​As children raised in the United States of America, we were expected every morning to recite the pledge of allegiance to our country. In grade school, we were taught that our first president,...

Link to the article it's responding to: https://www.patreon.com/posts/on-american-58299798

  • D61 [any]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Patriotism seems like it requires myth making, not materialism. (I'm also not an academic, tell me I'm wrong and I'll probably believe you.)

    Maybe it would be easier for me to stomach pro USA patriotism arguments if I had never been a part of the imperial Army of the USA, but its really difficult for me to actually "want" to play the part of patriot after being where I've been, seeing what I've seen, smelling what I've smelled.

    Maybe someday, far into a future where whatever the USA becomes addresses is past horrors honestly and its people actively change their culture to make those horrors something is in fact, something that "only happened in the past" while having become a better people in the process would I think it could be acceptable to be a "patriot."

    In fact, patriotism and nationalism do have different meanings, the former (2) places its loyalty to the people of the country...

    I don't see this as much of a practical distinction.