I was talking to one of my friends and he mentioned staying home on July 4, citing how there are a lot of really ugly things going on in the US.

After thinking about this myself, I’m starting to feel the same way. Instead of being proud of the country, I’m feeling like I’m just another wallet that companies and the government are trying to suck all the money out of.

The cost of living is going up, the housing market is a nightmare, I don’t feel very confident in our government at all, the job market is a nightmare…

I think I’ll be staying home this year too… anyone else?

  • FlashyWierz@ttrpg.networkEnglish
    6·
    19 hours ago

    July 4th is the day our nation was founded which is what merits the fanfare. I would also say that the “displays of patriotism” you may see are largely cherry picked examples. Your typical american doesn’t wear american flag regalia, much less own an american flag and wave it around.

    Right now, the reason you are seeing such a pronounced amount of patriotism for Independence day, and I use that term loosely, is due to it being both the 250th anniversary and the current unpopular administration trying to project an alternate reality where they are in tune with the will of the people and establish legitimacy.

    There is a lot that can probably be said about the erosion of patriotism in the US as it was co-opted by conservative groups in order to push unpopular policies throughout our nations brief span of existence and it likely ties into the destruction of our education system, but I’d rather let someone more knowledgable tackle that topic.

    • Petersson@feddit.org
      2·
      17 hours ago

      I deliberately exaggerated, but I dont’t understand patriotism in general (see comment under OPs response on my comment).

      • FlashyWierz@ttrpg.networkEnglish
        2·
        15 hours ago

        Ah, I misunderstood then. To oversimplfy patriotism is being able to love the people, thoughts, and accomplishments of a community (country) that you belong to while seeing and understanding its flaws.

        I’ve seen some other comments here describe it to various extremes but there is a clear line between patriotism and nationalism (e.g. Nazis, MAGA, etc) A patriot understands that their country isn’t infallible, a nationalist beilieves it is.

        For some people the only thing they have is this sense of belonging to a group, and for others this sense of belonging is what incites them to implicitly care for the success of others.

        To clarify not everyone is a patriot, nor a nationalist. People have a wide range of feelings and perceptions on the idea of a nation and their place in it.

        I apologize if this doesn’t provide more clarity. The topic of patriotism is largely a philisophocal one that would take more time to yap about than I have on my lunch break lol