Patriotism

What Patriotism Means to Me

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States we are seeing many forms of Patriotism. I was surprised

to find when I researched this word that it had a negative feeling associated with it. I believe that patriotism is actively showing your support for your country, standing up for what you believe in, and fighting for our individual free will and independence.

I am proud of my country and I am not ashamed to fly the American Flag. Many men and women have died to give me the freedoms that I take for granted. I applaud their patriotism, and I thank them for giving me my way of life. I will support them in protecting my country. I will try to elect officials who believe in the issues I do, and who work for the better good of all. I will not follow blindly and not ask questions or agree with everything my government says or does. I hope that you, as an American citizen will learn about your government and actively support it, by voting, writing your congressmen, and making a difference for peace.

In standing up for what I believe in, I will not be ignorant of other people. I can be assertive in my beliefs without trying to impose them on my fellow citizens. America stands for diversity and to have patriotism to her is to believe that all people have a right to believe in their

own system of values. I do not agree with Emma Goldman, who stated: "Patriotism assumes that our globe is divided into little spots, each one surrounded by an iron gate. Those who had the fortune of being born on some particular spot, consider themselves better, nobler, grander, more intelligent then the living beings inhabited by any other spot. It is therefore, the duty of everyone living on that chosen spot to fight, kill and die in the attempt to impose his superiority upon all others." On the contrary,