I am reclaiming the word “Patriot”
I voted early last week. And since then, I've been thinking about the word "patriot." Over my lifetime, I've watched that word be co-opted by a narrow group, and I don't want to hand it over to represent a small segment. To me, a patriot is someone who believes in the system enough to use it: who votes their conscience and respects the lawful result.
I was raised by people who respected my intelligence enough not to hand me their politics. They trusted me to look at the world and decide for myself. That was just one of their many quiet acts of patriotism.
As a child in the 1970s, I lived in West Germany. I'm not going to pretend that I was a hyper-aware child and understood the complexities of a divided nation 30 years removed from atrocities that should never have happened. But I remember learning about a wall dividing people, and I remember watching it come down ten years later. As an adult, I understand now the tensions I sensed then, and how small divisions can build walls.
Clichés endure for a reason. So I'll ask you: are you better off than you were two years ago? Ten? Look at your own family, your own vocation, your own community, since 2016. Are you happy where your country is headed? Worried? If you're worried, vote that way. If you're not, vote that way. I hope you reach the same conclusions I did, but more than that, I hope you think carefully, reach your own conclusions, and vote your conscience.
My career has been in public health, and I've seen how much careful, nonpartisan science can improve lives. That's one reason this election matters to me. In 2016 the US had just 86 reported cases of measles. (CDC) As of October 6, 2026, 2026 has seen 3,887. (CDC) Pennsylvania, the center of the outbreak, has reported five measles-associated deaths this year, including two infants, and the details of their deaths are gruesome. (PA Dept. of Health) People are still dying of measles, and they don't have to.
Your main issue may be different.
Maybe it's the 375,000+ federal workers who lost or left their jobs over the last two years. (NBC News)
Maybe it's the 37.18 million pounds of food recalled by the USDA in the first half of 2026, a 2,432% increase over the same period in 2025. (Sedgwick Product Safety and Recall Index)
Maybe it's the price of gas. In October 2016, it was $2.24 a gallon, or about $3.02 in today's dollars. The national average today is $4.36. (AAA; author's calculation)
Maybe it's housing. In 2016, the monthly payment on a median-priced home was roughly $850, and the typical first-time buyer was 32. Today the payment is about $2,400, and the typical first-time buyer is 40. (NAR; Freddie Mac; author's calculation)
Or maybe it's consumer prices. Inflation was 1.3% in 2016 (annual average). Over the 12 months ending in August, it was 3.4%. (BLS)
Check your registration. Make a plan. Bring a neighbor. Nothing is more American. Nothing is more patriotic.
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