, history.

Progressives justify their disregard for American founding principles by arguing that times change, and that the government must change with it.

Herein lies the ignorance of history: The Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights were not just an outline for the nation based on conditions during the colonial times.

These founding documents were the culmination of centuries worth of philosophy and knowledge. The principles they embodied were the results of lessons learned from the rise and fall of entire civilizations throughout the world.

These lessons from history mean nothing to progressives, who advocate the same policies that lead to the downfall of governments, and even to the deaths of millions of people at their government’s hand.

Economic conditions will always fluctuate. Technology will only continue to advance. The world will only continue to be more globalized.

One thing will always remain constant: the relationship between man and government.

Based on this relationship, our founding fathers blessed us with a system that worked then, and works now. Moving away from that system is not progress: It’s unpatriotic.

Nick Smith is a senior broadcast and digital journalism major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @Nick_X_Smith.

Published on October 28, 2013 at 1:15 am