It suggests… values that are outdated. We may need to find another word to suggest a love of our country. Although large majorities of Americans have broadly shared views of patriotism, we found others who did not. Around six percent of Americans, most being younger adults, almost being Independents or Democrats, but roughly equal percentages of Whites, African Americans and Hispanics, expressed rejection of shared traditional patriotic values and love of country.
I think it is often just thinly veiled racism and over-zealous nationalism, which I view as damaging. This alienation is also reflected in the number of citizens who had trouble answering the question at all and in a follow-up question that asked, How important would you say being patriotic is in your daily life?
Four in ten of these younger Americans felt that patiriotism was unimportant in their daily lives. While the starkest lines of division surrounded age, we also found that Whites and Republicans felt patriotisms was very important, while Blacks, Hispanics, Independents and Democrats felt it was less important. Members of these groups seem to place first priority on helping people as individuals, with loyalty, pride and love of country coming second.
View the report as a PDF. Love of country, loyalty and respect The Mood of the Nation Poll is the only nationally representative poll that relies primarily on open-ended questions — allowing Americans to tell us, in their own words, about the issues of the day. Our summer poll added a special section on patriotism where we asked 1, online respondents, Patriotism means many things to many people. More than feelings, many feel patriotism requires action While most Americans imagine patriotism in terms of both feelings — such as loyalty, love and respect — and the public display of those feelings at commemorative events, about one in four felt that patriotism required more than that.
In , a cross-national team of political scientists measured the effects of each on the levels of social trust and voluntary association , both of which are strongly positively associated with personal well-being. They found that civic pride usually pushed both up, and ethnic pride pushed both down.
Sasha Banks: The problem with patriotism. Given the evidence, it is reasonable to conclude that patriotism, as we have traditionally understood it in the United States, is good for our happiness. If we are moving toward the latter in our society—as many argue we are —then, in terms of happiness, we are moving in the wrong direction. N o matter your political views or where you live, you can cultivate a patriotism of the healthy Tocquevillian sort, for your own benefit and to help inflect the national mood.
This requires that you follow two guidelines. There is nothing wrong with articulating the disagreements you might have with your fellow citizens; indeed, a competition of ideas is important for a free society. In the U. Conor Friedersdorf: Why many Americans are averse to unironic expressions of patriotism. To make this easier, try a trick developed by the marriage expert John Gottman.
He argues that all relationships have negative interactions; the problem is when those overwhelm the positive ones. For every complaint, he recommends making sure you offer five words of praise. Why not try it when talking about your country too? Unlike in so many places around the world, we can express our complaints loudly with little threat of harm from the government.
If you have the freedom to publicly air your grievances, celebrate it—and remember the people who have sacrificed for your right to do so. This is not a contradiction in terms. But other actions get less support. The country divides on whether it can be patriotic to criticize U.
Many issues are divisive for Democrats and Republicans, including the idea of whether someone can be considered patriotic after certain acts of protest. Related: Unvaccinated Americans are not worried about the Delta variant.
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