My wife belongs to an Internet group where there was a recent blowup over the insane expectation Americans have about foreigners who visit America's shores. Poland's Solidarity trade union movement famously fused liberal and national aspirations Its leader, Lech Wałęsa, never failed to summon the martyrs of Poland's centurieslong quest for national independence, often in the same breath that he demanded political liberalization.
The moment seems ripe for a revival of contemporary liberalism, whose underlying faith is in the power and purpose of government to bring about positive change, to fight on behalf of average Americans, to even the playing field somewhat, and to reduce the ill effects of poverty.
There is, of course, also a tragic dimension to patriotism, for it is not only about people's willingness to sacrifice on behalf of the "country" but about making a connection to those who have already made the "ultimate sacrifice". Real American patriotism should be about supporting each other and showing up to vote for (and be) leaders who take care of all of our communities.
In the United States, even if Trump is defeated and progressive reforms are enacted, without a rousing liberal-national narrative the illiberals' story of a nation under siege by immigrants, minorities, and cosmopolitan elites will continue to infect public discourse and yield electoral dividends.
He has researched the history of our country and government much more than the average person, and goes so far as to include in the Appendices; The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States, and The Ten Commandments. Patriotism has to be more than obsequious adherence to a tortured myth; it cannot just be loving a country that doesn't love you (or anyone else) back.
Patriotism, not
marines nationalism, should inspire the citizen. The word patriotism derives from the Latin patria, meaning country." Patriots are citizens joined by a love of country and a readiness to sacrifice, perhaps even die, for their country. Taking care of the people who serve our country is an important way to show patriotism.
Instead, it is the egoistic instincts of the individual that are demagogically appealed to, instincts such as xenophobia and racism, and this is where the risk of waves of nationalistic group passions resides, the aim of which will be not to serve the nation in the sense of a cultural or civic value, but to assert the interests of a group beneath the guise of so‐called national interests.