Patriotism

To me, patriotism isn't simply waving around a flag and saying how much you love your country. It isn't a contest. It isn't just being loud and proud about where you're from. No, to me patriotism is living your life in a manner that exemplifies the ideals that your country stands for. It's being the person that the founding fathers would have wanted you to be, and making the most out of the experience you have while chasing the "American Dream". To me that phrase is pretty subjective, I think it means something different to everyone, but to me personally, I believe it means that you are making the most out of the opportunity you have to take your life in the direction that you want and, in many other countries, wouldn't have the opportunity to do. There are too many people who call themselves patriots but are simply that in name only. They drape themselves in flags and scream on and on about how "American" they are, while remaining largely ignorant about what truly makes someone American in the first place. To often, those people that I'm referring to, fail to realize what this country is about. They get all up in arms about who they feel has the right to enter the country and they throw a fit if someone criticizes the actions of the nation while failing to realize that that is just as much of an American right as saying anything else. Patriotism also, obviously, carries different meaning to people from other nations. Each nation is based on different principles and each citizen therein takes those principles and views them through their own lenses, but America is unique in that it has more fanatics than any other nation in my opinion. Now, being loud and proud about it isn't necessarily a bad thing, but being a hypocrite is. Living selfishly is not what the countries founders had in mind. It's not enough to say that you love your country, you need to live in a manner in accordance with that. You need to see your countrymen as your family and try your best to treat them as such. You need to think of the country you live in not as one built on blood, but on ideology. Also, criticizing the country isn't a bad thing. It's not disrespectful, in fact, it's the opposite. Being critical of the actions of your country shows that instead of blindly loving it, you recognizes it's shortcomings and want it to better itself wherever and however it can. Waving the flag and bleeding red white and blue is all well and good, but actively trying to be a better citizen and bettering your homeland is something that's a lot harder, but much more necessary. Too many people confuse patriotism with nationalism. Charles De Gaulle said it best in his quote "Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first."