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| quote: | Originally posted by Spin Doctor
Once again – I still disagree. Though to add fuel to the fire, would you care to enlighten us as to how you would define Nationalism and Patriotism? |
Sure ... personally I like webster's definition:
patriotism
\Pa"tri*ot*ism\, n. [Cf. F. patriotisme.] Love of country; devotion to the welfare of one's country; the virtues and actions of a patriot; the passion which inspires one to serve one's country.
Love and devotion to the welfare of one's country implies neither blind disobedience or being proud about being born in a particular place. It is possible to love your country and disagree with your countries actions, and yet still be patriotic as long as your goal is to achieve a better nation.
This guy says it better than me although I might disagree with a minor point or two:
The True Meaning of Patriotism
by Mark Hofer, Broadside Magazine and Matt Hofer, Carolina Review
Events on and since September 11th have caused many to respond. Some have responded by placing American flags in front of their homes or on their cars. Others have protested until they got sore throats. Some have been called unpatriotic in their actions. However, this accusation is often used too loosely and degrades the potency of the accusation to those who deserve it. To be fair to those accusing and those accused of being unpatriotic it is essential to know what patriotism actually is.
The base of the word "patriotism" comes from the Latin word patria, meaning fatherland or homeland. The suffix "-ism" is Greek meaning belief in, practice of, or condition of. The literal definition is then belief in one's country. But patriotism goes beyond that definition. We all believe in France as a country, but are not necessarily French patriots. A better definition, and the one offered by Merriam-Webster Online, is "one who loves his or her country and supports its authority and interests."
Those who are saying that something is unpatriotic because it goes against government are simplistic. As everyone well knows, the government is not always correct in its decisions. Japanese internment camps, for example, were one of the American government's mistakes during World War II. 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were forcefully and indiscriminately placed in these camps to cut down on the number of Japanese spies in the United States. Although upheld by the Supreme Court and considered an issue of national security, history has proven any form of concentration camps atrocious.
Conversely, radicals who declare that democracy demands dissent are merely trying to justify their own senseless actions. Democracy demands dialogue and debate, not dissent, to encourage both sides of any issue to work toward the best, most developed conclusions. When we as a nation break into purely contradictory factions, then the constructive nature of the debate crumbles.
Many have declared themselves patriotic for simply expressing rights reaffirmed by the United States Constitution. However, expressing rights is not necessarily patriotic or constructive. For example, burning the US flag is certainly unpatriotic, though the right to do so is guaranteed by the 1st Amendment.
President Ronald Reagan made his views on what patriotism is clear in his Farewell Address on January 20, 1989.
"An informed patriotism is what we want. And are we doing a good enough job teaching our children what America is and what she represents in the long history of the world? Those of us who are over 35 or so years of age grew up in a different America. We were taught, very directly, what it means to be an American. And we absorbed, almost in the air, a love of country and an appreciation of its institutions. If you didn't get these things from your family you got them from the neighborhood, from the father down the street who fought in Korea or the family who lost someone at Anzio. Or you could get a sense of patriotism from school. And if all else failed you could get a sense of patriotism from the popular culture. The movies celebrated democratic values and implicitly reinforced the idea that America was special. TV was like that, too, through the mid-sixties."
Patriotism to him meant "a love of country and an appreciation of its institutions." This love and appreciation came from learning the history of our country, learning the democratic values for which so many have fought and died here and around the world. This was not the blind faith in the government or blind opposition to the government. This patriotism was the informed love and appreciation for the government. Fighting to change the country is patriotic, but you must know why you are changing it and why the new way is better.
What a shame it is that some have come to believe that patriotism is blind, unhealthy, or even vile. It is also shameful how patriotism has been oversimplified by some to mean unquestioning support for the government, which then allows radicals to rail patriots for any and all government institutions with which they disagree. Patriots Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson found themselves on opposing sides on almost all the big issues of their time, but today neither is more a patriot than the other. In the light of September 11th, patriotism should still be viewed through the seasoned lens of history.
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Retro ...
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