Patriotic, to me, means you are a patriot. The T.E.A. Party is full of them. Also, the numerous militias around the country have quite a few patriots. The military has a considerable number, perhaps most. Many Lions Clubs, Rotary Clubs and other charitable organizations are made up of patriots. I would bet most of the domestic churches have predominantly patriots as their members. I would bet most county governments consist of patriotic people.
Then, we have the leadership of a criminal federal government, and the partisan rape of our national wealth by career politicians. The criminals raise their children and invite their friends to partake of the bounty. They work for international corporations, not the American people, and thus have international aspirations themselves that have nothing to do with representing the people of the U.S. They bring our children into wars overseas by brainwashing them into believing it is for national security.
They are not patriots, and any fight to expose them, and to hold them accountable in a court of law should be considered "patriotic."

Try living in the UK mate.
I'd give you 2 weeks before you're singing God Bless America.

Patriotism may be a thing of the past, but "blind patriotism" is certainly a thing of the present.

When I think "patriot," I think of someone who could say they'd defend the Constitution and Bill of Rights with their own life. I highly doubt most of the "patriots" can honestly say they would. Everyone else is just a citizen, not a bad thing, but half can't even claim that much.

Owning a SSN doesn't make you a patriot or a citizen. It just means your name is on a list somewhere, and you have a right to yell into the air, if you choose.

Here's what happened to patriotism. In 1776 patriotism was about getting rid of the globalist elite, the British.

The USA went bankrupt back in the great depression. The FED took over. A for profit banking cartel. They are pushing a globalist agenda to destroy the middle class and strip the USA of it's resources and wealth. They use the wealth to buy everyone in any position of power, the cops, the corporations, the government. Now they are actually afraid of REAL patriots who still want a free USA. The patriots have been labeled terrorists.

If your against the foreign banks, terrorist
If your against a hardcore police state, terrorist
if your against eugenics, terrorist
if you think you have rights and freedoms, terrorist

There's so many brain dead ignorant fools who believe the lies 100%. They believe the government is still by the people and for the people, they believe your only worth a damn if you were in the military serving your country.

what a joke.

Patriotism is defined as a love for, or devotion to, one's country. Sadly, it has been perverted into a sound byte used to double-bind, "trip up", &/or manipulate people. The old if I call my ideology "patriotic", and you disagree with me, I can accuse you of being "unpatriotic" (along with a whole host of other unsavory accusations) is what I mean. It is now a tool to dominate.
Patriotism doesn't rest on ideology, fads or trends of the day, or politics. It isn't a "cult" because it's shared by too many diverse people who happen to have formed a familial bond to the land they grew up on or possibly adopt later.
It still exists, but it is becoming muddied & will be lost if the manipulation continues much longer.

Under the true (or maybe I should say "original") definition of patriotism, a person devoted to their country would be highly indignant and defensive toward anything that threatened their beloved country's peace, way of life/ culture, and security. This isn't unnatural and has occurred again & again throughout history. Most wars happen/ed because of invasion & the inhabitants defending against invasion. No one who loves their country welcomes upheaval. They certainly don't want it imposed on them.

Mark Twain remarked that some of the stupidest words he had ever heard spoken were "my country, right or wrong".

As I study the concept of patriotism and its practice down through the centuries, certain things become clear. First and formost among my observations is that : Patriotism is ALWAYS practiced like a religion, until like a disease it ultimately results in getting people killed.

Patriotism is a marvelous tool for politicians, as it enables them an excuse to raise taxes necessary to pay rich defence contractors (also known as "Death Merchants") to build weapons that maime and destroy life in ever more gruesome and indiscriminate ways.

The Merchants of death, who are all guaranteed a 25% profit margin for every year they continue supporting the killing of others, are all too willing to kick back a few million for their favorite politicians...who, having remained in power by starting or continuing the spread of the empire, are eager to do it all again.

And where should they go? Lets see... there's a lovely little asian country with a HUGE resource of exotic woods right over there... Once we take it over, we can give control of it over to Brown and Root or one of the other major companies. We can even force them to take out loans from the world bank...loans they can never possibly repay...and then we drain them all right down to the last droplet of water -- even the water that falls from the sky. Yeah, we'll make em pay us for everything they've got. Its a beautiful plan...and lets face it...10 years from now, nobody will ever remember a tiny little country with a wierd name like....Vietnam

Hey! The commie's are coming... Send your kids to help us fight em off ! Be afraid ! Be afraid !

The same old song gets played out over and over again. Vietnam, Guatamala, El Salvador, Nicaragua , Iraq, Afghanistan and on and on and on.

And every time...the flag of "Patriotism" is leading the parade...marching side by side with "Fear".

We have a nation that is capable of amazing things... if only we could ever allow ourselves to drop the fear and forget all about "Patriotism"...at least when it is asking us to kill.

Of course, thats just my opinion...

Jenwolf

Originally posted by OldDragger
What ever happened to patriotism in our country?
I don't mean mindless knee jerk jingoism. Rah rah, love it or leave it.
I mean trying to contribute to the nation. Trying to do what's best for all of us.
It's easy to crticize , but does anybody, Congress on down really care about the nation ( as a nation) anymore?
Is anyone willing to work through our differences, compromise and solve problems?
Are you willing to help, or is everyone just in it for themselves these days? Is money ALL that matters?
Your thoughts?

Just a thought form a Brit on the subject of patriotism.

"In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way."
Franklin D. Roosevelt

With that in mind, a true patriot would be a person who questions absolutely every single thing a government does, and questions it openly and without fear. Flag wavers and people who are overt in their displays of patriotism are frightened children, but dangerous non the less. Same applies here as in the US

Just my tuppence worth