Patriotism: Part 4

I found it very interesting when the author brought up the fact that when a lot of people talk about America as their country, and how much they love it, they often don't fully understand what they're talking about. Are they talking about the land, the ideology, they myths, the people, the government? I think you can love any one of these things, maybe all of them, although I haven't heard many people talking about their love of the government. I don't think it's difficult to love the land, the one you were born in or not. You may not be especially fond of every rock or patch of grass you see, but I know that many people, myself included, do love the mountains, lakes, trees, etc. of the place where they grew up. As for the people, you may have a certain love for some of your countrymen, and share a kind of bond with them, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that they loved every single American by dint of being American, including rapists, serial killers, animal abusers, thieves, racists, etc. Loving your country, I think, goes beyond all of that. Every country was founded on certain principles, symbols, myths and ideals, many of them overlapping with other countries, and those are the things that seem to have the biggest impacts on the individual of that country. The mythology, ideology, and symbolism behind your country is what you love the most, whether or not those things are unique to your particular country. These things in America are most commonly represented by the ideas of freedom and rugged individualism, the symbol of the American flag and the Bald Eagle, and the myth of the American dream. I believe that these are the things that people most often refer to when talking about their love of America.