Is it okay to be patriotic?

[Phil]

Today in my government class, our teachers had to go over some 9/11 topics. A lot of them were good questions that required deep thought. The one question that really struck me though is also the title of this thread, "Is okay to be patriotic?" There was a mix of answers, some no's, some yes', and the in-betweens. Now, I'm not saying I had the most moving speech ever, but patriotism is something I feel very strongly about. I know the Lounge has members overseas, so while I feel that you too should love your country, this patriotism pertains to American patriotism. I feel that every single American should love and care about America. I don't care what your lifestyle is, your loyalty to America should never come into question. You should be proud to wear red, white, and blue. If you don't love America, I want you out of my country, and do hurry before you choke on the sweet air of freedom. You love and respect this country that we fought England for. Many men fought and died so that this country could be what it is today, and to not be patriotic is just disgracing them and everything our country stands for.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I am patriotic. I love my country enough to want it "to be the best that it can be".

Whenever I visit a foreign country, I feel that I am, in a small sense, representing my own. Therefore, I take care to be exceedingly polite, helpful, understanding and humble whenever I'm abroad. After all, I may be the only American that some people have ever met. I do my best to give them a good first impression.

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[Marc Chevalier]

By the way, Phil, how old are you? Are you old enough to remember any wars before this one? I'd be curious to know what fuels your own patriotism.

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[Roger]

Being a naturalized American citizen there is only one answer; YES!:eusa_clap This is the greatest nation that ever graced the Earth. I feel sorry for my relatives that are still in Madeira and Portugal. If I could I'd bring all those who remain there to this wonderful place.:eusa_clap

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I feel sorry for my relatives that are still in Madeira and Portugal. If I could I'd bring all those who remain there to this wonderful place.:eusa_clap

Bring them over!

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[Roger]

My house isn't big enough.lol

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Well, we're glad that you're here, at least.

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[Strider]

It's fine, as long as you understand the difference between patriotism and zealotry.

 

[Roger]

Well, we're glad that you're here, at least.

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Thank you.

 

[scotrace]

How odd that anyone in America would feel that it might not be OK to feel patriotic.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I reckon he was being facetious. He couldn't have thought himself irrefragable, right?

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[Phil]

By the way, Phil, how old are you? Are you old enough to remember any wars before this one? I'd be curious to know what fuels your own patriotism.

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To answer your question, I'm 17. I don't rember many wars besides the more recent ones in the midle east. This is not what is my main fuel for my patiotism. What drives me is my grandfather and his legacy. He was a Sherman tank driver in WWII. He earned several medals for bravery, valor, and discipline. He helped in the liberation of several concentration camps including Dachau. He served under Gen. Patton and, as I've been told, had a few drinks with him. He came to this country a poor young man from Poland and worked his way up living out the American dream. He served honorably in WWII, and he was a great grandfather. If talking about wars exclusively, that's probably the closest tie I have between wars an patiotism.

 

[Viola]

how old are you? Are you old enough to remember any wars before this one?

Heh. This reminds me of an actual absent-minded college professor I had looking around at the faces and saying "some of you may not even remember Vietnam..."

I didn't have the heart to tell him I was about six during the Gulf War and remember only bits.[huh]

 

[Feraud]

It is always o.k. to be patriotic about our country, but not obnoxious about it.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I didn't have the heart to tell him I was about six during the Gulf War and remember only bits.[huh]

In contrast, one of my earliest memories is of seeing a photo of a Vietnamese mother crying over her dead child. It was a Newsweek cover picture, as I recall. Made a big impression on little me. I also remember watching the fall of Saigon live on TV ... especially the helicopters flying off of the U.S. embassy roof.

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[Marc Chevalier]

What drives me is my grandfather and his legacy.

Now I'm patriotic about your grandfather! :eusa_clap


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[MasonM]

My father died in Vietnam and I have served in our military. My answer is a resounding yes. It's perfectly alright to question the government and it's policies and/or decisions (as the founding fathers intended) but at the end of the day we should and must stand together as a nation which is, by my definition, what patriotism is really all about.

But then I'm a tad old fashioned.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I'd venture to say that not only is it OK to be patriotic -- it's commendable.

If you don't care about your country, what's to prevent you from letting it go to blazes?

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[Marc Chevalier]

There is the famous remark that "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." However ...

Boswell tells us that Samuel Johnson made this famous pronouncement on the evening of April 7, 1775. He doesn't provide any context for how the remark arose, so we don't really know for sure what was on Johnson's mind at the time.

Nonetheless, Boswell assures us that Johnson was not indicting patriotism in general, only false patriotism.

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[Marc Chevalier]

The great Samuel Johnson had lots to say about patriots and patriotism. Some selections:


"A patriot is he whose public conduct is regulated by one single motive, the love of his country; who, as an agent in parliament, has, for himself, neither hope nor fear, neither kindness nor resentment, but refers every thing to the common interest."


"It is the quality of patriotism to be jealous and watchful, to observe all secret machinations, and to see public dangers at a distance. The true lover of his country is ready to communicate his fears, and to sound the alarm, whenever he perceives the approach of mischief. But he sounds no alarm, when there is no enemy; he never terrifies his countrymen till he is terrified himself. The patriotism, therefore, may be justly doubted of him, who professes to be disturbed by incredibilities..."


"A patriot is necessarily and invariably a lover of the people. But even this mark may sometimes deceive us.
The people are a very heterogeneous and confused mass of the wealthy and the poor, the wise and the foolish, the good and the bad. Before we confer on a man, who caresses the people, the title of patriot, we must examine to what part of the people he directs his notice. It is proverbially said, that he who dissembles his own character, may be known by that of his companions. If the candidate of patriotism endeavours to infuse right opinions into the higher ranks, and, by their influence, to regulate the lower; if he consorts chiefly with the wise, the temperate, the regular, and the virtuous, his love of the people may be rational and honest. But if his first or principal application be to the indigent, who are always inflammable; to the weak, who are naturally suspicious; to the ignorant, who are easily misled; and to the profligate, who have no hope but from mischief and confusion; let his love of the people be no longer boasted. No man can reasonably be thought a lover of his country, for roasting an ox, or burning a boot, or attending the meeting at Mile-end, or registering his name in the lumber troop. He may, among the drunkards, be a hearty fellow, and, among sober handicraftmen, a free-spoken gentleman; but he must have some better distinction, before he is a patriot."


"It affords a generous and manly pleasure to conceive a little nation gathering its fruits and tending its herds with fearless confidence, though it lies open on every side to invasion, where, in contempt of walls and trenches, every man sleeps securely with his sword beside him; where all on the first approach of hostility come together at the call to battle, as at a summons to a festal show; and committing their cattle to the care of those whom age or nature has disabled, engage the enemy with that competition for hazard and for glory, which operate in men that fight under the eye of those, whose dislike or kindness they have always considered as the greatest evil or the greatest good."


Wise words!


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