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My View on What It Means to Love One’s Country
Patriotism, according to Merriam Webster, is defined as “devotion or love for one’s country.” I believe this definition does not capture the true essence of the meaning of patriotism. This definition would be outstanding if there were no other conditions factored in this complex equation, but it seems that patriotism is a double-edged sword. The word patriotism strikes a lot of mixed emotions in people all over the United States. Some people describe themselves as involved patriots because they fly their American flag outside in their yards, when others see the word patriotism as disgusting and the seed of racism. Patriotism has spread like wildfire throughout the nation.
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493). In other words, they tend to become close-minded toward other cultures. Patriotism to some people is a superstition that is artificially created and maintained through a network of lies and falsehoods, a superstition that robs a man of his self-respect and dignity, and increases his arrogance and conceit. One example of having increased arrogance is being wealthy. Parenti states “even if it were easy to become a multi-millionaire, what is so great about that? Why should one’s ability to make large sums of money be reason to love one’s country?” (p. 497) Patriotism to me means to have love for our homeland, our country, to support, serve and defend, to be inspired by, to change for the better and to care deeply for fellow Americans. Patriots support the country’s authorities, laws, and interests. However, this does not mean that Americans should agree with whatever the President of the United States has to say and be blinded by what is really going on in America. I believe that true
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patriotism does not have to be encouraged, but it is something that we feel. Patriotism is to be proud of where you are from, and to love everyone around you, whether he is a native of that country or not. As stated by Parenti, “what is there to love about the extermination of Native American nations?” (p. 495) Superpatriots believe that the patriotic individual is blinded by what government is telling us and that patriots will go along with any ideas the
But what does patriotism means to me? It means of course to have love for our homeland we should always respect our homeland because that’s where we come from, our country, if we living in a country we should respect it because they give you the privilege to live there, to support, to be inspired by, and to change our lives from the way we live them. What many has got confused is they believe they showed their love for this country by donating, or doing things for example, clothes, shoes, in line to donate blood, joining the army. But what people don’t know it’s that Patriots support the countries in every way possible. But that does not mean Americans has to agree with anything that the president says, we all have our rights to speak what
Many protestors, both left and right, democrat, republican, socialist, etc. have had their patriotism called into question at one time or another.
For instance an American can be the one who is known to take beating for one’s country. In the Essay by John McCain “ Veterans Day: Never Forget Their Duty “ he defines patriotism as having courage to take risks for your country. “ Sitting there , with his eyes
American Patriotism can be defined in different ways. When people think of the word patriotism, most often say "to love one 's country". That is true in some aspect, but being patriotic means much more than that. In the words of Mark Twain, he states, “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” True patriotism is to support what 's best for this country and contribute in ways to help that can be beneficial for everyone. However, to a socialist, patriotism can be viewed within three main perspectives: the functionalist, conflict, and symbolic interactionist perspective.
P - patriotic; Patriotism is a quality that shows one's love for his or her country. By being patriotic, a person is being loyal to their country. It shows that they support and care for the things others have fought to give them. I display my patriotism by something as little as saluting the flag to say the Pledge of Allegiance daily.
Many people believe that they are patriotic people. But, what truly makes one patriotic? In “Saying Goodbye to Patriotism” Robert Jensen critiques the effects of patriotism on today’s modern society, the United States, and globalization after the attacks on 9/11. Jensen defines patriotism in his talk delivered to the Peace Action National Congress as “love and loyal or zealous support of one’s own country.” (Jensen 741) But, that is not the only definition of patriotism. One may love living in the United States so does that make them patriotic? Patriotism is probably one of the hardest words to define in today’s society.
Patriotism is a way in which we can strongly express our pride of for our nation and simply a way to honor our homeland. A feeling that has been spreading throughout the world for thousands of years. Patriotism has been such an influential aspect of literature, it has changed the historical ways of writing. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry expressed their ideas of patriotism in very different ways, but they all one idea in common, to share their powerful writing throughout the world. In many pieces of literature patriotism was shown repeatedly through the writing. For example, The Crisis No. 1, The Speech of Virginia Convention, and The Declaration of Independence all thoroughly conveyed patriotism and a revolutionary pride.
When I was younger I felt like I knew what it meant to be patriotic in America, but as times change I feel like I have no clue what it means to be patriotic in America today. I believe I had a grasp on what it means to be patriotic because, I had grown up in Gallup New Mexico-known to be the most patriotic town in The United States of America. Then Earlier in my life I also had to deal with my brother, who went into a recruiter's office and signed up to be shipped off to Afghanistan the very next day. When he would visit he would have these lectures on how we should show our patriotism. He would eventually force my mother to put up the American flag in the front porch to show respect for the country and those who served it. As I got older
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.
In America today patriotism is very significant because unlike some countries America has a great deal of freedom. From freedom of choice, speech amongst other thing that would make someone want to be loyal and show pride in their country . Several people show their national pride in different way one of the most symbolic and respected being military service. This concept of showing national pride by serving in the military dates back to the American Revolution. The very beginning of the creation of what is now an independent and strong Nation. During the American Revolution, it is widely believed that American Soldiers willing and proudly fought to gain independence from great britain.However some historians say that this story is just a myth meaning that it was exaggerated or it just never happened . By researching and looking into the different stages of the american revolution and into the journals kept by soldiers during this period, I can be able to come to conclusion as to what I actually think about soldiers During this time period. I can be able to conclude whether or not American soldiers did really fight for patriotic reasons, if the concept of Patriotism gradually disappeared during the period of the war or if it just never existed in the first place.
Patriotism is worldwide and the notion that America is a city on a hill and above all others is illogical. Fredrick Douglass stated that America’s founding fathers “loved their country better than their own private interests” and “staked their
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
Before a discourse of the specified topic can be laid out, definitions of a few terms must be distinguished. Firstly, nationalism and patriotism are two distinctly different concepts that are often used interchangeably to represent a similar school of thought. By no means, are they mutually exclusive or unrelated ideologies, but nationalism and patriotism differ in their approaches to expressing love for one’s country, respectively. These definitions can be best understood on the shoulders of essayist and drama critic, Sydney J. Harris, “The Difference Between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility while the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to a war (Harris, 1953).” While the latter definition may be a bit extreme, the general impression is still applicable. An understanding of the dichotomy between nationalism and patriotism, and how
Beginning with America, there is a strong sense of nationalism. Being called patriotic would signify you support America and the ideals the flag stands for. It has many meanings to every
Anti-patriotism is another form of showing to be an ideal global citizen. Promoting and what is heard often, “my country this, my county that” is not in favor of global citizens. One must be open to all forms of people and their cultures. A global citizen is one that can travel to any country and adjust to the customs or at least be open to them.