Go wave a flag

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.

19 comments

It's funny to consider "love of country" to mean "the food, certain people, and beautiful landmarks", while simultaneously condemning the actions of its government, and like half of the citizens who live there.
Not that I'm criticizing, mind. I struggled with this myself for a long time before finally coming to the realization that this country is like a problematic family. You're told that you should love it even if you don't like lots of aspects of it very much. Like an abusive parent.
I'm in my 40s now, and I've finally realized that that's bullshit. I don't love this country. I used to, but I've realized that I only ever loved the idea of this country while the reality has been a profound disappointment.
The barbecue is good, though. So that's nice.
- In my early 30s now, and I haven't loved America for several years. 2016 was genuinely eye opening for this former Democrat. Watching the party I had supported since childhood, that I knew as the left most thing going, eat one of its own, absolutely tear itself to pieces to prevent even a semblance of a decent healthcare system... It broke the blinders, y'know? Once that happened it got me looking at things with a more critical eye, and when you do that, when you look at just about any aspect of this country with anything other than Rose white and blue tinted glasses, holy shit. It becomes real hard to love real fast.
  
  Yeah. I was thoroughly disillusioned by what the DNC did to Bernie. Really pissed me off. Still voted for Hillary, though, because her opponent is a literal monster. I hate having to make that kind of choice every 4 years: "vote for the shitty candidate who will do very little, or vote for an actual piece of shit who will do everything in their power to strip all of the progress we've made in the 20th century". It's awful.
The flag isn't going to be taken away by racists... it's going to be taken away by the 50% who insist that anyone who isn't like they are is a racist Nazi coup supporting trump voting redneck asshole... Rednecks are flying the US flag, so liberty must be racist. That's what's gonna take the flag away.
I can't say one single fucking word about how the trials related to trump are a complete out of control purely political witchhunt, without it being assumed that I'm racist, that I love trump, that I drive a diesel and love cops... that I have all the traits that the Democrats attribute to a republican... It's either you agree 100% with one, or you are 100% the other... I'm neither. Never have been. I voted for Ross fucking Perot... That's how long I've been sick of the partisan bullshit, and let me tell you motherfuckers, back then, it was like 1/1000th as bad...
I'm tapped the fuck out on fucks to give bud, I see someone spewing assumptions and bitching about how those assumptions are going to fuck themselves over and take their own flag away. If you like the flag, STOP TAKING FLAGS AWAY FROM PEOPLE. The US flag means racist because YOU are saying it does, not because they are... YOU decided what the flags, statues, street names, etc. meant, and tore the all down over the meaning YOU gave them. Billy bob isn't taking symbols away, he's banning books from schools. Tearing down symbols is your thing buddy.
Liberty and justice for all means it includes motherfuckers you don't like... diesel driving Billy Bob has exactly as much entitlement to his symbols as you do to put books in libraries, and if you can't understand that, then that flag doesn't mean a fucking thing anyway.
- Thanks for confirming, once again, that centrists like you live in a bubble and won't admit there is a problem. Every time I see this, I move a bit further to the left.
- I can’t say one single fucking word about how the trials related to trump are a complete out of control purely political witchhunt
  I mean, you can say that all you'd like. Just don't be surprised when people judge you to be not very intelligent because of it. It is a profoundly dumb take, after all.
- Don't want people thinking you support a coup, then don't support a coup.
- "I act and speak exactly just like this other group, but I'm sick and fucking tired of people assuming I'm one of them! I walk like a duck and I quack like a duck but it should be obvious that I'm not a duck!"
- I'm putting you on caps lock restrictions.
- the trials related to trump are a complete out of control purely political witchhunt
  It's not a witchhunt. Stop repeating this lie.
Have you ever loved someone but you realized you need to break up because they're on a self-destructive path and staying with them is just enabling it?
The Nation is a collective illusion. While it is a shared illusion, it is not universally shared. We each can speak of the Nation in the same terms, but we each mean and understand something different when we use those terms.
Both those inside and outside the Nation believe they know what the Nation is. To some the Nation is its military, to some its politicians, to some it is a building, or a document, or a place, or a flag, a certain food, a way of speaking, or manner of dress, a line on a map.
In truth, the Nation is none of these things because the Nation does not exist, except in the imagination of those who believe that it does. This does not make the Nation unimportant or meaningless. Even if you (personally) decide that the illusion is delusion, you will still live inside the beliefs of others.
The Nation can only be what we (collectively) make it. What do you believe the Nation is? What do you believe it should be? Will you work to make it what it should be?
I don't understand patriotism, it's so arbitrary. I didn't choose where I was born. Why would I feel pride for something I just happen to be a part of by chance?
I love the city I live in now, but I don't feel proud to belong here, I just do. It's not an achievement. I also feel like nationalism is divisive when we should be aiming towards unifying as human beings all over the world.
I'll expose my take on this subject. Before that, a few warnings:
I'm not too concerned on [dis]agreeing with the original post; instead I'm speaking what I think, in a disordered rambling.
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.
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!".
Sounds pretty representative to me

19 comments