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darkwolf131 t1_j6jehoa wrote

Reply to comment by Used_Pudding_7754 in Would you say that you identify more with NJ or the US as a whole? by mszanka

yeah.

The thing I don't get, and I get it, I'm beating the deadest of dead horses here, but the cognitive dissonance between that some consider "patriotism" and actual, patriotic actions and legislation.

Think about it: what's more patriotic than helping American people live better lives? Loving your country means loving its people, right? Following this logic, you'd think supporting things like paid parental leave, universal healthcare, and living wages is patriotism. But the ones who caw the loudest about being patriots largely seem to be against these things.

I think progressive politicians need to reclaim the "patriot" label. Just lean real hard into it, how voting for policies that benefit Americans is the most patriotic thing you can do. Don't let the ones who actively want to restrict Americans' rights be the ones hoarding the patriot label.

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tinker_toys t1_j6kmjtt wrote

They don't actually love America. They love corn fields, and white people, that "purple mountains majesty" stuff. They love the romanticized version of America that all the songs are about and that was kinda pushed on us as children (especially if you went through school while the Cold War was still on). The cognitive dissonance would hurt too much for them to admit that the country they love so much doesn't actually exist, and never has. So when we criticize the country we do have, and insist that there's room for improvement...well, America is already near perfect so we must just be unpatriotic, right?

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mszanka OP t1_j6ktfnq wrote

100000% this!

You typically won’t find me rocking any red, white and blue on the 4th, but along the lines of what you wrote, just wearing red, white and blue and buying a bunch of paraphernalia doesn’t make one a patriot… more likely a nationalist.

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