Patriotism

Hello DarkDancer,

Parriotism I think starts in their class rooms from young and Americans love America so I think with this going on it a big thing for them as for the U.K. what can I say, we are all bored with polictics and the only times we flag waveing and are so patriotic is when England is playing football against other countries._ friend

Tamarafireheart

I've always been patriotic, even before it was "cool", I guess you could say. I've always gotten emotional and have been moved to tears whenever the U.S. would win an Olympic Medal and the National Anthem would play while our athletes stood on the podium. I've been known to cry whenever songs like "God Bless the USA" would play. After 9/11 everyone became patriotic and then it got really crazy to the point that people were being accused of being anti-American for such silly things as not wearing a flag lapel pin. There is more to patriotism than wearing a pin that was made in china. I just started a discussion about patriotism as well, it was before I'd seen this one so I apologize if it seems like I copied, but I was also interested in what people had to say on this subject. I think Michelle Obama's comment about being proud of her country for the first time was blown totally out of proportion. As I said, I love American and all it stands for but that doesn't mean there haven't been times when I've felt less than proud in some ways and I though it was outrageous how nobody wanted to accept her explanation of what she meant when she said that. To me patriotism means love for one's country and, yes, a bit of national pride but it doesn't mean one must agree with and/or be proud of everything one's country and its leaders do and stand for.
Annie