Is patriotism inherently conservative?
No.I think that as with so many other concepts (like liberty, justice, responsibility, etc.), cons and libs agree on a basic very simple definition, but then diverge on how that concept should be acted upon in reality.Love for one’s country. Who can disagree with that?How to show that love? There’s the rub.As liberal, I love the USA without being blind to its faults. I know it was formally founded on beautifully-articulated ideals — our greatest creation and proudest export. But I also face the fact that two great evils were critical to our success: genocide and chattel slavery, and that we never truly faced them with honesty and courage and humility.I’m loyal to the ideals of liberty and justice for all. I would never subvert them to give homage to the flag, or the anthem, or any other symbolic representation. That’s mistaking the starch for the shirt. To me, patriotism means a never-ending struggle to help the nation live up to the ideals. Liberty and justice for all, not some.The history of this country is the struggle to extend that ideal to more and more people — black people, women, gay people, native Americans.That’s what matters. Not jingoism or nationalism, but the ideal of liberty and justice for all. Equality under the law for all.Because I love this country, I want it to succeed and be a good member of the global community. We should lead the world in human rights, but we don’t. We should lead in science, education, and technology, but there are forces that want to pull us backwards instead. Our leaders should be a diverse group of people who are honorable, honest, wise, well-educated and well-informed. There’s no reason why we can’t invest in the health and education of all our people, for a brighter future for our country.For the moment, we still have the potential to be a powerful, compassionate, honorable country.