Every morning around the country, millions of students recite the Pledge of Allegiance. This ritual is meant to instill patriotism in children and teach them to feel pride and love for their country. While loving and feeling pride in a country is not inherently a bad thing, it has a potential danger. We are taught in our formative years that the United States is the land of the free and home of the brave, and that we are lucky to live here. While this is true in some ways, it omits the fact that this country is far from perfect, that we have major issues that need to be addressed. The childlike notion that we are an ideal country we are taught from a young age impedes progress directly. Because if we are unable to accept that things need to change, how can we take the necessary steps to implement those changes?
Patriotism is one of the many ways hegemonic ideologies are enforced. A hegemonic ideology is the way a dominant group makes its ideology, and the systems it has implemented associated with ideology, appear to be superior to all others and “common sense.” In the case of patriotism, by teaching children that we live in a country that is the model for justice and freedom, we also teach them that how our society is set up is flawless and needs to be maintained. This creates adults who refuse to acknowledge the flaws in our country and condemn any attempts to solve them as an attack on their way of life. Even if these changes would benefit them, people can’t reconcile the idea that there are important changes that need to be made in this country with their belief that their country is without flaws. For example, despite America’s absurdly unequal wealth distribution, where the top ten percent own almost two thirds of the wealth, many refuse to accept that our current economic system is flawed. They can’t help but see America’s free market as an ideal model of equality and justice.
Patriotism can also be used to mask the morality of a country’s actions. If you truly believe your country is perfect and a force for good in the world, you are likely to accept its actions as good, or at least necessary, without thinking critically about the ethics of those actions. This can be seen in many Israeli people’s denial of their government’s abhorrent treatment of Palestinians. Israel is a country where patriotism is central to its culture. Everywhere you go in Israel, you can see evidence of this: Israeli flags waving proudly, high participation in national events and strong preference for Israeli-made products. Similar to in the United States, Patriotism is heavily emphasized in Israeli schools, especially in education about the country’s history, leading many Israelis to take pride in the history and origin of Israel. This cultivation of patriotism allows the Israeli government to commit what has been declared by the United Nations as a genocide, with, at least initially, minimal resistance from its citizens.
While patriotism does have these potential dangers, that does not make it entirely a bad thing. It can help create a sense of belonging and community, create respect for the laws of a country and increase civic engagement. All of these are extremely important to any functioning society and because of this, patriotism is an important aspect of any nation.
So, what can we do about patriotism’s very real dangers if it also has many important positives? We must simply remain aware of the dangers and ensure we do not let our love for our country stop us from thinking critically about its current state and actions. We should also attempt to give children a more nuanced view of our country’s strengths and weaknesses in their formative years, instead of simply singing its praises without any mention of its shortcomings.