Patriotism looks sexy on everyone

Well, I don't think patriotism looks sexy on anyone but you do you. 😉

I still believe it’s possible to show genuine love for your country in public without being a hateful moron about it

Despite the huge numbers of people who are, in fact, hateful morons about it

It certainly is possible. Being German it's just always weird when people are patriotic... If you then add the fact that so many patriotic people are so far right, politically, that they basically remind me of Nazi Germany anyway it just never feels right. I think it's different for other countries... I just know Germany and the US well enough to know that far from everything is perfect and I could never show my appreciation for a country like that by wearing its flag or something similar. That by no means is to be taken as hate, btw. I'm glad I live in such a wealthy country with very functional law enforcement and pretty high standards overall. But as long as there are things I would like to change about it I can't really feel proud of my country, I think.

Somehow it's easier for me to appreciate other nations like the Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden,... and I'm not really sure why. Like, in my mind those are "better" countries than the one I live in but I don't know how much of that is true and how much of that is just ignorance of their problems.

Another thing that's much easier to me than patriotism for my country is patriotism for a more local or regional entity. I strongly identify with the region I live in and its heritage and I'm very proud of all the cultural achievements and "our" having gotten over the coal and the metal industry attached to it that made this region famous in the first place (at least for the most part) and having become a more diverse and innovative place overall. I have never worked in a coal mine nor has any of my relatives I have known in my lifetime and I really don't like the coal industry or how we still produce a quarter of our electricity from coal but I still identify with the whole picture of the dirty coal miner speaking in our dialect and being a bit simple to put it mildly. I think this is what patriotism feels like. You can't quite explain why but you just feel like this is home. Maybe most countries are just too diverse to have the same feeling for all of its citizens... 🤔🤷 I don't know.

Interesting thoughts.

As an American citizen, I definitely feel conflicted about our country rn. Our country is indeed exceptional right now: exceptionally bad. Our coronavirus response was the worst in the rich world and hundreds of thousands are dying because of it. Despite the fact that a 2019 report judged that the U.S. was the *best* prepared for a pandemic, our leadership totally fumbled the ball. Trump supporters are incapable of acknowledging let alone insisting on fixes to this acute crisis nd other creeping problems like climate change and institutionalized racism. Even if Trump loses in November, they aren't going to change their know-nothing conspiracy-theorist ways overnight or maybe ever.

But there are aspects of our country that are great. Our constitution was innovative and protected human rights before any other in the world. Our country has great roots in our recent past that we should return to. Not that things were better back then in every respect (especially with relation to racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.), but people had more respect for each other, for the government, and for science, and politicians got things done regardless of which party they were from.

I think George H.W. Bush's presidency was the pinnacle of America in many ways. We defeated the USSR without firing a shot and successfully managed the transition of many countries to democracy without gloating about it. We put together an international coalition to push Iraq out of Kuwait and stopped and came home when the job was complete. Every country on earth looked up to us. Pax Americana in many ways.

And now? We're a laughing stock -- and it pretty much started with this man's son and the Iraq War debacle, but has accelerated under Trump.

The liberal post-Cold War order that expanded freedom and democracy is collapsing, and the principled patriotic conservatives who once championed these ideas in a responsible way have all left the building.

America needs to get back on track and re-connect with its recent past and like-minded allies, or our country will continue to spiral out of control and the world is doomed to be carved up into Russian, Chinese, Turkish, Iranian, and other spheres of influence.

Cross-post with boobs imgflip.com/i/4f8wkr