School Should Be More Patriotic

Patriotism is not blindly following ones country as some think. Patriotism is working to ensure you’re your country lives up to your moral and ethical values both at home and abroad. As well as being critical of your country when it does not live up to those standards. Patriotism as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary is “The quality of being patriotic; love of or devotion to one's country” (Oxford 2014). That’s it. It doesn’t say you have to take any specific action like flying the flag, serve in any function such as the armed forces or support any particular party for election. However; devotion is usually manifested in some type of behavior. In fact the definition is open to interpretation and subjective at best. True American

Is America really the country everyone fantasizes about? True, there are some negative aspects to the country but overall, it’s a country I am proud to be a citizen in. I am proud to be an American because we are provided many opportunities such as having freedom and rights, free public education, and a numerous amount of government aid to help everyone.

It is sad to say, but in our American Dream, the corrupted one that is, greenbacks are worth more than one’s honor. Other nations look upon the American devotion as sterile cupidity and insanity. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby, Daisy and Tom are an excellent example of the importance of being wealthy. Lapham expresses his opinion on Americans as Philistinism. Americans base their success on property and luxuries. Without that, they are not truly happy or satisfied with what they did in their life period. If the goal of becoming rich is achieved, everything might not be so great after all. The circle of people associated with you are just there for the luxury. Take the Gatsby as an example. No one went to his funeral, not even Daisy. She was to blame for his death, and

In America, we take pride in our country because we have a capitalist society where in which people who work hard and take advantage of opportunities end up

One of the best ways to do so is to travel to our nation's capital. Several schools use such a trip as an educational opportunity. In Washington DC, students can tour landmarks, visit monuments, and explore the past. The experience of a DC trip turns a textbook into more of a hands on experience. It should be something the government promotes, as it shows patriotism preserved. Furthermore, in order to be patriotic in this day and age, we need to teach tolerance in school and families. Over the years, America has made a lot of progress. We need to recognize how freedom has evolved and learn from the mistakes past generations have made. Patriotism is about accepting the fact that America has had skewed viewpoints and continues to, but grows as these views change. Tolerance is a way to show patriotism as well as respect the entire population of America. Using historical documents in everyday life is another way to acknowledge our heritage. Saying the Pledge in the morning and standing during the performance of the National Anthem are two practical and constant examples. Learning the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, etc. is important to showing patriotism as these documents educate us on acts of patriotism long ago. Knowing your past through writings can make you proud and help you stalwartly stand for your

A lot of American citizens feel that their country is the best, however; “we’re 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, number 4 in labor force and number 4 in exports” (Jeff Daniels, The Showroom). There is also a huge amount of injustice that still goes on here such as a corrupt justice system. More recently, there have been open protests of these injustices at NFL football games by its players who refuse to stand for the national anthem. Although, not everyone feels the same way. This is because everyone perceives the flag and America itself differently. No two people will ever think exactly the same about everything.

America has always been a proud nation full of nationalism as well. The people, looked up to their government and their presidents for what to do during the dark days of depression, war, economic shutdown, and communism. The people knew who their enemies were or at least had a description. America never truly had a reason to doubt their leaders, those were the people who lead the nation to victory. Then there was a blow, a crisis that flipped everyone’s views and values upside down. There was an enemy that needed to be defeated, needed to , for this moment was that the so called enemy was the president himself, Richard Nixon.

All Americans should find their opinion on patriotism and voice that opinion. There are many different views of patriotism and many will clash, but if we continue to talk and use our minds instead of our fists or guns, we can eventually come to a compromise of both ideas, which will best represent everyone’s opinions on patriotism. Through more clearly and fairly defined ideas of patriotism we can better understand the actions of our fellow Americans and avoid more unnecessary conflicts caused by extremist ideas being the only ideas heard.

What is the definition of patriotism for America? This question can be answered in various ways, but is not always focused upon in daily life. Spanning from Colonial America up until today, this answer has fluctuated due to the happenings within the country. Although separated by time, many previous beliefs reflect similarly upon more modern occasions. Patrick Henry’s Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death speech provides ideas that can easily transpose to current events in present day America. In his speech, there is the one overruling idea, that of patriotism, and a few supporting points, such as individual liberty and interpretation of freedom.

To be an American means to have pride in your country and love your country for what it is. It is a great feeling knowing anyone can come to America and make a name for themselves. Just like Andrew Carnegie who moved to America as a small child from Scotland and became at one point one of the richest people in the world, or Oscar Wilde who said “In England, an inventor is regarded almost as a crazy man, and in too many instances, invention ends in disappointment and poverty. In America, an inventor is honoured, help is forthcoming, and the exercise of ingenuity, the application of science to the work of man, is there the shortest road to wealth”. Taking pride in America’s military who sacrifice everyday to help America keep its freedom. Taking pride in the great leaders now and before who have helped America become

For example it is like the people who only like a sports team because they are doing stellar but when they are failing they are no longer fans of them. In a way you are married to your country. You should stand by your country for better or worse or for richer or poorer, in hardships and in times of greatness, to love and to cherish till death do us part. In marriages most people do not jump ship at the first sign of trouble; they stay and work it out. That is what we the people need to do. We need to stand by our country and work out the kinks until all is well again, in the very same way that it happens in marriages. In recent times there have been many issues with presidents, politicians, and world issues. Many people have begun to say that they are not proud of this country when, we need to stand by our country at all times. Although I do not agree with what has happened in our country I do feel that I am proud of my country, a person cannot base their pride of something or someone on one part of the life or section of it. There is a lot of reasons to be proud of America. We stood up for what we believed in and fought for our right. We won a war we were never even supposed to come close to winning. We ended slavery. We created a document that is 239 years old, that still rules our country no other country has

Nationalism is very important in a nation and the nationalism in America during the 1800s steadily increased as the country grew stronger. The education of children is very important for the future of the country. The better the education for the teachers means the

In As Regards Patriotism, Twain talks about how training creates belief, and one belief can be patriotism, “A man can seldom—very, very seldom—fight a winning fight against his training; the odds are too heavy.” Americans have been trained to believe that the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution are the epitome of the American ideal. The Declaration of Independence tells us, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” the U.S. Constitution on the other hand

I agree with your first paragraph completely. Because we are Americans, often times we get boastful about our day to day activities due to our freedoms the constitution grants us. Americans also tend to have a "my way or the highway" kind of attitude. On the bright side though, like you said, we are proud and patriotic which makes us unstoppable in every way. The love for our great nation continues to bring us together and even aided you in writing that truthful and superb paragraph about us.

Patriotism. Our country is a rock. It is a stronghold for its citizens to depend and lean upon. Sadly though, it weakens. With every disagreement of its people and every angry dispute, a great crack down the center lengthens. Every inch this