Patriotism is a weird thing. Like, to be proud or whatever of a country you just happened to randomly, through no action of yourself, be borne into.
But it does differ from nationalism; that is to say, it’s not being proud because the people are all the same as you and different from everybody else. No, the Declaration of Independence and Constitution created a people apart from a mere nation—that is to say, the classical notion thereof of a people related and united by blood—a more a body republic of people from all parts of the world and all walks of life, united under those documents by the common belief in this country and its promise.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
With these words, a people was formed. It was a novel invention and experiment: could a body of assorted people become one nation, a people outside the auspices of national identity? 25o years later, the experiment seems to have proven successful.
And so, what we are proud of first is that very creation of a people, and secondly what that people, that body, has done since.
It hasn’t been spotless. Not even close. This country has done some abominable things. We committed genocide. We enslaved an entire race. We have caused and suffered racist and bigoted backlash again and again and again. We’ve started wars of choice based on lies. We’ve separated children from their parents at the border. We have elected to office some of the worst of humanity and we, but more so others, suffered the consequences.
But we have done a number of great things. We enshrined rights into a document that lives in perpetuity. We added to those rights. Many have worked tirelessly to make the country a better place for everyone, even against seemingly impossible odds.
It is a dark time in this country. The racists, bigots, idiots, and blowhards elected some of the worst people in the world to lead the country, even as we face problems all across the board. We are currently suffering under the presidency of the worst person who has ever held the office and is running the worst administration in history.
It may seen unpatriotic to hate this government. Love the country, love the government. But love doesn’t mean blind allegiance. No, love also requires the ability to criticize, point out flaws, and work to make them better.
This tyrant is currently holding a shitty gigantic birthday party for the country and thinks as a result that he owns patriotism. That accepting his blood lust and egomania is patriotism. That like the kings of old, that he embodies the state and represents it back to us. That is just not the case and never has been in this country. The founding documents created a people, not a King in Parliament. He is, simply, a servant of the people, even if he doesn’t act like it.
He thinks he can own patriotism. But, no, he can’t take this from us. We own patriotism, those who are proud of and defend democracy and the republican ideals of freedom, equality, and justice. We can be proud of this country while accepting its awful stories from history and now. We have to, it’s the only way to improve.
Indeed, if we didn’t love this country, we wouldn’t work so hard to make it better.
