The early decades of 1900s saw the rise of Hollywood patriotic films. This is the level of pettiness one descends to through the defence of bogus nationalism. Even advocates for the cosmopolitan ideal have come to understand that the sentiment of patriotism is indispensable to the development of the kind of social bonds that foster solidarity and mutuality in a society.
If you've ever told someone to love America or leave it," or called government them," or criticized political parties without even attending a caucus, then maybe your patriotism" needs that checkup. Nationality is our connection with the race" that is merely natural or physical," while patriotism is the awareness of our moral duties to the political community (Acton 1972, 163).
Yes, the individual community that makes moral conduct possible is embedded in an international system of multiple competing communities that invites, even requires, immoral behavior. Joshua Cohen and Martha C. Nussbaum , For Love of Country: Debating the Limits of Patriotism, Beacon Press, 1996.
For example, if the American flag is combined with the bald eagle, you should know that the bald eagle is a national symbol of independence, strength, bravery and freedom. But to fight for American principles when the people who have the power have lost their heads, that's when
patriotism is really on the line.
I reevaluated all of the ways I blindly supported the United States before I learned that the whole country was built on slave labor and the genocide of indigenous people and culture. Yet patriotism, at times, went to excess, as zealots sometimes measured loyalty by ethnicity or nationality.
Moderate nationalism is based on two main assumptions: (a) a nation-state 9 has an intrinsic moral value, (b) the nation-state is the best available form of government for societies that reflects the political will of their members (nation-states are not natural facts but a result of conscious action and people's common will) (Miller, 2004, pp. 321-350).
In the new patriotism you will endeavor to see your fellow Americans as valid beings with legitimate concerns, opinions and points of view. President Trump has undoubtedly caused many Americans to feel less patriotic, but the truth is that patriotism has been waning for years.