But even the poorest, middle of nowhere places have prosperous locals.
The Worcesters of Maine's Washington County own the Worcester Wreath Company, which sells general-purpose wreaths, and also runs Wreaths Across America which, each December, decorates graves at Arlington National and other veterans' cemeteries.
The Worcesters are big on patriotic gestures - and, don't get me wrong, the holiday wreath gesture is sweet - and they'd also like to boost their poor, middle-of-nowhere community. (And, I guess, turn a buck or two while they're at it.)
What they'd like to do is:
...turn hundreds of acres of wilderness into a billion-dollar patriotic theme park — complete with a flagpole that, if built, would rival the height of the third tallest building in America...
...if built, the Flagpole of Freedom Park would take the family’s mission to honor veterans to new heights. Its namesake flagpole would soar 1,461 feet high (exactly 1,776 feet above sea level), and become the tallest in the world by several hundred feet. It would fly an American flag the size of one-and-a-half football fields.
The pole itself would be a multi-story building topped by an observation deck with views of Maine in all directions.The surrounding park, as envisioned by the Worcesters, would feature theaters, restaurants, a hotel, stores, hiking trails, museum exhibits, and ticketed rides and educational attractions like the “Halls of History” and “Village of Old Glory,” that tell the story of the nation’s wars. Visitors would be ferried on gondolas criss-crossing above the trees...
...“This will be a place that’s known as the most patriotic place there is,” Rob Worcester, the project’s cofounder and managing director, said in a promotional video last year.(Source: Boston Globe)
Hmmm. If I were going to build a theme park - patriotic or other - I don't think I'd build that theme park in a location that, however beautiful, gets crappy weather most of the year. But maybe that's just me.
Not to mention that most of the folks who live within somewhat easy driving distance (Boston is five miles hours away) are not the kind of folks who would make even an easy-peasy drive to see the world's tallest flagpole. Sure, if they were on their way to somewhere else in Maine they might drop by to check out a roadside attraction. But Flagpole of Freedom Park as a "must see" destination? I just don't see it.
Then there's that "most patriotic place" notion. The Worcesters can claim all they want that they're looking for a non-partisan means to unify the country, but, for better or worse, "most patriotic place" falls on these decidedly blue-state ears as right-wing codespeak.
Yes, we should all agree that we owe the veterans who have served the nation some modicum of respect AND (more important, at least to me) decent treatment: first-class healthcare, especially when dealing with both physical and mental wounds; assistance transitioning (education, jobs, housing) back to civilian life; discounted shopping at the PX.
But I believe it is foolhardy to worship at the altar of the military.
Here's what the park has to say about their purpose:
Flagpole of Freedom Park is an initiative of historic scale and scope fueled by love of country, respect for veterans, and a thirst for this country’s storied history. At the heart of this apolitical destination is a purpose driven company whose core goal is to help build unity and pride for America. (Source: Flagpole of Freedom)
When I read "storied history," I interpret this as the sort of picking and choosing that the powers that currently be in the State of Florida seems to have in mind when they mindlessly attack "CRT" and "wokeness." A crusade that has produced the idiocy of a group of editors proposing a revision of the story of Rosa Parks that omits the somewhat salient fact that she was asked to give her bus seat up because she took a "whites only" seat, not because someone else just happened to want that seat.
There is so much more to patriotism than serving in the military. There are so many more ways to express patriotism without signing up.
And, of course, there is so much more to our storied history than just the good stuff. And there is plenty of good stuff.
The genius of the Founding Fathers. The brilliance of the Declaration of Independence. A pretty good track record when it comes to democracy, even in these challenging times. The welcome mat historically put out for immigrants - at least for European immigrants, a group that includes my Irish great-grandparents and my German grandparents (and toddler mother), who were fleeing poverty and, in the case of my German grandparents, who emigrated in the 1920's, war.
Also great? The industrial might that helped win World War II. The Marshall Plan that rebuilt a devastated Europe.
The creation of a large and prosperous middle class - achieved by those immigrant great-grandparents and grandparents, and passed along to their children and grandchildren.
There's also all the good stuff around our history of discovery and innovation; the brilliance of a culture (music, film, literature, art...) that perpetually fires shots heard round the world.
But there are also a few not so grand and glorious things we need to learn about: treatment of native Americans, slavery, Jim Crow, Know Nothingism, the treatment of Japanese citizens during World War II, our shameful refusal to allow Jews in when the Nazi handwriting was writ large on the wall. Our gun culture, our record on incarceration, racism....The sad dismantling of our middle class, which sadly was never available equally to all Americans to begin with.
If every student in Germany can learn about the Holocaust, while also learning about the good of their nation, our kids should be able to learn about why Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus.
Anyway, as it turns out, when the Flagpole of Freedom project ran it up the flagpole, the citizens of Columbia Fall voted to put any plans for such a large development on temporary hold. This would give town officials some time to decide whether the benefits (jobs) outweigh the negatives (overwhelming the area, costly infrastructure).
The Worcester family hasn't yet given up all hope that the project will go forth, and acknowledges that the town should exercise caution when it comes to such a major development.
The plans for Flagpole of Freedom strike me as a bit extreme. But go big or go home, I guess. That and some wishful thinking along the lines of 'if they build it, they will come.'
In real life, I don't think "they" will.
Meanwhile, there are certainly plenty of places where Americans can go to learn about American history (including the not so grand and glorious stuff). There's the Freedom Trail in Boston that takes you by Old North "One if by Land" Church. The battlefields of Concord and Lexington. (I defy anyone to visit Concord (North) Bridge, where patriots "fired the shot heard 'round the world," and read Ralph Waldo Emerson's beautiful poem "Concord Hymn" and not experience a bit of a patriotic tingle.
Learn about the Salem Witch trials. Visit Newport and see where the swells lived in the Gilded Age (and compare and contrast it to current times). Climb the Statue of Liberty. Look for my mother's name on the Wall on Ellis Island.
See Gettysburg. Go to all the monuments in Washington, including the Vietnam War memorial, covered with names in a way that's not joyful like those on Ellis Island, but which tells a big, terrible part of our history. Visit the Capitol Building. And your state's state house. Visit the Museum of African American History. And the Smithsonian. Walk around Arlington Cemetery. I'm sure that walk would be especially moving when the Worcester wreaths are there.
Etc.
There's really no end to historic places throughout our country, places that tell the full story of who and what we are and how we got here in ways that I don't think that Flagpole of Freedom ever will.
Now I just need to think of a place I'd like to see this summer.
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