The other day I saw one of those giant lifted trucks spewing black smoke behind two oversized flags. One was the American flag, the other was the ‘blue lives matter’ flag. When I see those trucks I assume that person is a racist and probably supported the attempted coup which almost took away our American democracy- the very thing we built our nation for. This got me thinking about what it means to be a flag-waving patriot.

Wikipedia says patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and attachment to one’s country. As a millennial liberal with an electric car I am probably the antithesis of big truck guy but I too am a proud flag-waving American

Frustrated citizens often say things like “I could never love a country that did so-and-so horrible thing”. Many of us would not want to wave a flag because they associate it with those horrors. But “Love of country” is not love of our government or their actions. You would be hard-pressed to find many throughout history who loved all the actions of their leaders. Whether ruled by a king, a Pope, a warlord or a muti-party democracy there will always be faults to find. There will always be room for improvement. Therefore the government must be excluded from the definition of patriotism.

What is our country if not the actions of our government, then? Here’s what it means to me. It means my family, my neighbors, my friends. It means BBQ and Philly cheesesteaks. I love cheering for our athletes in the Olympics. I love hiking in our National Parks. Have you been to Yellowstone? That’s our country! So is Elvis and John Steinbeck and Thomas Edison. If you think that slavery defines America then consider that there were also abolitionists who gave everything to fight it. If you think a mass shooting is what the flag represents then consider those who line up to donate blood in a crisis. Remember the words of the great American Mr. Rogers, “look for the helpers.”

No, the wrongs of our leaders are not what the flag represents to me. I have and will continue to vote in ways to make my country, state, and city better. I will protest injustice and vote with my wallet. I will speak out loud and fight for the laws and government that I believe in. I do that because I love my country. Call it my love language.

Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and attachment to one’s country. You are my country. Even though I do not know you I will always fight to make your life better. I wave the American flag for you. Go wave the flag and let it stand for the goodness we believe in. Don’t let racists take our flag as a symbol of hate.

  • Lvxferre
    1•10 months ago

    I’ll expose my take on this subject. Before that, a few warnings:

    1. I’m not too concerned on [dis]agreeing with the original post; instead I’m speaking what I think, in a disordered rambling.
    2. I’ll say things that show clear disdain towards the concept of patriotism, plus towards the idea that you should hold it in high regard. This disdain should not be assumed to apply to the original poster.
    3. I don’t pay taxes to the same gov as OP, and I’m not talking about USA, I’m talking in general grounds.

    With that out of the way…

    For me a country is solely a government that controls a territory and demands taxes from a population. That’s it; it’s an abstract tool, an “it”, and it should be treated as such. And just like it’s silly to profess your love for a screwdriver or a hammer, it’s also silly to profess your love towards a country = government.

    It’s a mistake to associate a country with a nation. And this mistake has name: “nationalism”.

    Most of the people from someone’s country are not one’s family, neighbours or friends. They’re people with barely any relevance in one’s life, just like most people paying taxes to other governments. Same deal with the things that they do. It’s silly to pretend that one holds strong feelings for them.

    And, if the person does hold strong feelings for others (or their cultural output) as long as they pay taxes to the same government as one does, that only represents bubbling and failure to look at the people paying taxes to other governments. ile another is still lit.

    Instead I’d rather love, appreciate, hate, show disdain, or ignore individuals. Regardless of country.

    I don’t feel proud for people of the past. I don’t feel shame for them either. I’m not changing this based on which country those dead people paid taxes to.

    I know that this will sound rude but I’d rather be honest at the expense of politeness. Every time that I see someone waving a government flag (whichever it might be), I picture a cow shaking its butt, saying “moo! I’m branded! I’m property and I’m proud of that! Gotta show my owner’s brand, moooo!”. Because while the being in question might not be physical property of that government, it (yup) is certainly its intellectual property, accepting that a tool (a government) tells it what it should think.

    At the end of the day, “patriotism” is just an euphemism for nationalism. The people who say “I’m not nationalist! I’m a patriot”, in my view, say the same sort of nonsense as someone who said “he is not dead! He just passed away!” or “this is not an dog! This is a Canis familiaris!”.