Creating our own history

Travelling through the US, one of the most striking things has been Americans' passion for their country - its history, its stories and the genuinely democratic ideals it was founded upon.

Patriotism rolls naturally off the American tongue - and across the political spectrum, too. Love of America may have become synonymous with love of the Republican Party - and not unintentionally either - but Caroline Kennedy's A Patriot's Handbook sits alongside George Bush magnets in museum bookshops.

The problem is when the display becomes purely symbolic.

Americans of all walks of life may have marched in Washington on July 4, but exactly which United States and which values they were marching in support of wasn't clear. Their voices were drowned out by the trumpets and drums.

Code Pink, a grassroots women’s peace group, marched the same day calling for US troops to be brought home from Iraq. More than the giant Yankee Doodle balloons and high school baton twirlers, their demonstration was a living expression of independence, free speech and democracy.

Ironically but unsurprisingly, they were not permitted to join the parade and instead marched through the crowd alongside it.

What's inspiring about US patriotism isn't the blind love of country, but the commitment to shared values and dreams: a commitment which sometimes involves challenging your country to live up to those values and dreams.

So what might a productive Australian patriotism look like, beyond the occasional vulgar reference to the ill-defined "unAustralian"?

Part of it comes down to telling our own stories more often, through literature, film and whatever medium is available to us. The Australian woman in Boston was right about one thing - there is a sense that we have no history.

Changing that means telling and consuming our own stories. It means creators digging up what is interesting about Australia and the rest of us not automatically dismissing anything home grown. It also means creating the history of tomorrow; creating our own visions and narratives for Australian culture, not through drawn-out discussions that ultimately lead nowhere, but through our lived existence.

Queuing for 15 minutes to see the first Australian flag isn't our style - and let's hope it never is - but good patriotism is about more than just symbols. It's about believing that the stories and experiences of people in this country are worth being told.