WHAT is "patriotism"?

[Just Me]

I thought "patriotism" was about fighting for principles which advanced people's freedom to progress.

Now, "patriotism" appears to be about a ruthless imposition of power upon anyone/everyone who is weak or oppressed or unfortunate.

I thought such aggression was commonly understood as evil.

What is "patriotism"?

[ironman202]

1. the last refuge of a scoundrel...

[mrbscott19]

10. "the last refuge of a scoundrel..."

I thought that was prayer.O8)

[ironman202]

12. no prayer is

to ask that the laws of the universe be anulled on behalf of an intercessor, admittedly unworthy.

[Just Me]

20. Even "scoundrels" prey.

They always have and always will.

WE will continue to nurture the best of our race,...the human race. "They" can't stop us.

[ironman202]

2. and furthermore...

conservatives lionize a President who speaks of “freedom,” as he enacts a program which threatens civil liberties here at home on the most fundamental level, and who speaks of “progress” in Iraq as that country descends further into bloody chaos with each day that passes. Bush is a man for whom concepts mean precisely nothing. The phrases he employs to justify his actions are devoid of content, and they refer to no specifics at all. And almost all his actions lead to results in reality which contradict the “ideas” he says he supports in utterly disastrous ways.
This is much deeper, and much worse, than mere hypocrisy, which is almost clean in intellectual terms by comparison. When someone is hypocritical, there is at least the hope of reaching him if we are able to make him see and acknowledge how his words are contradicted by his actions (and/or by other words). If someone alters his behavior after understanding his error, it is because he acknowledges at least to some extent the connection between words and particulars.
But if someone uses words and concepts in a manner which consistently reveals that those words mean absolutely nothing to him, it is not possible to reach him at all. There is nothing to reach—in the sense that there is no mind there capable of understanding what you are saying. On the most basic level, such people do not know how to think. When someone functions in this way—that is, when he is not capable of thinking in the most rudimentary manner—there is one method of survival that tends to overshadow all the others: membership in a group, or tribe, which he hopes will protect him.

[Just Me]

5. "They" use emotionally provocative words to manipulate and exploit,...

,...their own people. "They" have no allegiance, no commitment, no principles, no passion, whatsoever, for the best interests of our people (and "they" have proven their stunning willingness to sacrifice our people's LIVES and treasure to advance their obsession with their OWN power and profiteering; EWWWWW and they have the spiritualless gall to exploit Jesus Christ as some rationalization/justification for their profiteering *YAK*).

[rasputin1952]

6. Welcome to DU...

:D...:hi:

[DanCa]

3. Patriotism

Patriotism is doing whats best for ones country and not your party. For example if Karl Rove was a democrat I would want to see him nailed to the wall regardless of him being in my party.

[melissinha]

4. exactly

Patriotism is doing whats best for ones country.

Particularly when it is exposing things that are BAD for the country as a whole.

[atreides1]

7. It's Not Patriotism

The Repukes are not Patriots , they are Nationalists, like the Germans under Hitler.

They do not believe in free speech for all, just for themselves, they prefer a one party system of government, they would even allow
the formation of a state sponsored religion.

They are not patriots and anyone who supports the Republican agenda as it currently stands, isn't a patriot either, whether civilian or
military.

The patriots are those who believe in the Bill of Rights and the U.S.
Constitution, and will stand up for the rights of all Americans, even those that they disagree with.

Do you think that the Repukes and their sheep supporters would do that?

So the next time some Repuke brags about being a patriot, ask them would they sacrifice everything to defend the rights of all? If they say no, then tell them they're not a patriot they're a nationalist.

[rasputin1952]

8. I can tell you what 'Patriotism" is not:

It is not a false love of country that is only skin deep.

It is not a situation where, "My Country, Right or Wrong",is the only answer.

It is not the destruction of Civil Liberties based on fear, or any other aspect of human nature.

It is not Flags and songs.

It is not grand rhetoric about freedom, and then pushing for laws that would belay said freedoms.

It is not "First Amendment Zones".

It is not being a part of the military.

It is not anything the current administration stands for.

Patriotism is never cut and dried love of country. It is a deep respect and love for the ideals a nation stands for. It is dissent. It is anger when people are wronged. It is a belief that justice is truly blind and equal. It is a willingness to sacrifice for the good of all.

I am a veteran...but that does not make me a patriot. I am a Progressive Democrat, but that does not make me a Patriot. What makes me a Patriot is the fact that we can do better as a nation, and I am willing to sacrifice whatever fortune I might have in the future, go to prison for my principles, and place my life on the line, to pursue a future where all men and women of this nation will be treated with equality and dignity.

As far as Rove being an R and doing what he did, if a D had done the same, I would be calling for his/her head as well.

:patriot:

[mrbscott19]

9. Patriotism

Patriotism is the belief that you are somehow better than everybody else simply because of the country you live in. This goes for every country.

[newyawker99]

14. Hi mrbscott19!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Cocoa]

11. Britney Spears has the answer, as she always does

follow the president no matter what.

[Spider Jerusalem]

13. Patriotism = a "kinder, gentler" nationalism...

to rip a phrase from George Bush the First.

[Just Me]

15. "Patriotism" could be a commitment beyond "nationalism".

I think.

"Patrotism" could be a relentless passion for the principles which advcance humanity,...which the founders of this nation envisioned: a balance which would prevent oppression of the many by a few self-consumed assholes.

[Spider Jerusalem]

16. Except it's usually not.

Patriotism = love of and devotion to one's country.

Compare and contrast this def. for nationalism: A sentiment based on common cultural, poltical and geographic characteristics, that binds people to a territorial state. In extreme forms it can lead to xenophobic behavior.

That drive to advance humanity rather than holding it in shackles has nothing to do with patriotism or nationalism; if it did, it would only be interested in the betterment of one's fellow countrymen, and NOT of humanity in general.

[Just Me]

17. What's the opposite of "patriotism"?

Is the deception, manipulation and exploitation of your own people,...ANTI-PATRIOTISM?

[rasputin1952]

18. Treachery...being a traitor...

Rove, the administration...:evilgrin:

I would suppose being an anarchist would come pretty close.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

19. "..the passion of fools, and the most foolish of passions." Schopenhauer

"Patriotism is the egg from which wars are hatched." - de Maupassant