Yeah…just look at the French. 😛
😊
I was reading something about countries rebuilding & getting back on with things after World War 2…and the countries that did the best had patriotism from their own citizens. Or something like that…the more patriotism the country had, the better they fared afterwards.
So I guess it pays to be a patriot.
And I think if there is a problem w/ patriotism (and I like to think of myself as a patriot)...that it’s that some people idealize the way a country was at some other point in history & go…“THAT’S the way it should be!” ....And 2 things happen here. Either they have no real idea what is happening today…and they are thinking only of this past time…OR…they are blaming people for not being the way it WAS. As if there were some sort of problem w/ the progression of the nation…as if there were a need to punish those who have moved forward from that particular time. I’m not saying there aren’t things that have “progressed” that aren’t horrible, awful, tragic things…but there is so much more than JUST those things. So, [here] you can’t send your kid down to the corner store to get a box of eggs from Mr. Hooper the grocer…b/c of who knows what happening along the way…but that child will instead have a chance to attend any university in the country & become anything he/she wishes to be. Not too bad a trade-off. I don’t like that I’ve traded that home-town feel in for big-city worries…but regardless, my child will have a chance to do so many more things than were possible 50 or 75 years ago. 75 years ago my daughter had very few options…a mother, a secretary, or a nurse. Now she could be the next Patton or President if she wanted.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with patriotism in the RIGHT arenas.