No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels.

Barbara Ehrenreich, fierce voice of truth in an age of complacency, once declared: “No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots.” In this fiery pronouncement, she lifts the veil from false devotion and reclaims patriotism for the brave, the questioning, and the defiant. Her words thunder with the ancient wisdom that love of country is not silence, but speech; not obedience alone, but the courage to resist when power turns corrupt.

The origin of this saying lies in Ehrenreich’s lifelong struggle against hypocrisy and injustice. She saw that the word patriotism is often twisted by those who seek power, wielded as a shield for the unscrupulous, used to silence critics and sanctify their own misdeeds. “The refuge of scoundrels,” she names it, echoing Samuel Johnson’s earlier warning. But unlike those who despair, Ehrenreich calls us to rise higher. For true patriots, she declares, are not the sycophants who bow before authority, but the rebels who dare to confront it in the name of justice.

History bears out her vision. Consider the American Revolution. The crown labeled its rebels as traitors, yet their dissent gave birth to a nation. They raised hell in Boston Harbor, flung tea into the waters, and with muskets and pamphlets defied the mightiest empire of their age. Their rebellion was not treason but patriotism, for they loved their country enough to demand its freedom. Without their defiance, liberty itself would not have been born. So it has been across ages: patriots are not the silent, but the restless souls who demand better for their people.

Yet Ehrenreich’s words also speak to quieter revolts. Think of Martin Luther King Jr., who challenged segregation not with armies but with marches, sermons, and unyielding rebellion against injustice. He was denounced, arrested, beaten, yet he stood firm, proclaiming that to love America was to call it to its highest self. His dissent was branded as dangerous, yet in truth it was the purest patriotism. For what greater love can one show to a nation than to demand it live up to its own ideals?

The danger she warns against is this: when false patriots, the scoundrels, cloak themselves in flags and demand silence from the people. They equate criticism with treason, protest with disloyalty, rebellion with betrayal. Yet in truth, such silence is death to liberty. A nation that refuses dissent is a nation that slides into tyranny, for power unchallenged grows corrupt, and authority unrestrained devours its own people. True patriotism is noisy, messy, and uncomfortable—it is the cry of citizens who will not be silenced.

The lesson is plain: to love your country is not to worship it blindly, but to hold it accountable, to raise your voice when it strays, to rebel when it oppresses. Do not be deceived by those who weaponize patriotism for their own gain. Do not fear to be called a troublemaker, for the troublemakers of one age are the liberators of the next. Ask yourself: if injustice rules, will I stay silent in the name of false peace, or will I dissent in the name of true love of country?

Therefore, let this teaching be handed down: be wary of those who shout loudest of patriotism, yet demand only obedience. Seek instead the courage of the dissenter, the fire of the rebel, the persistence of the reformer. When you see injustice, speak. When you see corruption, resist. When you see cruelty cloaked in the flag, expose it. For in these acts, you prove yourself a true patriot—one who loves the nation enough to demand it become better than it is.

So remember Ehrenreich’s words as both shield and sword: “Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots.” Take them into your heart. Pass them to your children. Let them be your guide in times of trial. For a silent people may keep peace for a moment, but only the defiant preserve freedom for generations.