Barack Obama’s speech on patriotism earlier this week is noteworthy in that it references an issue many of us have been wrestling with for the entire Bush presidency, or at least the years since 9/11. That is the role of dissent in our society. It’s an appropriate topic for Independence Day.

I’m not sure that the tax revolt in Boston Harbor was any more high-minded than a lot of the anti-tax dogma that flows from contemporary conservatism, but that act of dissent birthed a Constitution that has often been the only bulwark keeping this country from engaging in the very types of autocracy and fascist behavior that we were founded in opposition to.

In today’s America, dissent has a bad name. It is reviled in our politics, in corporate settings, in consumer behavior. And yet there is really no more patriotic act than the expression of independent thought by someone who cares enough to fight conventional wisdom.

Quoting Obama:

Of course, precisely because America isn't perfect, precisely because our ideals constantly demand more from us, patriotism can never be defined as loyalty to any particular leader or government or policy. As Mark Twain, that greatest of American satirists and proud son of Missouri, once wrote, "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it." We may hope that our leaders and our government stand up for our ideals, and there are many times in our history when that's occurred. But when our laws, our leaders, or our government are out of alignment with our ideals, then the dissent of ordinary Americans may prove to be one of the truest expressions of patriotism . . . .

I would replace “may” with “is”, but they are important words from the man who may replace the president and vice-president that equate dissent on the longest war this nation has ever fought with an act of treason. We didn’t want to demoralize the troops. Talk about the big lie.

Dissent is just as necessary outside politics. We live in an age where we are bombarded with messages designed to manipulate our behavior. In the workplace, companies spend vast sums on internal and external marketing to motivate workforce and customers. So many of us actually believe we are better human beings because we work too hard or shop too much under a trendy label.

An acquaintance of mine spent several years in a marketing role for a major local company. He drank the Kool-Aid, extolling the virtues of the business and its leadership at every opportunity. That is, until he was purged in a management shakeup, his loyalty and dedication tossed because he was aligned with the wrong executive. Now he denounces the company at every opportunity.

He was full of it on the front end and equally naïve on the back end. He was a “team player” unable to recognize that the “team” he played for had no allegiance to him beyond his ability to service its needs.

Blind allegiance is perhaps more valued on these shores because more of us were raised with an abiding trust in the infallibility of religious institutions. But patriotism, being a good worker, or a contributing member of your community is not based on loyalty to a pin or a piece of fabric or a president or a CEO. It’s the capacity to stand up for what you believe, especially when it’s unpopular. How many of us want, on our tombstone: “He was a nodding cog in the wheel of the consumer society.”

But it’s the life many of us lead.

We live in a culture steeped in marketing and PR. The product is irrelevant; the message is everything. We are seduced by the phony smile of the TV anchor, the dissembling politician, or company spokesperson. Dishonesty is expected in the corporate setting. They call it spin.

We embrace people who “keep it positive,” who have something nice to say about everyone and everything. Skepticism is distasteful.

But how can we discern the truly righteous without calling out the truly venal? Or recognize great art unless we call crap by its name? And we can’t keep our society true to its highest ideals by mindlessly assenting to every bit of manipulation as long as we have our iPhones to keep us entertained and in touch with an e-mail from work on Sunday at 9 p.m.

It’s good to love our country, our jobs, our community, and all our stuff. But don’t love it all so much that you can’t recognize when it’s selling you a bill of goods, exploiting you, your fears, or your lack of power.

Dissent can be powerful. Ask those guys in Boston.