I used to be a “love it or leave it” guy, I guess– back in my Boy Scout days– but then things got more complicated and I started reading books, listening to different opinions, doing a bit of traveling, seeing things for myself.
I wouldn’t consider myself patriotic right now. I still root for the American athletes at the Olympics but am much less disappointed if they don’t do well. And given the current leadership and combative atmosphere in this country, patriotism is a word I associate with ignorance and hubris. It gets thrown around and misused, or used as a weapon to threaten conformity to an authoritarian, Christian Nationalist agenda I have no desire to support.
So, no, since my understanding of patriotism comes with a layer of introspection and critique that the current administration finds aggravating, distasteful, and somehow unpatriotic.
3 Cents' 