Since I was up pretty late last night, being patriotic by participating in American folk singing, food sharing and joke telling, I am late to the discussion...and most of what I would say has been expressed eloquently by others.

Indeed, patriotism MUST involve the ability to love one's country while being as honest as possible about its flaws; and by implication, striving to improve the bad while exulting in the good.

What is seldom expressed when patriotism is touted, is that in countries like the United States, (large and multi-cultural), there are SO many different ideas of what IS good and what actually needs improvement & change. The very openness and freedom we celebrate allows individuals & groups to disagree about what we should value & BE patriotic about.
We (in the USA) currently are reaching the end of an administration which has seemed quite narrow & divisive about how patriotism should be expressed and defined....and here in Mudcat, I have spent far more time than I cared to responding to "America bashing" in some reasonable manner. I worked very hard to remain "patriotic" and respect & defend and love my country while attempting to explain that most of us were quite aware of current temporary deviations from sane behavior.

Patriotism requires **being aware**...as honestly as one can manage, of what one's country is doing, what its history is, and what its professed values are. If most citizens did that, we might need fewer discussions about "patriotism" as a concept.