Why are Americans so Patriotic?

[Sparkytheyetti]

One specific thing comes to mind. The troops. People hate on the troops for being baby killers and momma rapers, or just feeding the evil government machine. When honestly a soldier is just like every other person. They go to work, do the job they were hired to do, and go home. When put into a war, they do whatever is necessary to get back to base, and home, safely. Politics, generally, have nothing to do with when a soldier goes to war. They are ordered to do a job. Just like everyone else. Only they can go to jail for saying no of instead of just being fired.

People wonder why we are like, "Think of the troops. Brings our men and women home. Support a soldier." It's because we did the exact opposite during Vietnam. We treated our soldiers like fucking convicts. We'd beat them, spit on them, tell them they're not real men, their unpatriotic. Now we've learned that is unpatriotic and just down right cruel. Plus put in the civil rights movement of top of that with all the other crap during the 60's.

Personally, i wanted to serve. I still plan on it. When i got out of high school i wanted to be one of two things. A welder or a soldier. Well i couldn't meet enlistment standards at the time so i went to work. I made MRAP's for the military for 3 years. When the need for them was incredibly high because of IED's and roadside bombs. I was proud to do that. I worked 7 days a week, 12 hours a day for 6 months. I walked in everyday though thinking i was making a difference and, Hopefully, bringing a soldier home in one piece. I've even had a few soldiers thank me on occasion. I couldn't be any more proud to be American. Just because i was making a small difference.

Now, i love my country and am willing to fight for it on any occasion, regardless of the reasons. I may not like it, and i may not agree with it, but id do it. I may hate some of the things my government does, but i still love my country. I wont go up to any person and say,"love america or get the fuck out." But i do have a sense that i come from a certain place, and i love it regardless. Even if i don't agree with it sometimes.

Patriotism: Loving your country, but not being afraid to question it.

 

[TheGreatAndPowerfulZOG]

American Patriotism is taught to children from an early age, in both the family and in public schools.

I'm an American, and what they're doing here is essentially brainwashing.

If you're over here, and you think we shouldn't be a union of 50 states, like I do, you're regarded as a traitor.

Hardly. Some of the Republican presidential candidates believe Lincoln should have let the Confederacy secede.

that includes me, but I wouldn't consider myself Republican.

But honestly, the ones that do aren't the viable candidates.

There's a viable Republican candidate? But I agree as well, there were some noble causes for going to war but the cost was catastrophic and it's still being felt today. For one thing, if we let them secede we wouldn't have to deal with the red states...

 

[Dfskelleton]

Isn't everyone a little patriotic? If you don't like your country, why do you live there? Well, I guess like in everything else, there's always that minority that takes it too far, and then everyone else gets grouped in with them.
I like my country (America). It's nowhere near perfect, but I don't think anywhere is. Plus, we have a really snazzy flag.

 

[Brainpaint]

Which country you end up "belonging" to is an accident of birth...

Just so happens than my accident gave me a bitchin' accent!

Indicentally, also a heavily patriotic country. To it's severe detriment. If you're not from Scotland and live there, you get treated a hell of a lot harshly than those just passing through. Basically, there are a lot of backstabbing behaviour. One family my sister knew got a window-bricking just because the mother was English.

"Your country is lovely!"
"Cheers, pal. Yie stayin' here long, like?"
"Actually, I've been living here for five years now. I have two children that go to the local school and I'm part of the local council."
"Oh, right. We got ourselves another wannabe CONQUEROR... F**K AFF YA HAIRY BAWBAG WHITE SETTLER!"

What America's got is tame by personal comparison. A friend of mine once had a Virginian girfriend and she came over to stay for a fortnight. From what I recall she said Scotland was equal to if not slightly more patriotic than America. Flags on almost every car, flags out of every tenth window, flags on every 20th shirt, flags flags flag flag flags sold everywhere.

Actually, technically what Scotland's got is "Nationalism". Less like "Our country is great!" and more like "It's ours, It's better than every other country in the world, our people are superior and nobody else can have it!"

 

[Tyzamar]

I think it's mostly the older generation. I work for my state and I have to take the flags down every night. If you take the US flag down before the state one the older guys who work there flip shit and yell at you. It's pretty ridiculous. I could honestly give a shit about patriotism/America. I wish New Hampshire would secede from the country. That'd be a dream come true.

 

[Kadoodle]

We're not. Maybe in the middle of the country where it's most backwards we do, but on the coasts (where the important stuff happens) we aren't so proud of our country.

 

[Whytewulf]

Like videogames, countries have their fanboys and they don't represent the majority.

I would disgagree. I would suspect the majority of Americans are Patriotic. You may not always like the actions our government takes, but you can still be patriotic. I suspect the people on this forum, are more the minority, representing specific interests and are often vocal about youth like topics. Which is usually Vogue to speak out against the leadership or actions of those we didn't vote for or grow up with.

 

[Baresark]

I find most criticisms of America are very fair. Some are ridiculous though. But that goes with any stereotype. What annoys me is when people criticize something that's not true, or based off of false beliefs. I have found myself in the sticky situation of defending America (not a favorable place to be).

Patriotism, no matter who is doing it, tends to be foolish. It is the result of having a lack of realistic views. And it shows how little critical thought people put into what they say.

 

[freakonaleash]

cuz this is 'murica

 

[Death God]

Because the idea of patriotism has been pumped into our heads since birth. There is nothing wrong with some pride in your own country but people usually take it over the top because the minute somebody says something "un-patriotic" then, in this day and age, people think it is talk of rebellion and communistic and so on and so forth. I like our nation's principle and ideals and such but the people we have running it are not always the best. I love my country, but not so much that I verbally attack anyone with the slightest hint of dislike in america.

 

[The Gnome King]

it might be just an unfair stereotype, but it's generally believed that if you badmouth america, any nearby americans will go up in arms and get very angry, and i'm just wondering why. Just to clarify, i have nothing against america, but i hardly think it's anything to write home about. and don't say that anyone would be that way about their home country, because if someone came up to be and said "hey, england's crap!" i'd just say "yeah, it is a bit"

I think quite a few nationalities are patriotic, not just Americans. Try badmouthing Iran to an Iranian, for example. Many people take pride in their nation.

I'm not necessarily one of those people. I'm more of a one world/one world government type person, myself.

It's like saying "All Asians are good at math" or "All British people have bad teeth and stay calm and carry on" - stereotypes, mostly. I know quite a few Americans who would live this sinking ship if they could.

 

[Axyun]

Like videogames, countries have their fanboys and they don't represent the majority.

I would disgagree. I would suspect the majority of Americans are Patriotic. You may not always like the actions our government takes, but you can still be patriotic. I suspect the people on this forum, are more the minority, representing specific interests and are often vocal about youth like topics. Which is usually Vogue to speak out against the leadership or actions of those we didn't vote for or grow up with.

There's a difference between being objectively patriotic (me + most Americans) and being blindly patriotic (few Americans) and throwing a hissy fit when the country is criticized like the OP stated.

I didn't say the majority of Americans aren't patriotic (the truth is quite the opposite), just that we are not raving jingoists like the OP made us out to be.

 

[Imperiused]

I'm American, and I'm rather fond of this country, but I am far from patriotic. I sometimes feel that I judge my nation a little harshly sometimes. And sometimes not harshly enough.

 

[Whytewulf]

What I find interesting, in this decent question, is it often brings out the "I hate America because" people. What I think people confuse Patriotism with is Narcassism or Jingoism, which there are many people out there like that, but that's not the question you asked. But I think overall, the majority would be a patriot called up to defend their country, not just in a war but through words, debate and positive action.

Being a Patriot and standing up for your country's core values is important. It's a very cultural thing in the US. "Proud to be an America", "Born in the USA", "Made in America", etc. We are a young country, born out of rebellion, we are less than 250 years old. We also became a very powerful country, very quickly, with our industrialism and powerful military, we became leaders in the World. This is why many countries tried to emulate the US and in some case still are.

What I think people focus too much on, is where we are at today, or what we've done in the last 10 years. There is a lot more to a country than it's latest act. Anyone older than 30, remembers the 80's, when there was the cold war, and it was the US vs. the USSR, people were taking sides to some extent. Outside of the 50's I suspect that was such a high period of pride and capital excess that made other developing countries want to be like that. We focus so much on our mistakes of the last decade that they also forget some of the great things done in the last 250 years that lead to the US being what it is today. We may bend, we may sway, but I think the core values are still there. I surely hope we still stand proud and can be a top country in the next 20 years.

Why do kids say the Pledge of Allegience? Why not. Why can't you say you will be allegient to your country? People forget not long ago there were too many questions about such things. Allegience isn't blind obedience though. Not doing so, could easily lead to destruction of the country from the inside. And though people may think that is a good, I don't we are ready to start over.

Freedom and liberty, are traditions in the US that you don't get everywhere else. I am talking in the grand scale not isolotated incidents, which I think occur everywhere, but the US has so much openness all warts are shown. We can't hide anything. You may think that US is heading into a bad direction, and I may agree, we have a lot of things to fix, but some can't be fixed over night. I get a bit miffed when people talk about problems, without offering solutions. So point out a problem and a suggestion, but don't think there are only problems. My goodness, look at all the good the US does. It's great that we can bring them to forefront and addresss them. So people over 50 still remember their parents talking of WWII, and during thar period pride swelled, industralism flourished, scientific discoveries were numerous. The US has done a lot of good things in the past and still do today, but people would rather focus on the issues or in many case focus on the superficial (Top news stories are Michael Jackson's Dr., Lindsey Posing Nude, someone having a 20th kid) and it drives me nuts..

So in the end, the US is a proud country and will defend her. I think some of it, we think we are the protector, big kid on the block, so we believe we have to put on a good face. But really, there is a lot to be proud of, so why not? Again Patriosm is good, Jingoism not so much.

 

[Whytewulf]

Like videogames, countries have their fanboys and they don't represent the majority.

I would disgagree. I would suspect the majority of Americans are Patriotic. You may not always like the actions our government takes, but you can still be patriotic. I suspect the people on this forum, are more the minority, representing specific interests and are often vocal about youth like topics. Which is usually Vogue to speak out against the leadership or actions of those we didn't vote for or grow up with.

There's a difference between being objectively patriotic (me + most Americans) and being blindly patriotic (few Americans) and throwing a hissy fit when the country is criticized like the OP stated.

I didn't say the majority of Americans aren't patriotic (the truth is quite the opposite), just that we are not raving jingoists like the OP made us out to be.

Then I agree, and I misunderstood your comments. I didn't read the OP saying the people he was referring to as being "raving jingosits" just defending their country. I am a fan of the country and would defend the US, but I wouldn't say everything we do is great. Heck, I like a good debate. It's one reason I stay here. I like to visit other countries, but none have caught my eye as a place I would rather go to.

 

[mercenator3000]

We have a lot of differing perspectives here. I personally don't particularly take offense this stereotype because I have encountered it many times. I'm not exactly sure why we have so many outspoken "patriots" here, but the truth is that the cast majority are calm people who, like me, don't really care. The obnoxious ones are just the most vocal.

 

[That_Sneaky_Camper]

Having patriotism for a country is the only way the country in question can survive. Would the Romans for example have lasted for over a thousand years if everyone said, "Man Rome sucks. Let's get the hell out of here." No they wouldn't have.

Patriotism is encouraged for a well-to-do country that has established and accomplished many great things in its time and provides a certain quality of life for its people. If a country is a shit-hole controlled by a corrupt government or consumed in crime and civil war then obviously the people wouldn't have much reason to be patriotic over it. Places like England and Rome? They had empires that covered much of the world, they did something worthy of being recognized.

So America may be young on the world stage but we have accomplished a great deal in just 235 years, we became a super-power for a reason. I hesitate to call it the American Empire but if you think about it America is sort of following in the footsteps of Rome and England when it was an Empire.

 

[maturin]

How'd you work that out? Norway's existed since 872, Sweden since about the 6th century, England's been with us for roughly 1000 years, Britain since 1707, France since 987 etc.

I was thinking of Germany, mostly, and then Belgium, Austria, Hungary, Greece, pretty much every Balkan country, Poland, former Czechoslovakia, Finland, the Baltic states (?) and Ireland. Too lazy to look up Romania. Probably a bunch of those little postage stamp countries too.

And American national identity has existed longer than some of those nations, even those with histories stretching back before Roman times.

 

[itsausernamewhatofit]

Eh I'm American and if you told me "Your country kinda sucks" I'd say yeah it does but I can't really think of anywhere much better. I've got a good life, I can't complain. Every country kinda sucks in their own special way.

 

[maturin]

"Patriotism is the conviction that your country is superior to all others because you were born in it."