> ...but that in the USA patriotism does appear to be so very high on the list of priorities, and to my mind patriotism is just a form of saying keep out, mine, to the rest of the world.
> ...
> Just because I'm *glad* to be living in a place where I don't have to live in fear of being shot every day, where I can safely study to a high level doesn't mean I'm proud of the politicians and beaurocrats who...

If that's the way you define patriotism, ok, but if you're thinking that's what Americans hold for patriotism, there's a misunderstanding here, and small wonder you're not keen on that patriotism.

I love my country. "Patriotic" is a word I describe myself with with pride. I don't just love it in the sense that it's a great place to live -- I love all of what makes the United States the United States. I love the ideals it was founded upon. I love its land and its people. I love its history, its culture, and the products of its labor.

But none of this implies anything you take patriotism to be. I *don't* have a "keep out, rest of the world" attitude at ALL. I spent eight years in Europe and was absolutely enchanted with its histories and cultures. For all the rivalry between the U.S. and the U.K. that I myself teasingly engage in, I adore our friends across the pond -- I can't wait to visit it again and show my wife around. The Alps of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria inspire in me a kind of awe that nothing else can duplicate. My oldest online friend is a Canadian. In my trip report to New Zealand from last year, I called it paradise.

While it's true you'll find a number of Americans who think less of other nations than I do, don't mistake patriotism for national prejudice just because some hold both.

As for politicians and bureaucrats, that's *definitely* not a quality of typical American patriotism. Americans are (arguably) more cynical about their own politicians than most other nation's peoples are about theirs. Some believe in specific politicians (I remain a spirited defendant of President Bush [usually], but I'm at odds with other Americans on that more often than those of other nationalities), but very few think much of the current batch of politicians and bureaucrats as a whole. (I don't.) But so what? I don't know how you define what your country is, but I certainly don't define it exclusively in terms of its government. A nation's government is a part of the nation but not all of it. Not even most of it.

That leads in to what I really want to say in this post. Namely, that love of country (which is what I'm calling patriotism) doesn't mean blind belief in the righteousness of everything it does. From the outside, it may look like Americans hold such a belief, but that's because we don't take criticism well from others (partly because we take so damn MUCH of it, even just from our *allies*, and also partly because we sometimes feel we aren't appreciated for those things we do right). But I/we certainly don't think we are perfect.

But what do love and perfection have to do with each other? I love my country while acknowledging its mistakes. My love for it does not make me gloss over its problems, and nor does my understanding of its imperfections mar my love for it. Love doesn't work like that. If it does, it's not love. Analogize love of country with love of an individual (spouse, parent, sibling, child, friend, take your pick), and maybe this helps explain what I mean. You can love an individual that doesn't do *anything* right, and you can do it without supporting those wrong actions.

Anyway, that's what *I* mean when I say that I am patriotic about my country. Other Americans may be patriotic in other ways, but I honestly don't think that the majority of the patriotism held by Americans in general is far off from my own.

Americans in general are very critical about their country but they love it with a passion, and frankly I think that's the way it should be. Yeah, maybe that means we love the U.S.A. more than we love Australia. But just because your brother's kids love their own parents more than you doesn't mean they think ill of their uncle.