A few readers have taken exception to my statement below: “Equating a legal requirement with patriotism is just plain gross.” Some have pointed to compliance with the draft as a sign of patriotism. I’m not so sure on that score. But I don’t have time to have that argument right now. I’m on a pressing deadline and I need to catch a plane to New Mexico this afternoon. I did like this email from a very liberal reader:

Dear Jonah,
Strong words, with which I fundamentally disagree. The success of a civil society depends upon quasi-voluntary compliance–meaning that the government doesn’t need to stand over you with a gun to your head, or a pair of handcuffs, as you fill out your tax returns. It is a sense of civic duty, i.e. patriotism, which moves people to fulfill their obligations even when no one is watching. Yes, it is criminal not to pay the taxes you owe. But it’s also very easy not to pay all your taxes, especially if you’re a small cash business. Indeed, the government loses a great deal of its tax revenue every year to people who do not declare their full income. I would say that those who do declare their full income, when they could shirk that duty, demonstrate more patriotism than those who don’t. This is because abiding by laws, when you could avoid doing so, is an indication of faith in and commitment to republic and its laws. It’s hardly “gross” to think that. This is a common sense view of civil society in which good civic behavior, i.e. patriotism, is defined as abiding by the laws even when the expectation of punishment for failing to follow the laws is remote.

Me: I hear what the reader is saying and I hear what the draftees-are-patriotic folks are saying too. But I can’t help but think we’re defining patriotism down with all of this. If patriotism amounts to abiding by your legal commitments, then that’s a pretty low bar. But I’ll ponder it a bit more. In the meantime, I’m very comfortable saying that Biden’s comments at least were just plain gross.