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Essay on Patriotism

Patriotism is more than just a word; it's a feeling that resides deep within the hearts of individuals who share a common bond with their country. In simple terms, patriotism is the love and devotion one has for their homeland. This essay explores the essence of patriotism, its significance in our daily lives, and how it contributes to the overall growth and prosperity of a nation.

Defining Patriotism

At its core, patriotism is about love and loyalty to one's country. It's the recognition of the values, culture, and shared history that bind people together. This sentiment is not limited to grand gestures or extraordinary acts; it often finds expression in simple, everyday actions that collectively contribute to the betterment of society.

Love for the Land

Patriotism begins with a genuine love for the land one calls home. It's about appreciating the natural beauty, diverse landscapes, and resources that make a country unique. Whether it's the rolling hills, expansive plains, or the sparkling waters that surround us, patriotism involves recognizing and cherishing the inherent beauty of our homeland.

Cultural Identity

A strong sense of patriotism is closely tied to cultural identity. It's the pride in the traditions, languages, and customs that have been passed down through generations. Embracing and celebrating cultural diversity fosters a sense of unity, enriching the fabric of the nation with a tapestry of different backgrounds and experiences.

Shared History

Patriotism is also rooted in a shared history that forms the foundation of a nation. Understanding the struggles, triumphs, and challenges faced by previous generations fosters a sense of continuity and responsibility. By acknowledging the sacrifices made by those who came before us, we honor their legacy and contribute to the ongoing narrative of our country.

Individual Responsibility and Civic Duty

One of the essential aspects of patriotism is the recognition of individual responsibility and civic duty. It's not just about enjoying the benefits of living in a particular country; it's about actively participating in its growth and development. This can range from voting in elections to volunteering in local communities, each act contributing to the collective well-being of the nation.

Patriotism in Daily Life

While grand displays of patriotism, such as national celebrations and parades, are noteworthy, it is in the small, everyday actions that the true essence of patriotism is often found. Acts of kindness, respect for fellow citizens, and a commitment to upholding shared values are all expressions of patriotism in daily life.

Respecting Differences

A patriotic individual understands the importance of unity in diversity. Respecting the differences among fellow citizens, whether they be cultural, religious, or ideological, is a testament to a mature and inclusive patriotism. It involves fostering an environment where everyone feels valued and accepted, contributing to a stronger and more harmonious society.

Environmental Stewardship

Caring for the environment is another manifestation of patriotism. Recognizing that the health of the land directly impacts the well-being of its inhabitants, a patriotic person takes measures to protect and preserve natural resources. This can involve sustainable practices, conservation efforts, and a commitment to reducing one's ecological footprint.

Education and Knowledge

Promoting education and knowledge is a patriotic act that invests in the future of a nation. By valuing learning, supporting educational initiatives, and encouraging intellectual curiosity, individuals contribute to the development of a knowledgeable and skilled population. A well-educated society is better equipped to face challenges and drive innovation, ensuring the continued progress of the nation.

Economic Contribution

Contributing to the economic prosperity of the country is an integral part of patriotism. This involves not only being a responsible consumer but also actively participating in the workforce. Whether through entrepreneurship, hard work, or innovation, individuals play a crucial role in building a robust and thriving economy that benefits everyone.

National Pride and Unity

Patriotism fosters a sense of national pride and unity. This pride extends beyond individual accomplishments to a collective celebration of the achievements of the entire nation. It's about recognizing and highlighting what makes the country unique and exceptional, fostering a shared sense of identity that transcends individual differences.

Challenges and Criticisms

While patriotism is generally seen as a positive force, it is essential to acknowledge that blind nationalism and exclusionary practices can emerge if taken to extremes. A healthy patriotism embraces diversity and encourages open dialogue, recognizing that different perspectives contribute to the strength and resilience of a nation.

Patriotism: A Historical Perspective

An essay on patriotism seems incomplete without delving into the historical context, particularly the role of freedom fighters. They are the heroes of times when the quest for freedom ignited the spirits of individuals who sought independence in economic, social, political, and cultural aspects.

India's Patriots

The history of India’s freedom struggle shines through the immortal courage of heroic personalities like Veer Damodar Savarkar, Mahatma Gandhi, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and many more. These great patriots fought for the country and against the atrocities perpetrated on the countrymen.

Singing slogans of ‘Vande Mataram’, ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, ‘Jay Hind’, these patriots went to the cross for the country with a smile on their faces and pride in their hearts. A very inspiring quote by Swami Vivekanand, says, “Do you love the country? Then, come, let us struggle for higher and better things; look not back, no, not even if you see the dearest and nearest cry. Look no back, but forward!”

The gist of Swami Vivekanand’s thought is that when you have started your journey on the path of the country’s welfare, then there must not be any looking back. All you need is to create a list of the priority things that you want to do for your country. Once you accomplish one thing just move ahead with the next one. The slogans like Jai Hind or Bharat Mata ki Jai work as your motivation on the path of doing something for the country. So, are you prepared to do something special for the nation?

Patriotism in Different Roles

People express their patriotism in different ways and in different roles. Soldiers, scientists, doctors, politicians, and other citizens express their patriotism through their hard work in their profession.

Indian soldiers are role models for the youth of India. Highly scrupulous, positively secular, completely apolitical, with an ethos of working hard, simple needs and frugal habits, a soldier is the epitome of courage and unflinching devotion to the country.

Mangalyaan or Mars Orbiter Mission is one of the best examples of scientists' devotion toward the country. In the pandemic situation, the hardship of doctors and nurses proves their devotion towards their country.

Patriotism does not always mean that you have to sacrifice your life for your country; contributing good service towards the country and its people is also equivalent to your sacrifice.

Mathunny Mathews has set a great example of patriotism. Mathews was an Indian, a resident in Kuwait, and was one of the people credited with the safe airlift evacuation of about 1, 70,000 Indians from Kuwait during the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Only celebrating the flag hoisting ceremony on 15th August and 26th January, posing for photos with the flag, and posting on social media doesn’t imply that you are a true patriot. A real patriot is a person who has a true love for his country. He fights against the atrocities upon his countrymen by insiders or outsiders of the country.

Patriotism by Freedom Fighters

An essay on patriotism seems incomplete without the mention of freedom fighters. They are the heroes of the times when we all wanted to get freedom. We all need freedom in economic, social, political, and cultural aspects. These were the people who did not give a second thought before offering complete sacrifice to stay in a free country.

Patriotism is a simple yet profound celebration of love for our country. It encompasses a range of sentiments, from appreciation of the land and culture to a commitment to individual responsibility and civic duty. Patriotism is not a static concept; it evolves as societies grow and change. By embodying the principles of patriotism in our daily lives, we contribute to the collective well-being of our nation, ensuring a brighter future for generations to come. In the end, patriotism is about recognizing the beauty in our shared journey and working together to build a stronger, more united society. Explore the meaning of patriotism, its significance, and the diverse ways in which people express their love for their country. Learn about the role of patriotism in the lives of individuals, from freedom fighters to modern-day citizens, and understand how it contributes to the development of a nation.

FAQs on Patriotism Essay

1. How is patriotism important for a country?

Patriotism helps in promoting brotherhood and belongingness among the citizens of a country. Corruption takes a back seat when the feeling of fraternity exists among the citizens. Also, the love for one’s country creates a feeling of responsibility towards the countrymen and brings forth the best of their services, in various fields.

For example, when an IAS officer is a true patriot at heart, he will ensure that there is no corruption in his immediate system and best efforts are being delivered by his team. Similarly, doctors, soldiers, scientists, and people from every walk of life put their best efforts into serving their countrymen, when they have patriotism deep down in their hearts.

2. What are the important points to be written in an essay on patriotism?

The following outlines will help you write an essay on patriotism in your own words.

What is the meaning of patriotism in simple words?

How is patriotism different from nationalism?

Who were the great patriots of India?

Role of patriotic personalities in India’s freedom struggle.

Showcasing patriotism on Independence Day and Republic Day through social media posts is not always a sign of true patriotism.

How does patriotism play a role in the development of a nation?

These are the basic points for this essay topic, and you may add more examples of patriotic personalities and emphasize the role of patriotism in safeguarding the interests of a nation, in your essay, depending upon the required word count.

3. How can I express my patriotism?

There are many ways to express your patriotism. Some common examples include:

Participating in civic duties, such as voting and volunteering.

Obeying the law and respecting the national symbols.

Educating yourself about your country's history and culture.

Supporting your country's athletes and teams in international competitions.

Contributing to social causes and community development efforts.

4. Is patriotism the same as nationalism?

No, patriotism and nationalism are not the same. Patriotism is a positive feeling of love and pride for one's country, while nationalism can be a more extreme and exclusionary ideology that emphasizes the superiority of one's own nation over others.

5. Can patriotism be dangerous?

Yes, patriotism can be dangerous if it is used to justify harmful actions, such as discrimination against other countries or groups of people. It is important to remember that patriotism should be combined with other values, such as tolerance, respect for human rights, and a commitment to international cooperation.

6. What are some good examples of patriotism in history?

There are many examples of people who have expressed patriotism in positive ways throughout history. Some famous examples include:

Martin Luther King Jr.'s fight for civil rights in the United States.

Mahatma Gandhi's nonviolent resistance to British rule in India.

Nelson Mandela's fight against apartheid in South Africa.

The volunteers who helped rebuild communities after natural disasters.

7. What are some common arguments against patriotism?

Some people argue that patriotism is outdated, irrelevant, or even harmful. Some common arguments against patriotism include:

It can be used to justify war and violence.

It can lead to blind obedience and a lack of critical thinking.

It can be used to exclude and discriminate against minority groups.

It can be a form of tribalism that creates divisions between people.

Essay on Patriotism for Students and Children

500+ words essay on patriotism.

Essay on Patriotism: Patriotism refers to the passionate love one has for their country. This virtue pushes to citizens of a country to work for their country selflessly and make it better. A truly developed country is made up of true patriots. In other words, patriotism means keeping the country’s interest first and then thinking about oneself. Patriotism can be specifically seen during times of war. Moreover, it helps in building the nation stronger. There are other significances of patriotism as well.

Significance of Patriotism

Usually, we refer to our country as our motherland. This further proves that we must have the same love for our country as we have for our mother. After all, our country is no less than a mother; it nurtures us and helps us grow. Everyone must possess the virtue of patriotism as it makes it better.

In addition, it also enhances the life quality of the citizens . It does that by making people work for the collective interest of the country. When everyone works for the betterment of the country, there would be no conflict of interest. Thus, a happier environment will prevail.

After that, peace and harmony will be maintained through patriotism. When the citizens have the spirit of brotherhood, they will support one another. Hence, it will make the country more harmonious.

In short, patriotism does have great importance in developing the country. It eliminates any selfish and harmful motives which in turn lessens corruption. Similarly, when the government becomes free of corruption , the country will develop faster.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Great Patriots of India

India has had a fair share of patriots from the very beginning. The struggle for independence gave birth to various patriots. These patriots have made a lot of sacrifices for the county to flourish and prosper. Their names have gone down in history and are still taken with respect and admiration. Some of the greatest patriots of India were Rani Lakshmi Bai, Shaheed Bhagat Singh, and Maulana Azad.

Rani Lakshmi Bai was one of the most famous patriots of the country. Her courage and bravery are still talked about. Her name always comes up in the revolt of 1857. She revolted against the British rule and to fight for independence. She gave her life fighting on the battlefield for our country.

Shaheed Bhagat Singh is another name that is synonymous with patriotism. He was determined to free India from the clutches of the British rule. He was a part of several freedom struggles. Similarly, he also started a revolution for the same. He dedicated his life to this mission and died as a martyr for the love of his country.

Maulana Azad was a true patriot. The first education minister of India played a great role in the freedom struggle. He traveled through cities and created awareness of the injustices by the British. He united people through his activism and led India to freedom.

In conclusion, these are just a few who were patriots of the country. They lived for their country and did not hesitate before devoting their lives to it. These names are shining examples for the generations to come. We must possess patriotism and work for our motherland to see it succeed.

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The True Meaning of Patriotism

(This essay is adapted from an earlier version published in September 2002 on the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington)

Patriotism these days is like Christmas — lots of people caught up in a festive atmosphere replete with lights and spectacles. We hear reminders about “the true meaning” of the occasion — and we may even mutter a few guilt-ridden words to that effect ourselves — but like most people, each of us spends more time and thought in parties, gift-giving, and the other paraphernalia of a secularized holiday than we do deepening our devotion to the “true meaning.” The attention we pay the fictional Santa Claus rivals that which we pay the One whose name the holiday is meant to hallow.

So it is with patriotism. Walk down Main Street America and ask one citizen after another what it means and with few exceptions, you’ll get a passel of the most self-righteous but superficial and often dead-wrong answers. America’s Founders, the men and women who gave us reason to be patriotic in the first place, would think we’ve lost our way if they could see us now.

Especially since the attacks of 9/11, Americans are feeling “patriotic.” For most, that mere feeling suffices to make one a solid patriot. But if I’m right, it’s time for Americans to take a refresher course to appreciate what being a patriot should really mean.

Patriotism is not love of country, if by “country” you mean scenery — amber waves of grain, purple mountains’ majesty and the like. Almost every country has pretty collections of rocks, water, and stuff that people grow and eat. If that’s what patriotism is all about, then Americans have precious little for which we can claim any special or unique love. And surely, patriotism cannot mean giving one’s life for a river or a mountain range.

Emma Goldman, in a 1911 essay, rightly disparaged this parochial, location-based concept. That kind of patriotism, she said, “assumes that our globe is divided into little spots, each one surrounded by an iron gate. Those who have had the fortune of being born on some particular spot, consider themselves better, nobler, grander, more intelligent than the living beings inhabiting 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 the others.” Like Emma Goldman, I’d like to think there’s something about being a patriotic American that’s far removed from the young Nazi soldier who marched into battle for “the Fatherland.” After all, he thought he was patriotic too.

Patriotism is not blind trust in anything our leaders tell us or do. That’s just stupidity, and it replaces some very lofty concepts about the true meaning of the word with the mindless goose-stepping of cowardly sycophants.

Patriotism is not picnics, fireworks, or a day off work. At best, those are outward manifestations of something that could be patriotism, but it might also for some be nothing more than a desire to have a little fun.

Patriotism is not simply showing up to vote. You need to know a lot more about what motivates a voter before you judge his patriotism. He might be casting a ballot because he just wants something at someone else’s expense. Maybe he doesn't much care where the politician he's hiring gets it. Remember Dr. Johnson’s wisdom: "Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels." Others have wisely counseled that an ill-informed people can easily vote a democratic republic into bankruptcy and oblivion.

Waving the flag can be an outward sign of patriotism, but let’s not cheapen the term by ever suggesting that it’s anything more than a sign. And while it’s always fitting to mourn those who lost their lives in its defense, that too does not fully define patriotism.

People in every country and in all times have expressed feelings of something we flippantly call "patriotism" but that just begs the question. What is this thing, anyway? Can it be so cheap and meaningless that a few gestures make you patriotic?

Not in my book.

I subscribe to a patriotism rooted in ideas that in turn gave birth to a country, but it’s those ideas that I think of when I’m feeling patriotic. I think a patriotic American is one who reveres the ideas that motivated the Founders and compelled them, in many instances, to put their lives, fortunes and sacred honor on the line.

What ideas? Read the Declaration of Independence again. Or, if you’re like most Americans these days, read it for the very first time. It’s all there. All men are created equal. They are endowed not by government but by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. Premier among those rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Government must be limited to protecting the peace and preserving our liberties, and doing so through the consent of the governed. It’s the right of a free people to rid themselves of a government that becomes destructive of those ends, as our Founders did in a supreme act of courage and defiance more than 200 years ago.

Call it freedom. Call it liberty. Call it whatever you want, but it’s the bedrock on which this nation was founded and from which we stray at our peril. It’s what has defined us as Americans. It’s what almost everyone who has ever lived on this planet has yearned for, though only a few have ever risen above selfishness, ignorance, or barbarism to attain it. It makes life worth living, which means it’s worth fighting and dying for.

I know that this concept of patriotism puts an “American” spin on the term. But I don’t know how to be patriotic for Uganda or Paraguay. I hope the Ugandans and Paraguayans have lofty ideals they celebrate when they feel patriotic, but whether or not they do is a question you’ll have to ask them. I can only tell you what patriotism means to me as an American.

I understand that America has often fallen short of the superlative ideas expressed in the Declaration. That hasn’t diminished my reverence for them, nor has it dimmed my hope that future generations of Americans will be re-inspired by them. Whatever our shortcomings, the fact remains that our Founders bequeathed us a marvelous mechanism whereby we can fix those flaws and perhaps someday shepherd our form of government to as close to perfection as may be humanly possible. This brand of patriotism, in fact, gets me through the roughest and most cynical of times.

My patriotism did not flag when one president debased the Oval Office with a young intern, or when another one covered up an illegal break-in. My patriotism is never affected by any politician’s failures, or any shortcoming of some government policy, or any slump in the economy or stock market. I’ve never felt my patriotism to be for sale or up for a vote. I never cease to get that rush that comes from watching Old Glory flapping in the breeze, no matter how far today’s generations have departed from the original meaning of those stars and stripes. No outcome of any election, no matter how adverse, makes me feel any less devoted to the ideals our Founders put to pen in 1776.

Indeed, as life’s experiences mount, the wisdom of what giants like Jefferson and Madison bestowed upon us becomes ever more apparent to me. I get more fired up than ever to help others come to appreciate the same things.

During a recent visit to the land of my ancestors, Scotland, I came across a few very old words that gave me pause. Though they preceded our Declaration of Independence by 456 years, and come from 3,000 miles away, I can hardly think of anything ever written here that more powerfully stirs in me the patriotism I’ve defined above.

In 1320, in an effort to explain why they had spent the previous 30 years in bloody battle to expel the invading English, Scottish leaders ended their Declaration of Arbroath with this line: “It is not for honor or glory or wealth that we fight, but for freedom alone, which no good man gives up except with his life.”

Freedom — understanding it, living it, and teaching it to posterity. That, my fellow Americans, is what patriotism should mean to each of us today.

(Lawrence W. Reed is president emeritus of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a research and educational institute headquartered in Midland, Michigan.)

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In defense of a reasonable patriotism

Subscribe to governance weekly, william a. galston william a. galston ezra k. zilkha chair and senior fellow - governance studies.

July 23, 2018

• 22 min read

This essay is adapted from remarks delivered by William Galston at the Estoril Political Forum on June 25, 2018. Galston was invited to deliver the forum’s Dahrendorf Memorial Lecture on the topic of “Patriotism, Cosmopolitanism, and Democracy.”

Introduction

In this essay, adapted from a lecture I recently delivered on the topic of “Patriotism, Cosmopolitanism, and Democracy,” I will defend what I term a “reasonable patriotism,” and I will argue that separate and distinct political communities are the only sites in which decent and—especially—democratic politics can be enacted.

I begin with some conceptual clarifications.

Cosmopolitanism is a creed that gives primary allegiance to the community of human beings as such, without regard to distinctions of birth, belief, or political boundaries. The antithesis of cosmopolitanism is particularism , in which one’s primary allegiance is to a group or subset of human beings with shared characteristics. There are different forms of particularism reflecting the varying objects of primary allegiance—communities of co-religionists (the Muslim ummah ), ethnicity, and shared citizenship, among others.

Patriotism denotes a special attachment to a particular political community, although not necessary to its existing form of government. Nationalism , with which patriotism is often confused, stands for a very different phenomenon—the fusion, actual or aspirational, between shared ethnicity and state sovereignty. The nation-state, then, is a community is which an ethnic group is politically dominant and sets the terms of communal life.

Nationalism, with which patriotism is often confused, stands for a very different phenomenon—the fusion, actual or aspirational, between shared ethnicity and state sovereignty.

Now to our topic. We gather today under a cloud. Throughout the West, nationalist forces—many tinged with xenophobia, ethnic prejudice, and religious bigotry—are on the rise. The recent Hungarian election featured nakedly anti-Semitic rhetoric not heard in Europe since the 1940s. Citizens are being invited to discard unifying civic principles in favor of divisive and exclusionary particularism.

It is tempting to respond by rejecting particularism root and branch and pinning our hopes on purely civic principles—to embrace, that is, what Jurgen Habermas has called “constitutional patriotism.” But matters are not, and cannot be, so simple.

The United States is often seen as the birthplace and exemplar of a civic order. You are or become an American, it is said, not because of religion or ethnicity but because you affirm, and are prepared to defend, the community’s basic principles and institutions. “All men are created equal.” “We the People.” What could be clearer?

And yet, the very document that famously holds certain truths to be self-evident begins by invoking a concept that is far from self-evident—namely, a distinct people may dissolve the political bands that have connected it to another people and to assume a “separate and equal standing” among the nations of the earth to which it is entitled by nothing less than “the laws of nature and of nature’s God.” The equality and independence of peoples is grounded in the same sources as the rights of individuals.

But what is a people, and what separates it from others? As it happens, John Jay, the least known of the three authors of the Federalist, went the farthest toward answering this question. In Federalist 2, he wrote that “Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people—a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs, and who, by their joint counsels, arms, and efforts, fighting side by side throughout a long and bloody war, have nobly established their general liberty and independence.”

This description of the American people was only partly true at the time. It did not apply to African Americans, not to mention Catholics and those many denizens of the colonies for whom German was the language of daily life. It is much less true today. Nonetheless, it calls for reflection.

We can read Jay to be suggesting that certain commonalities foster the identity and unity of a people and that the absence of these commonalities complicates this task. Religious differences can be divisive, especially when they are linked to controversial ideas about government, as Catholicism was until the middle of the past century and Islam is today. The absence of a shared language makes it more likely that linguistic sub-communities will think of themselves as separate peoples, as was the case throughout much of Canada’s history and remains the case in Belgium today. Conversely, participation in shared struggle can forge popular unity and foster civic equality.

It is no accident, I suggest, that the strands of universality and particularity are braided through the history of American peoplehood, as they are I suspect, for political communities throughout the West. Nor is it an accident that during periods of stress—security threats and demographic change, for example—the latent tension between these strands often reemerges. A reasonable patriotism gives particularity its due without allowing the passions of particularism to drown out the voice of broader civic principles.

There is a difference between cosmopolitanism and universalism. We speak of some principles as universal, meaning that they apply everywhere. But the enjoyment of these principles requires institutions of enforcement, most often situated within particular political communities. In this vein, the U.S. Declaration of Independence attributes certain rights to all human beings but adds immediately that securing these rights requires the establishment of government s . Note the plural: not only will there be a multiplicity of governments, but they may assume a variety of forms, all legitimate as long as they defend rights and rest on the consent of the governed.

As you can see, there is no contradiction, at least at the level of principle, between universal principles of right and patriotic attachment to particular communities. For many Americans and Europeans, in fact, their country’s willingness to defend universal principles intensifies their patriotic pride. Universality denotes the range in which our principles apply; it has nothing to do with the scope of our primary allegiance.

By contrast, there is a contradiction between patriotism and cosmopolitanism. You cannot be simultaneously a citizen of the world and of a particular country, at least in the sense that we must often choose between giving pride of place to humanity as a whole as opposed to some subset of humanity.    

There is a contradiction between patriotism and cosmopolitanism. You cannot be simultaneously a citizen of the world and of a particular country, at least in the sense that we must often choose between giving pride of place to humanity as a whole as opposed to some subset of humanity.

This formulation assumes what some would contest—that the phrase “citizen of the world” has a discernible meaning. In a much-discussed speech, British Prime Minister Theresa May declared that “If you believe you’re a citizen of the world, you’re a citizen of nowhere.” On the surface, this is obviously true, because there is no global entity to be a citizen of . But if we dig a bit deeper, the matter becomes more complicated.

For example, we can observe many kinds of cosmopolitan groups—scientists and mathematicians, for example, whose quest for truth depends on principles of evidence and reason that take no account of political boundaries. As the son of a scientist, I have vivid memories of conferences in which hundreds of colleagues (the term itself is revealing) gathered—it didn’t really matter where—to discuss their latest experiments, wherever they were conducted, on fully common ground. Similarly, I suspect we have all heard of the organization “Doctors without Borders,” which rests on the principle that neither human need nor medical responsibility respects national boundaries.

There is a form of cosmopolitanism, finally, that may be observed among some government officials—the belief that it is their duty to maximize human wellbeing, regardless of the nationality of those who stand to benefit. This global utilitarianism, defended by philosophers such as Peter Singer, shaped the thinking of some officials who successfully urged then-Prime Minister Tony Blair to throw open Britain’s immigration gates after the EU expansion of 2004, without availing himself of the extended phase-in period that the terms of accession permitted. As subsequent events showed, there is a tension between global utilitarianism and the expectation that leaders will give priority to the interests of their own citizens. Indeed, it is hard to imagine a political community in which the belief in the legitimacy of collective self-preference does not hold sway—which is not to say that most citizens attach a weight of zero to the interests of human beings beyond the borders of their community, or that they should do so. Self-preference is one thing, moral obtuseness another.

There is a distinction, on which I need not dwell at length, between liberal and populist democracy. Of late, we have heard much about a “democracy deficit” in the European Union and throughout the West. Unelected bureaucrats and experts, it is alleged, are making decisions over the head and against the will of the people. Populist democrats endorse this complaint, at least in principle, because they believe that all decisions should ultimately be subject to the people’s judgment. The referendum is the purest expression of this conception of democracy.

Liberal democracy, by contrast, distinguishes between decisions that the popular majorities should make, either directly or through their elected representatives, and issues involving rights, which should not be subject to majority will. The defense of fundamental rights and liberties is not evidence of a democracy deficit no matter how intensely popular majorities may resent it. Along with independent civil society, institutions such as constitutional courts give life to democracy, so understood. It is this conception of democracy on which I rely in the remainder of my remarks.

How patriotism can be reasonable

The philosopher Simon Keller argues at length against the proposition that patriotism is “a character trait that the ideal person would possess,” at least if one’s conception of the good or virtuous human being includes a propensity to form and act upon justified belief rather than distorted judgments and illusions. The core of Keller’s thesis is that patriotic attachment leads patriots to deny unflattering truths about their country’s conduct, hence to maintain their attachment in “bad faith.” Patriotism should yield to truth, in short, but it doesn’t.

Keller has put his finger on a dangerous tendency, one that I suspect most of us can feel within ourselves. It is often hard to acknowledge that one’s country has erred, perhaps even committed hideous crimes. Sometimes monsters masquerade as patriots and manipulate patriotic sentiments to serve their own ends.

Just as patriots can go astray, they can also acknowledge their mistakes and do their best to make reparations for them. No one ever accused Ronald Reagan of being deficient in patriotism, but he was the president who formally apologized to Japanese-Americans on behalf of the country for their unjust internment during World War II.

But just as patriots can go astray, they can also acknowledge their mistakes and do their best to make reparations for them. No one ever accused Ronald Reagan of being deficient in patriotism, but he was the president who formally apologized to Japanese-Americans on behalf of the country for their unjust internment during World War II.

In classic Aristotelian fashion, patriotism can be seen as a mean between two extremes—blinding zeal for one’s country at one end of the continuum, culpable indifference or outright hostility at the other. Or, if you prefer, we can see patriotism as a sentiment that needs principled regulation. Carl Schurz, who left Germany for the United States after the failed 1848 revolution, became a Union general during the Civil War and then a U.S. senator. Attacked on the Senate floor as too willing to criticize his adopted country, Schurz replied, “My country, right or wrong: if right, to be kept right; if wrong, to be set right.” This is the voice of the reasonable patriot.

Patriotism does not mean blind fidelity, no matter what. It means, rather, caring enough about one’s country to try to correct it when it goes astray and, when that is not possible, making a difficult choice. A number of non-Jewish German patriots left their country in the 1930s because they could not stand what Hitler was doing to their Jewish fellow-citizens, did not want to be complicit, and hoped to ally themselves with external forces that might eventually bring down Hitler’s evil regime.

In sum: I can believe that my country has made serious mistakes that must be acknowledged and corrected without ceasing to be a patriot. I can believe that my country’s political institutions are evil and need wholesale replacement without ceasing to be a patriot. I can believe that other objects of regard (my conscience, or God) on occasion outrank my country without ceasing to be a patriot. The fact that zealous patriotism can have terrible consequences does not mean that reasonable and moderate patriotism does so.

The fact that zealous patriotism can have terrible consequences does not mean that reasonable and moderate patriotism does so.

Despite these arguments, it is understandable that morally serious people may continue harbor doubts about the intrinsic value of a sentiment that can yield evil. Even so, it is possible to endorse patriotism as an instrumental good—as necessary to the preservation of political communities whose existence makes the human good possible.

Another well-known philosopher, George Kateb, hesitates to take even this step. Patriotism, he argues, is an intellectual mistake because its object, one’s country, is an “abstraction”—that is, a “figment of the imagination.”  Patriotism is a moral mistake because it requires (and tends to create) enemies, exalts a collective form of self-love, and stands opposed to the only justified morality, which is universalist. Individuals and their rights are fundamental; one’s country, he says, is at most a “temporary and contingent stopping point on the way to a federated humanity.”

Intellectuals, especially philosophers, should know better, Kateb insists. Their only ultimate commitment should be to Enlightenment-style independence of mind, not just for themselves, but as an inspiration to all. In this context, “A defense of patriotism is an attack on the Enlightenment.” From this standpoint, it is hard to see how civic virtue can be instrumentally good if the end it serves—the maintenance of one’s particular political community—is intellectually and morally dubious.

But Kateb is too honest an observer of the human condition to go that far. While the existence of multiple political communities guarantees immoral behavior, government is, he acknowledges, not just a regrettable fact but a moral necessity: “By providing security, government makes possible treating other persons morally (and for their own sake).” It would seem to follow that the beliefs and traits of character that conduce to government’s security-providing function are ipso facto instrumentally justified, as civic virtues. That is the basis on which a reasonable patriotism may be defined and defended. Yes, the individual community that makes moral conduct possible is embedded in an international system of multiple competing communities that invites, even requires, immoral behavior. But as Kateb rightly says, rather than positing and acting on a non-existent global community, “One must learn to live with the paradox.”  As long as we must, there will be a place for patriotism.

Isn’t it better to spread, hence mitigate, the threat of tyranny with multiple independent states so that if some go bad, others remain to defend the cause of freedom?

One more step, and I reach the end of this strand of my argument. The existence of multiple political communities is not just a fact that moral argument must take into account; it is preferable to the only non-anarchic alternative—a single global state. Dani Rodrik, a politically astute economist, spells out this case. There are many institutional arrangements, none obviously superior to others, for carrying out essential economic, social, and political functions. But some may be better suited than others to particular local circumstances. Groups will strike varying balances between equality and opportunity, stability and dynamism, security and innovation. In the face of Joseph Schumpeter’s famous description of capitalist markets as “creative destructive,” some groups will embrace the creativity while others shrink from the destruction. All this before we reach divisions of language, history, and religion. Individual countries struggle to contain these differences without repressing them. How likely is it that a single world government could preserve itself without autocracy or worse? Isn’t it better to spread, hence mitigate, the threat of tyranny with multiple independent states so that if some go bad, others remain to defend the cause of freedom?

These questions answer themselves. If the human species best organizes and governs itself in multiple communities, and if each community requires devoted citizens to survive and thrive, then patriotism is not the way-station to the universal state. It is a permanent requirement for the realization of goods that human beings can know only in stable and decent polities.

Why impartiality is not always right

One familiar line of objection to patriotism rests on the premise that partiality is always morally suspect because it violates, or at least abridges, universal norms. By treating equals unequally for morally arbitrary reasons, goes the argument, we give too much weight to some claims and too little to others.

Critics note that patriots are devoted to a particular political order because it is their own and “not only” because it is legitimate. That’s true, but so what? My son happens to be a fine young man; I cherish him for his warm, caring heart, among many other virtues. I also cherish him above other children because he is my own. Am I committing a moral mistake? I would be if my love for my son led me to regard other children with indifference—for example, if I voted against local property taxes because he is no longer of school age. But it is perfectly possible to love one’s own without becoming morally narrow, or unreasonable, let alone irrational.

It is perfectly possible to love one’s own without becoming morally narrow, or unreasonable, let alone irrational. This is so because a certain degree of partiality is both permissible and justified.

This is so because a certain degree of partiality is both permissible and justified. Two philosophers’ examples will make my point. If I’m sunbathing on a beach and hear two young swimmers—my son and someone else—crying out for help, I should want to rescue both if I can. But suppose I can’t. Does anyone really think that I’m obligated to flip a coin to decide which one? On what theory of human existence would that be the right or obligatory thing to do?

But now the second example. As I’m walking my son to school, I see a boy in danger of drowning in the local swimming-hole, where he is unwisely playing hooky. Although I’m pretty sure I can rescue him, it will take time to pull him out, dry him off, calm him down, and return him to his parents. In the process, my son will be late for school and miss an exam he has worked hard to prepare for. Does anyone think that this harm would justify me in turning my back on the drowning boy?

These considerations apply not only to individual agents, but also to governments. There are situations in which one country can prevent a great evil in another, and do so at modest cost to itself. In such circumstances, the good that can be done for distant strangers outweighs the burden of doing it. In this vein, Bill Clinton has said that his failure to intervene against the genocide in Rwanda was the biggest mistake of his presidency.

What’s going on is obvious, I think: in ordinary moral consciousness, both partial and impartial claims have weight, the proper balance between which is determined by facts and circumstances. While it is hard (some would say impossible) to reduce this balance to rules, there is at least a shared framework—based on the urgency and importance of conflicting interests—to guide our reflections. As a rule of thumb, we can presume that because human beings tend too much toward partiality, we should be careful to give non-partial claims their due. But that doesn’t mean that they should always prevail.

Why patriotism is not so different from other loyalties

Sensing the danger of proving too much, the critics of patriotism draw back from the root-and-branch rejection of partiality. Instead, they try to drive a wedge between patriotism and other forms of attachment.

George Kateb does not offer a generalized critique of partial attachments. Instead, he argues, patriotism represents the wrong kind of partiality, because its object—one’s country—is an abstraction, and a misleading one at that. Individuals are real; countries aren’t. Individuals are worthy of special attachments in a way that countries are not. That is why he works so hard to drive a wedge between love of parents and love of country.

A country is, among other things, a place, a language (one’s “mother tongue”), a way of life, and a set of institutions through which collective decisions are made and carried out. One can love these things reasonably, and many do.

I disagree. While love of parents and of country are not the same, it does not follow that one’s country cannot be a legitimate object of affection. To be sure, a country is not a person, but it begs the question to say that love is properly directed only to persons. It abuses neither speech nor sense to say that I love my house and for that reason would feel sorrow and deprivation if disaster forced me to leave it. (I have had such an experience.) A country is, among other things, a place, a language (one’s “mother tongue”), a way of life, and a set of institutions through which collective decisions are made and carried out. One can love these things reasonably, and many do.

Consider immigrants who arrive legally in the U.S. from impoverished and violent lands. Their lives in their new country often are arduous, but they at least enjoy the protection of the laws, the opportunity to advance economically, and the right to participate in choosing their elected officials. Is it unreasonable for them to experience gratitude, affection, and the desire to perform reciprocal service for the country that has given them refuge?

Kateb is clearly right to insist that citizens don’t owe their “coming into being” to their country in the way that children owe their existence to their parents. But here again, his conclusion does not follow from his premise. Surely we can love people who are not responsible for our existence: parents love their children, husbands their wives. Besides, refugees may literally owe their continuing existence to countries that offer them sanctuary from violence. Is it less reasonable and proper to love the institutions that save our life than the individuals who give us life?

As another philosopher, Eamonn Callan, has suggested, if patriotism is love of country, then the general features of love are likely to illuminate this instance of it. Among his key points: “love can be admirable when directed to objects whose value is severely compromised and admirable then not despite but because of the compromised value.”  An example of this is the love of parents for an adult child who has committed a serious crime, a bond that demonstrates the virtues of constancy and loyalty. This does not mean that parents are free to deny the reality of their child’s deeds or to make up bogus excuses for them. To do that would be to surrender both intellectual and moral integrity. But to say that parental love risks crossing the line in these ways is not to say that parents are required to turn their backs on criminals who happen to be their children, or to cease all efforts to reform them. (Nor is it to fault parents who have wrenchingly concluded that they must cut these ties.)

Conclusion: the last full measure of devotion

There is one more objection to my conception of reasonable patriotism: it is irrational to choose a life that puts you at heightened risk of dying for your country. The objector may say that there is nothing worth dying for, a proposition I reject. More often, the suggestion is that even if there are things that warrant the sacrifice of one’s life (one’s children, for example), one’s country is not in this category. Children are concrete and innocent, while countries are abstract (“imagined communities,” in Benedict Anderson’s phrase) and problematic.

Must a political community be morally unblemished to be worth killing or dying for? The United States was a deeply flawed nation when it went to war after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The servicemen on the Normandy beaches harbored none of the dulce et decorum est illusions that led young Englishmen to welcome the outbreak of the first world war; the GIs fought against pure evil in the name of a partial good. They were neither wrong nor deceived to do so, or so I believe.

Suppose one’s country is attacked and thousands of fellow-citizens die. Is everything done in response an expression of delusion? Not at all: some reactions are necessary and justified; others are excessive and illegitimate. I favored retaliation against the Taliban, which asked some Americans to kill and die for their country. Most Americans agreed, and I think we were right. Attacking those who did not attack us was—and is—another matter altogether.

As long as we have multiple communities, and as long as evil endures, citizens will face choices they would rather avoid, and patriotism will be a necessary virtue.

Lurking behind the critique of patriotism is the longing for an unattainable moral purity in politics. I take my stand with Max Weber, with the ethic of responsibility that embraces the necessary moral costs of maintaining our collective existence—all the more so when our government rests on the consent of the governed. It is only within decent political communities that citizens can hope to practice the ordinary morality we rightly cherish. As long as we have multiple communities, and as long as evil endures, citizens will face choices they would rather avoid, and patriotism will be a necessary virtue.

Governance Studies

Elaine Kamarck

April 17, 2024

Witney Schneidman

Elaine Kamarck, Elizabeth Smith

April 15, 2024

What Is Patriotism? Definition, Examples, Pros and Cons

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Simply stated, patriotism is the feeling of love for one’s country. Demonstrating patriotism—being “patriotic”—is one of the necessities of being the stereotypical “ good citizen .” However, patriotism, like many well-intentioned things, can be harmful when taken to an extreme .

Key Takeaways

• Patriotism is the feeling and expression of love for one’s home country, along with a feeling of unity with those who share those feelings
• Though it shares patriotism’s love of country, nationalism is the belief that one’s home county is superior to all others
• While considered a necessary attribute of good citizenship, when patriotism becomes politically mandatory, it can cross a line

Patriotism Definition

Along with love, patriotism is the feeling of pride, devotion, and attachment to a homeland, as well as a feeling of attachment to other patriotic citizens. The feelings of attachment may be further bound up in factors like race or ethnicity , culture, religious beliefs, or history.

Historic Perspective

Patriotism originated some 2,000 years before the rise of nationalism in the 19th century. Greek and especially Roman antiquity provide the roots for a philosophy of political patriotism that conceives of loyalty to the “patria,”—the power that the male head of a family exercised over his children—like loyalty to a political conception of the republic. It is associated with the love of law and common liberty, the search for the common good , and the duty to behave justly toward one’s country. The Roman meaning of patria is repeated in the context of the Italian city-states of the 15th century, such as Naples and Venice, as representing the common liberty of the city, which can only be safeguarded by the citizens’ civic spirit.

To Renaissance period Italian diplomat, author, philosopher, and historian Niccolò Machiavelli , the love of common liberty enabled citizens to see their private and particular interests as part of the common good and helped them to resist corruption and tyranny. While this love of the city is typically intermixed with pride in its military strength and cultural superiority, it is the political institutions and way of life of the city that form the distinctive focal point of this kind of patriotic attachment. To love the city is to be willing to sacrifice one’s own good—including one’s life—for the protection of common liberty.

While patriotism is evident throughout history, it was not always considered a civic virtue. In 18th-century Europe, for example, devotion to the state was considered a betrayal of devotion to the church.   

Other 18th-century scholars also found fault with what they considered excessive patriotism. In 1775, Samuel Johnson , whose 1774 essay The Patriot had criticized those who falsely claimed devotion to Britain, famously called patriotism “the last refuge of the scoundrel.”

Arguably, America’s first patriots were its Founding Fathers who had risked their very lives to create a nation that reflected their visions of freedom with equality. They summarized this vision in The Declaration of Independence :

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

In that single sentence, the Founders dispelled the long-held belief of the ruling British Monarchy that an individual’s pursuit of personal happiness was nothing more than a disloyal act of self-indulgence. Instead, they acknowledged that the right of each citizen to pursue personal fulfillment was essential to the qualities, such as ambition and creativity, that would fuel the nation’s economy. As a result, the pursuit of happiness became and remains the force behind America’s entrepreneurial system of free-market capitalism .  

The Declaration of Independence further states, “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” In this phrase, the Founding Fathers rejected the autocratic rule of monarchs and confirmed the revolutionary principle of “government of the people, by the people” as the basis of American democracy and the reason the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution begins with the words “We the People.”

Examples of Patriotism

There are countless ways of showing patriotism. Standing for the National Anthem and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance are obvious ones. Perhaps more importantly, many of the most beneficial acts of patriotism in the U.S. are those that both celebrate the country and make it stronger. A few of these include:

• Participating in the representative democracy by registering to vote and voting in elections .
• Volunteering for community service or running for elected government office.
• Serving on juries.
• Obeying all laws and paying taxes.
• Understanding the rights, freedoms, and responsibilities contained in the U.S. Constitution.

Patriotism vs. Nationalism

While the words patriotism and nationalism were once considered synonyms, they have taken on different connotations. While both are the feelings of love people feel for their country, the values upon which those feelings are based are very different.

Feelings of patriotism are based on the positive values the country embraces—like freedom, justice, and equality. The patriot believes that both the system of government and the people of their country are inherently good and work together for a better quality of life.

In contrast, feelings of nationalism are based on a belief that one’s country is superior to all others. It also carries a connotation of distrust or disapproval of other countries, leading to the assumption that other countries are rivals. While patriots do not automatically denigrate other countries, nationalists do, sometimes to the point of calling for their country’s global dominance. Nationalism, through its protectionist beliefs, is the polar opposite of globalism .

Historically, the effects of nationalism have been both positive and negative. While it has driven independence movements, like the Zionist movement that created modern Israel, it was also a key factor in the rise of the German Nazi Party , and the Holocaust . 

Patriotism versus nationalism arose as a political issue when U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron verbally sparred over the meaning of the terms.

At a rally on October 23, 2018, President Trump defended his populist “Make America Great Again” platform and protectionist policies of tariffs on foreign imports, officially declaring himself a “nationalist":

“A globalist is a person that wants the globe to do well, frankly, not caring about our country so much,” he said. “And you know what? We can't have that. You know, they have a word. It sort of became old-fashioned. It's called a nationalist. And I say, really, we’re not supposed to use that word. You know what I am? I’m a nationalist, OK? I’m a nationalist.”

President Macron, speaking at the 100th Armistice Day ceremony in Paris on November 11, 2018, offered a different meaning of nationalism. He defined nationalism as “putting our nation first, and not caring about the others.” By rejecting the interests of other countries, Macon asserted, “we erase what a nation holds dearest, what gives it life, what makes it great and what is essential, its moral values.”

Pros and Cons of Patriotism

Few countries survive and prosper without some degree of patriotic feelings among their people. A love of country and shared pride bring the people together, helping them endure challenges. Without shared patriotic beliefs, colonial Americans may not have chosen to travel the road to independence from England. More recently, patriotism brought the American people together to overcome the Great Depression and achieve victory in World War II .

The potential downside of patriotism is that if it becomes a mandatory political doctrine, it can be used to turn groups of people against each other and can even lead the country to reject its fundamental values.

A few examples from United States history include:

As early as 1798, extreme patriotism, spurred by fears a war with France, led Congress to enact the Alien and Sedition Acts allowing the jailing of certain U.S. immigrants without due process of law and restricting the First Amendment freedoms of speech and the press .

In 1919, early fears of Communism triggered the Palmer raids resulting in the arrest and immediate deportation without trial of more than 10,000 German- and Russian-American immigrants.

After the December 7, 1941, Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor , the Franklin Roosevelt administration ordered some 127,000 American citizens of Japanese ancestry imprisoned in internment camps for the duration of World War II.

During the Red Scare of the early 1950s, the McCarthy era saw thousands of Americans accused without evidence by the government of being communists or communist sympathizers. After a series of so-called “investigations” conducted by Senator Joseph McCarthy, hundreds of those accused were ostracized and prosecuted for their political beliefs.

• Johnson, Samuel (1774). “ The Patriot .” SamuelJohnson.com
• “ Nationalism .” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Plato.stanford.edu
• Boswell, James, Hibbert, “The Life of Samuel Johnson.” Penguin Classics, ISBN 0-14-043116-0
• Diamond, Jeremy. “ Trump embraces 'nationalist' title at Texas rally .” CNN (October 23, 2018)
• Liptak. Kevin. “ Macron rebukes nationalism as Trump observes Armistice Day. ” CNN (November 12, 2018)
• What Is Nationalism? Definition and Examples
• Regionalism: Definition and Examples
• Veterans Day Quotes
• Barack Obama's Inspiring 2004 Democratic Convention Speech
• What Is Totalitarianism? Definition and Examples
• 32 Patriotic Independence Day Quotes
• Your Rights and Responsibilities as a New US Citizen
• 'On National Prejudices' by Oliver Goldsmith
• Comparing Nationalism in China and Japan
• What Are Individual Rights? Definition and Examples
• Understanding Political Culture
• Causes of the Russian Revolution
• What Is Democracy? Definition and Examples
• Totalitarianism, Authoritarianism, and Fascism
• What Is Sectionalism? Definition and Examples
• Republic vs. Democracy: What Is the Difference?

What exactly does it mean to be a patriot? Experts say it’s not easy to define

January 30, 2021, 5:00 AM

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For many, being considered a patriot is as American as it gets.

Of the millions of words in the English language, the word “patriot” has long instilled a sense of pride in Americans. By definition, it means “one who loves and supports his or her country,” according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary . One expert told CNN calling someone a “patriot” brings with it a higher level of pride and respect, putting a person on par with the founders of this country who are seen as the original patriots.

It’s a word that’s supposed to bring unification and joy, but throughout history, it’s also divided and excluded people.

In modern times, conspiracy theorists and extremists — including some members of the groups who participated in the Capitol riots on January 6 — have latched on to the word “patriot” as a way to describe people who are purely American and (usually) White. Those who are not patriotic are against the US and everything it stands for, making them the enemy.

“It’s a rhetorical game with sometimes life and death consequences,” said Michael Edison Hayden, senior investigative reporter and spokesman for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an Alabama-based non-profit that tracks hate groups and their activities.

At the same time, the word is still used in popular culture to illustrate the heroes of America, who were incidentally fighting against people who they deemed weren’t American. An advanced search on IMDb finds at least 94 popular movie and TV show titles that are related to “patriot” or “patriotism.”

So what makes “patriots” such a unifying, yet divisive word at the same time? Here’s a look at the history of it and its context.

Patriot is derived from a French word

Like most words, patriot does not have English origins.

It’s derived from the Greek word “patrios,” which means “of one’s father.” Patriot entered the English lexicon through the French word “patriote,” meaning “fellow countryman” or “compatriot,” according to Merriam-Webster.

There’s never been any arguments about patriot’s literal definition, but it’s context — usually political — is what has changed over time, according to Kristen Syrett, associate professor of linguistics at Rutgers University/New Brunswick.

During the 17th century, a patriot in Europe was someone who loved their country and agreed with the established government and/or religion, Merriam Webster’s essay on the word states.

The word then changed in meaning and connotation as infighting in Europe led to the formation of new nations, like America.

“This word had kind of switched from a supporter of established government to someone who is against an established government,” said Peter Sokolowski, editor-at-large for Merriam-Webster.

During the American Revolution, patriot had a positive connotation in America, but a negative one in England, Sokolowski said. It’s because of this that the founding fathers are seen as the epitome of patriotism.

“It kind of made them religious figures,” Sokolowski said.

The unabridged definition of patriot in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary also says it is someone who is a member of a resistance group. That definition has not been updated in at least 30 years, Sokolowski said.

In the Oxford English Dictionary, one of the oldest in the world, an entry of patriot was revised in 2005 to say:

“An opponent of presumed intervention by federal government in the affairs of individuals, esp. with respect to gun and tax laws. Frequently in the names of right-wing libertarian political and militia groups.”

A spokesperson for Oxford’s Languages team told CNN in an email the definition was part of a regular series of updates in 2005.

“The definition in question is part of wide range of nuanced uses of the word ‘patriot’ recorded in the (Oxford English Dictionary) and changes were made based on evidence of how the word is used in day-to-day life,” the statement read.

The addition of right-wing groups “traces the direction the language is going,” Sokolowski said.

Hate groups use ‘patriot’ for propaganda

Patriot in nativist, nationalistic and hate speech goes back to at least the mid-1800s to the Know Nothing Party, according to Sam Jackson, an assistant professor at the University at Albany who studies patriotism and violence in far-right groups.

“That movement was organized around perception that external influences — like non-White Europeans and others — were a threat to American values,” Jackson said. “By the 1850s, we’re seeing language of patriotism and symbols being used in political ways and to mark people as ‘one of us and one of them.'”

The “us vs. them” attitude of patriotism would continue into the new century and morph into an idea that patriotism is American and anything not American is bad.

“If I say someone is a true patriot, I have a clear idea of what that means and what it means to not be a patriot,” said Syrett, the Rutgers professor. “This is a word that is really conditioned by what our set of values is and what we think we’re fighting for.”

The values of being a patriot for those who had nativist and nationalist ideologies meant that America came first and foremost. Anyone against that particular set of values was seen as a threat, even if that threat was the US government.

The “America first” conditions set the tone for the late 1980s and 90s when conspiracy theorists begin forming what is known as the Patriot Movement , an anti-government movement with White supremacist leanings, according to the SPLC. This movement culminated in the Oklahoma City Bombing on April 19, 1995.

“The word patriot is frequently exploited by people that want to take advantage of this idea of a love for country,” said Hayden, the SPLC senior investigative reporter. “There is nothing wrong with wanting to do good for your country, but when that passion is corrupted … that is taking good intentions and corrupting them for the purpose of doing harm.”

Some people who stormed the US Capitol on January 6 called themselves patriots.

“You guys are f***ing patriots,” one of the many rioters could be heard saying in a video from the incident published by the New Yorker .

Former President Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka have also used the word when referring to supporters.

Ivanka Trump addressed the rioters as “American Patriots” in tweet from January 6 that she later deleted.

Trump also called the rioters “great patriots” in a tweet on January 6. In July 2019, Trump defended attendees of his Greenville, North Carolina, rally — where members of the crowd chanted “send her back” about Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar — calling them “incredible patriots.”

According to Jackson, the University at Albany professor, “When you say someone is a patriot, you’re saying there’s some goodness in them. It validates them.”

Pop culture uses patriot to illustrate America

In pop culture, patriot can bring forth many images.

For some it could be the founding fathers or the generation around the American Revolution, like in the 2000 film “ The Patriot ” starring Mel Gibson. Others may think of US soldiers fighting for freedom, like those seen in 1998’s “ Saving Private Ryan .”

Then there are those movies where the characters embody America going against an adversarial force that represents a threat to American values, much like 1985’s “ Rocky IV ” or the “ Captain America ” storyline in the Marvel Movies of the 2010s.

Being a patriot is “a word that addresses identity,” Sokolowski, of Merriam-Webster, said.

“Identity is an enormously personal and political part of language,” he said. “When it comes to identity, you’re getting to something that touches people deeply.”

Syrett said these movies and TV shows depicting patriotism are a reflection of the times and show there is an audience for such content.

“Pop culture not only encourages a change in word meaning but it also capitalizes on a sentiment that is there on the broader public,” she said.

But there are also pop culture disagreements around what constitutes a patriot.

There are some, for example, who would call Colin Kaepernick a patriot . The former NFL star sparked controversy after he sat in protest during the national anthem in 2016 for a pre-season game, saying he would not honor a song nor “show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” Kaepernick’s protest was part of a continuing national debate about law enforcement’s unequal treatment of Black people.

Still, others believe that in taking a knee, Kaepernick disrespected America.

In the same vein, Syrett and Sokolowski said there are some who would say the rioters at the US Capitol were patriots, while others may have seen them as terrorists.

Syrett said the discrepancy over who or what is a patriot is a battle of linguistics that has been fought since the country’s founding — when it wasn’t even agreed upon on what it meant to be American.

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What Is Patriotism Essay? – Definitions, Topics, Examples

Do you want to write a patriotism essay and don’t know where to start? Don’t worry about it too much! We are here to help you write the best patriotism essay possible in the shortest amount of time. We will explain the concept of patriotism and clarify why it is essential, discuss patriotism essay examples, and then provide you with some topics. Some tips and tricks are included and the end of the blog post. They should make it much easier to write a patriotic essay.

What Is Patriotism Essay?

Why is patriotism important is it the same as nationalism, good patriotism examples make for good essays, patriotism essay list of 68 topics, get our patriotism essay examples, the importance of patriotic essay examples, tips for the best essay on patriotism.

The first thing we want to discuss is the definition of the patriotism essay. What is patriotism essay? Defining patriotism is a very difficult thing to do. Some would tell you that it is the love and devotion one feels for their country. Others would tell you that it is just a set of principles. And then there are others who consider patriotism to be just a special feeling. You will need to know all these definitions if you want to write a patriotism definition essay. However, in most cases, you will be required to write an essay on patriotism, not on its definition. That means you will have to decide what patriotism means specifically to you. It will influence the way you write the academic paper, of course. However, no approach is wrong, simply because patriotism has different meanings to different people. That applies to everything from a speech on patriotism to patriotism in a sentence prompt.

In some cases, you may be required to write a ”what does patriotism mean to me essay.” That is a bit more complicated because you need to understand why patriotism is important. It also means you have to know the differences between it and nationalism. Be aware that nationalism is not simply the love for the people who live in a country. And patriotism is not the love for the country. The reality is that patriotism is a moral principle, a feeling, or a level of loyalty to the country. On the other hand, nationalism is a political ideology that protects the interests of everything a nation stands for: people, language, traditions, industry, etc.

When writing an article on patriotism, it is important to realize that the patriotism essay ideas you come up with are very important. You want a topic that is both interesting and original. You want something you can write about, so make sure the topic you choose has plenty of information about it online. However, make sure to narrow down the topic – unless you want to write a short novel on it. You can find plenty of examples of American patriotism all over the Internet, so you have a lot of topics to choose from. Ensure the topic is something your classmates didn’t think about. You can read some patriotism essay examples to get an idea of how experienced writers organize their writing and their ideas. Don’t hesitate to look at the winners of a patriotism essay contest. You’ll find a lot of neat ideas. And you also learn how a proper patriotism essay is written.

We have answered the “why is patriotism important” question and helped you pick the right topic. But we are prepared to do much more. We have asked our experienced patriotism essay writers to compile a list of topics for our readers. Patriotism is a broad concept, and there are many standpoints that you can perceive it. If you want to write a patriotism essay or you need patriotism ideas, here are some topics that you can write about:

• What is true patriotism?
• Do Americans still practice true patriotism?
• Can patriotism be related to extremism?
• American heroes and their patriotic acts.
• The uniqueness of American patriotism
• How is American patriotism different from that of other countries?
• Does patriotism change the way we treat foreigners?
• How did American patriotism start?
• How to reach patriotism to children and teenagers
• Movies that portray patriotism
• How music has helped to explain the concept of patriotism.
• Is dissent the highest form of patriotism?
• Dying for your country: patriotism or suicide?
• What does patriotism mean to you?
• How does patriotism affect our relationship with people from other countries?
• Difference between patriotism and nationalism
• President John F. Kennedy’s We Choose To Go To The Moon speech and how it portrays patriotism.
• The true definition of patriotism
• How the entertainment industry teaches true patriotism.
• What is blind patriotism?
• Are patriots racists?
• Is the patriotism level in the country declining or increasing?
• Patriotism 100 years ago and now: what has changed?
• What role does patriotism play in genocide?
• How is patriotism reflected in our day-to-day lives?
• How did patriotism help to galvanize World War I?
• Xenophobia is an act of patriotism, true or false?
• The difference between patriotism and cosmopolitanism
• How does patriotism influence the kind of products we use?
• Do people consider patriotism when choosing the kind of car to buy?
• Rock n Roll and patriotism
• Patriotic acts that people need to emulate
• Breaking the law in the name of patriotism: can that be regarded as patriotism?
• Misconceptions about patriotism
• How the government and other people have exploited patriotism for their selfish use
• Is patriotism taught in school?
• Why patriotism should or should not be taught in schools
• Is American patriotism the same as blind patriotism?
• Is terrorism also a form of patriotism?
• How to encourage people to be more patriotic
• Is patriotism important? Why?
• What are the benefits of patriotism?
• How is patriotism portrayed in literary works?
• What is/are the correlation(s) between patriotism and colonialism?
• What is/are the correlation(s) between patriotism and nationalism?
• Patriotism and realism: How to connect one with another
• Are there limits to what you should do as a true patriot?
• What is the meaning of overwhelming patriotism?
• How to pursue your American dream as a patriot
• The national anthem and the national pledge and how it helps you to be more patriotic
• Examples of patriotism during the American Revolution.
• Compare and contrast patriotism and xenophobia.
• Are conscientious objectors traitors?
• What patriotism means to me?
• The worst case of ethnic chauvinism.
• What does true patriotism mean?
• Patriotism still matters in the modern world. (excellent pride in one’s country essay topic)
• The difference between patriotism and nationalism.
• Teens and patriotism today.
• The importance of Independence Day.
• Why are we proud of our patriots?
• Veterans and their tales of patriotism.
• Is patriotism a good thing?
• What is national chauvinism?
• Discussing the pledge of allegiance in schools.
• Patriotism is an excuse for war.
• Is patriotism stronger than the love for family?
• Avoiding western chauvinism and learning from our mistakes.

These topics are excellent starting points for any high school or college student. Remember that finding amazing patriotism examples is important — the more interesting the tale, the better the essay. There are many ways to state your ideas and express your views about patriotism in essays by presenting facts and deducing a conclusion.

A group of people can pick a topic from different patriotism essay ideas and write entirely different essays. There are different ways patriotic essays can be written. It all depends on how the writer views the topic.

If the essay is a narrative essay like the President John F. Kennedy’s ‘We Choose To go To the Moon speech;’

• Narrate every bit of the event. Paint a mental picture of the event so that the reader can understand the history of the essay.
• After narrating the event, draw out parts of the story that relate to patriotism.
• One after the other, explain how these parts that you have drawn relate to patriotism.

When you are writing a patriotic essay that expresses your viewpoint on an issue, the writing style will be different. In essays like “Is American patriotism the same as blind patriotism?” you are expected to present the essay in a detailed and logical manner. You can do that by using the guide below:

• Introduce the essay by explaining the topic. In the example above, you will explain American patriotism and blind patriotism.
• After the introduction, you will present facts to explain both American and blind patriotism.
• Provide correlation(s) between the facts that you have presented.
• End the essay by stating your viewpoint about the subject matter.

There are patriotism essays ideas that require you to take sides on an issue. “Does patriotism change the way we treat foreigners?” is an example of a patriotic essay that needs you to pick aside. To write a similar or more convincing patriotic essay;

• State facts and do not come from an emotional place.
• Be clear on where you stand from the beginning.
• Present your facts that support your stand on the argument.

If you want to write a patriotic essay to persuade people to do something, this is where you apply your emotions. Applying your emotions helps others to relate better and get interested in the message you’re trying to pass.

• Give reasons why you are writing the essay.
• Explain the personal and collective benefits of the essay topic.

Did you know that the best way to learn how to write an amazing patriotism essay is to read the best patriotic essay examples you can find? The truth is that you can learn most of the things simply by carefully reading works written by seasoned writers. You will quickly understand the concepts of patriotism and will also get the chance to see how a good patriotism essay is structured. Don’t miss the chance to write down all the ideas you deem important. Bottom line, you can read an excellent essay on what makes America great, and then replicate its structure and ideas in your own writing. However, make sure you avoid plagiarism.

• The first tip , we can give you is to choose the best topic possible. For example, why not write a ‘dissent is the highest form of patriotism’ essay?
• Second , don’t forget to list the values of patriotism in the intro. Each paragraph of the essay body should discuss and support a single idea. The conclusion is used to sum everything up, and further support your position.
• Third , don’t forget to make effective use of the five-paragraph essay structure (intro, three body paragraphs, conclusion).
• The last tip , and perhaps the most important one is to get help when you need it.

There are many seasoned academic writers who know exactly how to write an amazing patriotic essay, master’s thesis , or any other paper you might possibly need. Don’t hesitate to get help, especially if you are running out of time!

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Essay on Patriotism for Students in 1000 Words

In this post, you will read an Essay on Patriotism for students in 1000 Words. It includes ideology behind patriotism, its importance, history, and about how it works?

So, let’s start the Essay on Patriotism …

Table of Contents

Introduction (Essay on Patriotism)

Patriotism can be defined as the quality of becoming patriotic. Patriotic is someone who has respect, loyalty, and devotion towards his nation and robust support for the homeland.

Patriots were known for their country’s love and affection, and feel very proud to be the citizens. We have such a sense of solidarity with other people. We can be culturally, politically, or historically linked to one’s homeland onto the basis of that same ideal and many other things.

Ideology behind patriotism

A Patriotic person is always on his own country’s side or supports his leaders when they deserve it. They are committed to their nation, care about their security, hold their country’s interest at their goal, and will always want their stability, development, and growth. People have an emotional relationship with their country and so this attachment is often referred to as national sentiment and national pride.

Patriotism was firmly related to a collection of nationalist ideals and is often even used synonymously. But perhaps the key difference between these two concepts would be that the patriot felt proud of his heritage at what it does, and no matter what it does; the nationalist makes it feel proud of his nation. Therefore patriotism creates a feeling of duty while patriotism establishes a sense of arrogance and ignorance, which may even lead to chaos.

Although several people think patriotism has to do with laying somebody’s life for their country, that’s more than that. It implies defending the country in every possible way, working for their battlement or willingness to protect their own lives whenever necessary.

Importance of patriotism

Having patriotism is quite essential for either the country’s independence and our freedom fighters were the most exceptional example of that. While a nationalist has stipulated his life in their country’s sake, in reality, he becomes immortal. They were worshipped mostly by their peasants and honored throughout the world.

Today they have suffered great hardships for their country and even sometimes have sacrificed a lot of everything for freedom. By self-sacrifice, they receive an immortalized name. Thus many patriots win the hearts and minds of their countrymen after potentially losing many things, including their lives.

History of patriotism in India

In the past, particularly during the most British rule over India, several people have fought for their country or even sacrificed their lives for it. Yet there are several people who continue to fight for their country with the same dedication and are ready to lay down their lives to protect their homeland against intruders or invaders.

Indian revolutionaries were packed with feelings and patriotism and have never thought about their life. As such, they selflessly operated for the country. Also now, many people serve our country in whatever form they can, in absolute commitment.

How does patriotism work?

However, that spirit of patriotism is slowly waning these days since today’s youth are not feeling as deeply about their country when new generation people would feel.

Both the parents and teachers need to make efforts to instill the spirit for patriotism throughout the generations to come. We must encourage patriotism sentiment, as when the country’s youths must love the country, feel connected to it, and make an effort or work to make it a stronger nation.

Several educational organizations, except on 15th August as well as 26th January, organize classes, events, and activities. By this time, the sense of patriotism seemed to overtake the whole country. But in fact, this isn’t true patriotism.

Such an environment needs to be developed not only on these crucial dates but also in general. Only then should these feelings become permanently instilled in every citizenry’s heart. A nation in which the youth love this country and are motivated to socially and economically change its condition will have a better chance of growing and developing.

For our country, we should have respect, affection, and a sense of community, and at the same time, we should not hate certain countries. To prevent the conflicts here between two nations from breaking out, we not only should love our country and also have reverence for other countries.

Our flag was not only a piece of cloth with colors on it, although it is a symbol of pride, liberty, devotion, and is colored by the blood of those that have died in protection. And so when a person realizes they can become a true patriot, they encourage those behind him to work to create a powerful, better, and prosperous country.

A true patriot

He seems to be a true patriot that can give away his career and everything for his country. Its country’s future hinges upon its rulers. Whether the rulers seem to be real patriots, they think of a country’s interests as well as the people.

They continue to do this for the nation’s better. A nationalist puts the importance of the land before his own. He is trying to lead people to such a proper way of living. He was kind, compassionate, genuine, and honest.

A fake patriot

But certain false patriots do exist. They’re just fond of taking undue advantage of this situation. They were men of neither faith nor character. We don’t have a high sensitivity to motivation and sacrifice. They were selfish. We live on our own in such a small world. These people represent the nation’s enemies.

Patriot’s rewards

The true patriot works for his mother country and dies. Throughout life and again after the death, he’s respected and loved. That kind of nationalist is everlasting. Among these people are modern-day Rajendra Prasad, Jawaharlal Nehru , Subhash Chandra Bose , and many others. Maharana Pratap, Shivaji, and others have been among many of the Ancients.

The bottom line

A nationalist must think not only of national interest but from the international community as well. He has to climb above emotions at home. He has to believe the human race’s welfare. Mahatma Gandhi aptly says,

“My patriotism requires the public good of mankind.”

I hope you like this Essay on Patriotism for students.

3 thoughts on “Essay on Patriotism for Students in 1000 Words”

Thanq u so much for this good content

Literally amazing ????✨

It’s really awesome I don’t know even the meaning of patriotism word but it’s amazing very easy to understand and memorizing it’s really good thankyou so much for a good content keep it up like this

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104 Patriotism Essay Ideas & Examples

Welcome to our list of patriotism essay ideas! Choose among positive and negative topics on patriotism and make sure to check out our patriotism essay examples.

🔝 Top 10 Patriotism Essay Ideas to Write about

🏆 best patriotism topic ideas & essay examples, 📌 most interesting patriotism topics to write about, 👍 good research topics about patriotism, ❓ questions related to patriotism.

• Patriotism and Global Citizenship
• Traditional and Popular Patriotic Songs
• Patriotism, Diversity, and Multiculturalism
• Social Media’s Effect on National Sentiment
• What Happens to Patriotism in Times of Crisis?
• Does Patriotism Foster Civic Engagement?
• The Line Between Patriotism and Nationalism
• The Role of Literature, Music, and Art in Nation-Building
• What’s the Connection Between Patriotism and Identity?
• National Flags and Anthems as Expressions of Patriotism
• Roman Patriotism in Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator” The gladiator Maximus, and the general in one person, embodies the greatest Roman patriotism, in the name of which he sacrifices his wife and son, loses his liberty and wastes his precious life.
• Patriotism in the Modern World and Its Categories The other category is constructive or critical patriotism which is the belief that the best way to love one’s country is with constructive criticism of the government The constructive or critical patriotism leads me to […]
• Loyalty Imagery in “Patriotism” by Yukio Mishima This highlights the theme of loyalty, as the soldiers are ready to obey orders well aware of the dangers involved. The author continues to explore the symbol of compliance and selflessness by explicating how soldiers […]
• Summary of the Movie “Patriot” by Roland Emmerich Therefore, the paper aims to summarize the plot and the characters of the film “Patriot” in the framework of those historical events.
• Patriotism in Music and Songs of America Patriotism can be defined as the attachment to a country and its core attributes, which does not always equal loyalty to the government or a sense of superiority.
• Patriotism in Music of Lee Greenwood, Jean Sibelius, John Legend and Others The speed of the beat that is in this is sometimes slow and, at times, medium. Scale is a pattern of notes that makes the melody in a song familiar.
• The U.S. Patriot Act and Controversy The key components of the USA PATRIOT Act are characterized by a crosscutting reduction in the restrictions imposed on law enforcement entities curtailing their domain of influence in carrying out telephone, e-mail communication, medical and […]
• A Critical Review of Nancy Ward: American Patriot or Cherokee Nationalist The article states that Nancy Ward’s actions come from her understanding of changes that Cherokee had to face, and her will to adapt to the changes rather than commit to American Patriotism or Cherokee nationalism.
• “Patriotism” by Yukio Mishima They worship photos of their “Imperial Majesties,” and each offers total allegiance to their respective gods: Shinji to the army, and Reiko to Shinji.
• Blame Them if You Are a True Patriot If a citizen of any country speaks against the policies or actions of the country, especially when the nation is engaged in war, it appears to others as treason because it is assumed that the […]
• “The Patriot” by Roland Emmerich Other aspects of social life, such as the number of children Ben had, the idea that the mother had died at a young age, the presence of black people working as servants and slaves, and […]
• The Problem of Patriotism Analysis Thus, the era of social revolutions in Russian and their attempts in Europe was characterized by a critique of patriotism as it was defined in the liberal tradition.
• Philosophy: Is Patriotism a Virtue? Hence, in the above context, patriotism is the feeling that arises from the concerns of the safety of the people of a nation.
• The Phenomenon of Patriotism in the Context of the U.S. War of Independence It is important to consider the phenomenon of patriotism in the context of the US War of Independence. Exploring the reasons for the victory of the American revolution, which led to the formation of the […]
• “Patriotism” by Yukio Mishima Literature Analysis Nevertheless, the use of imagery to underscore the theme of devotion comes out clearly, as the story unfolds. In this case, the education edict comes out as an image, a controversial image for the author […]
• Adolf Hitler: From Patriotism to Racism He was also forced to live and work in the city and it is was the cultural and social shock that he experienced as he transferred from the rural to the urban that changed the […]
• Poems comparing: Country Lovers and What It’s like to be a Black Girl In the poem, What it’s like to be a Black Girl, Smith explores the issue of racism in a jagged society.
• Comparison and Contrasting: Country Lovers and Child of the Americas For instance, the first paragraph gives the picture of the environment or the setting of the story as a farm, which harbors two races blacks and whites.
• Fake Democracy and Patriotism: “Give Me Liberty” by Naomi Wolf It also define the battle plan that the American citizens would use in ensuring that they fight back and regain back the rule of laws defined in the American constitution that enhance the liberty that […]
• Comparison of Ethnicity and Racism in “Country Lovers” and “The Welcome Table” In both cases, the texts have devoted their concerns to the plight of a black female who is deposed off her meaning within the realms of the society.
• The Question of Loyalty and Patriotism Considering the fact that the alien country, is where one lives and has accumulated most of her/his wealth, it becomes reasonable to show loyalty to the country though this action can also result into negatives […]
• Notions of Community and Notions of Self in The Plague and Patriotism Rieux, though a competent doctor and essentially kind hearted, exhibits a slightly annoyed air during the early days of the plague, and as the disease wears on, this annoyance graduates to full blown resentment.”The whole […]
• American Patriotism: Struggle for Independence The children’s’ efforts in the struggle for independence were greatly recognized and appreciated by the government which led to the introduction of classes on patriotism and nationalism.
• Differences Between Nationalism and Patriotism-Which Is Better for Nation Building
• Comparing Patriotism and Volunteerism in the Society
• The American Revolution: Treason or Patriotism
• United States Declaration of Independence and Patriotism
• The Effects of Country of Origin Image and Patriotism on British Consumers’ Preference for Domestic and Imported Beef
• An Analysis of the Patriotism of the Immigrants in the United States
• An Argument Which Argues Whether Children Should Be Taught in Education to Be Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism
• Patriotism Should Be Propagated In Singapore Schools
• Patriotism and the Historical Inaccuracies in The Patriot, a Film by Roland Emmerich
• The Subtle Use of Patriotism in the Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• Gandhi’s Views On Patriotism and One’s Love for Their Country
• The European Charter – Between deep Diversity and Constitutional Patriotism
• Patriotism And National Identity : A Symbol Of National Hero
• U.S. Definition of Patriot and Patriotism
• Japanese Culture vs. Chinese Culture: the Loss of Patriotism
• Patriotism: American Identity Defined Through Opportunity, Hard Work, And Loyalty
• Racism, Unprovoked Hatred and Misguided Patriotism in Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
• American Patriotism: The Love for the Country
• The Patriotism Of Despair By Serguei Alex Oushakine
• The Influence of The Miracle on Ice Game in Changing the Public Attitude and Feelings of Patriotism in America
• Preserving the American Idea of Patriotism
• Economic Patriotism, the Clash of Capitalisms, and State Aid in the European Union
• False Patriotism in America
• Patriotism, Cosmopolitanism, Consumer Ethnocentrism and Purchase Behavior
• The Consequences Of Patriotism As Moral Justification
• Comparing Patriotism and Nationalism
• The Representation of Patriotism and Militarism in the Drinking Fountain
• The Different Versions of Our True Patriotism
• Red White and Beer: a Rhetorical Analysis of America’s Retail Patriotism
• The Relation Between Seppuku and Patriotism Within the Japanese Society
• Is American Patriotism Also Blind Patriotism
• The Birthplace of American Patriotism
• Patriotism in United States After September 11th Incident
• The Use of Media to Promote Unity and Patriotism in America
• Is Patriotism a Byproduct of Fascism
• The Idea of Freedom and Patriotism in America
• Wanda Coleman, Colin Kaepernick, and The Refusal to Prioritize Patriotism Over Blackness
• Patriotism, Preferences and Serendipity: Understanding the Adoption of the Defence Transfers Directive
• The Policy Of Economic Nationalism: From Origins To New Variations Of Economic Patriotism
• U.S. Patriotism: A Link to American Hatred. Politics in the Media
• A Deeper Look at Patriotism, Conscience and the Mexican War
• How Does Economic Patriotism Differ from Nationalism?
• What Acts Promote Patriotism?
• How Can a Teacher Show Patriotism in Education?
• What Values Lead to Patriotism?
• Does Patriotism Contribute to the Growth of a Nation?
• What Is the Concept of Economic Patriotism?
• How Are Terrorism, Patriotism, and the Farce of Loyalty Oaths Related to Each Other?
• Why Is Patriotism an Important Value?
• How Do You Demonstrate Patriotism?
• What Is Patriotism in Core Values?
• Should the Canadian Government Coordinate the Organization of Youth Groups That Would Encourage Patriotism?
• Was the American Revolution a Treason or Patriotism?
• How Does Promoting Patriotism Contribute to Economic Prosperity?
• What Are the Positive Effects of Patriotism?
• How Has Patriotism Changed Over the Centuries?
• What Are the Main Types of Patriotism?
• Did the First World War Change the Idea of War and Patriotism?
• What Is the Relationship Between Seppuku and Patriotism in Japanese Society?
• How Does Globalization Affect Patriotism?
• What Is the Difference Between Nationalism and Patriotism, and Which Is Better for Nation Building?
• How Is Patriotism, Bravery, and Freedom Described in the Book “Born on the Fourth of July”?
• What Is Your Idea of Patriotism and Its Importance in Our Lives?
• Should Teachers Emphasize Patriotism and Heroes?
• What Are the Factors Affecting Patriotism?
• How Can the American Idea of Patriotism Be Preserved?
• What Does True Patriotism Mean to You?
• How Important Is Patriotism for Young People?
• What Are the Qualities of a Good Leader That Promote Patriotism?
• Is It Important to Educate Patriotism in Elementary School?
• What Does the Concept of Patriotism Mean to Mishima?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Essay on Patriotism in English for Children and Students

Table of Contents

Essay on Patriotism: Patriotism can be defined as one’s love and loyalty for his country. Many people dedicate their lives to serving their nation. These people are referred to as patriots. The feeling of patriotism brings people closer. It must be promoted for the betterment of the country as well as the people residing there. Patriotism means having love and devotion for one’s country. Those who are true patriots work towards building their nation in whichever way they can. Here are essays on Patriotism of varying lengths to help you with the topic in your exam. You can select any Patriotism essay as per your interest:

Long and Short Essay on Patriotism in English

Patriotism is the deep affection, dedication, and backing for one’s own nation. A patriot is someone who deeply cares for their country and is ready to do anything to help it. It’s important for each of us to have this sentiment within us. In the past, before our country gained independence, there were true patriots who also happened to be our freedom fighters, and they courageously fought for our nation’s liberty.

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Short Essay on Patriotism 200 words

Patriotism is putting the interest of one’s country first, working for its development and sacrificing for it if need. Many people think that patriotism is all about laying one’s life for his/ her country but it does not necessarily mean that. It means living for the betterment of the country, serving it in every possible way and willing to sacrifice one’s life whenever there is a need.

Many people in the past have served their countries and even laid their lives for it. Many people still continue to serve their country with as much devotion. Indian freedom fighters were filled with the feeling of patriotism. They did not care about themselves and worked selflessly for the nation. Even today, many people are dedicated towards serving the nation in whatever way they can. However, the feeling of patriotism is slowly fading. The youth today does not feel as strongly for his country as people of the earlier generations felt.

The elderly people must make an effort to instill the feeling of patriotism in their children. Institutions such as schools and colleges must also promote the same. The youth of the country must love and respect the country and work towards building it strong.

Short Essay on Patriotism 300 words

Patriotism is the feeling of love and respect for one’s country. Patriots are known to love their country unconditionally and are proud of it. Every country in the world has its set of patriots – people who are ready to do anything for their country. However, the spirit of patriotism seems to be fading these days owing to the growing competition in every field as well as the changing lifestyle of people.

The Feeling of Patriotism must be Instilled

In the past, particularly during the British reign, many people came forward to instill the feeling of patriotism among their fellow countrymen. Patriots held meetings, gave lectures and used various other means to inspire the people around them. In the same way, a feeling of patriotism must be instilled in the young generation today too. This must be done when they are still young. Schools and colleges must take initiative to instill children with a feeling of love and respect for their country. Many institutions host functions and organize events on 15 th August and 26 th January. Patriotic songs are sung and a feeling of patriotism seems to engulf the entire nation around that time. But is this real patriotism? No! Such an atmosphere must be created in general and not just around these special dates. It is then that such a feeling will be instilled in the heart of every citizen forever.

A nation where the youth loves the country and is driven towards improving its condition socially and economically would certainly grow better.

A true patriot is the one who works hard for the betterment of his country. He contributes his bit towards improving the condition of his country in whatever way he can. A true patriot does not only work towards building his nation but also inspires those around him to do so.

Long Essay on Patriotism 400 words

The feeling of patriotism means having the feeling of immense love for ones country. There have been a number of patriots in our country in the past and there are many present today. However, the feeling of patriotism among the people of India could especially be seen during the British reign.

Famous Indian Patriots

Here is a look at some of the true patriots during the British reign:

• Shaheed Bhagat Singh

Bhagat Singh is known to be a true patriot. He was driven towards freeing our country from the clutches of the British government. He participated in various freedom struggles and began a revolution. He was so dedicated towards his mission that he did not think twice before sacrificing his life for his motherland. He proved to be an inspiration for numerous citizens.

• Subhash Chandra Bose

Subhash Chandra Bose, better known as Netaji, took active part in India’s freedom struggle. He was known for his strong ideologies. Besides being a part of various freedom movements to drive the British out of the country, Bose also promoted Hindu-Muslim unity.

• Bal Ganga Dhar Tilak

Bal Ganga Dhar Tilak was infused with the feeling of patriotism. His saying, “Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it” showed how determined he was in freeing the country from the tyranny of the British rulers. He condemned the British government for its brutal treatment. He demanded right to self government for the people of India.

• Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi

His contribution towards India’s freedom struggle is known to all. He led the maximum number of freedom movements against the British. He was a perfect example of “simple living high thinking”. He dreamt of India’s freedom and worked hard towards achieving the same in his own unique way.

• Sarojni Naidu

Sarojini Naidu, a famous singer of her times, was also a patriot at heart. She participated in the freedom struggle and contributed her bit towards freeing the country from the British rule. She played a vital role in the Civil Disobedience Movement because of which she even got arrested along with other prominent freedom fighters. She was also arrested during the Quit India movement but this did not dither her feeling of patriotism for her country.

The citizens of India must be inspired to serve the country in whatever way they can. The government, schools and other institutions must take initiative to enlighten the spirit of patriotism among the citizens.

Long Essay on Patriotism 500 words

“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it” said Mark Twain. Patriotism is all about loving and respecting ones country and working towards its betterment. People must join hands with the government and other institutions to work in this direction.

Patriotism is Fading with Time

Patriotism is fading with the passage of time. It is hardly seen in the younger generation these days. This is because people these days have become too engrossed in their own lives. They are also becoming more and more selfish. A selfish person is one who always thinks about himself and keeps his interests above everything and everyone around him. On the other hand, patriotism is all about loving one’s own country selflessly. A person who is too engrossed in himself and gives immense importance to himself and his needs can never be a patriot. The growing competition these days has also contributed a lot to it.

Each individual is busy making money to make his life more and more comfortable and better than those around him. There is hardly any room to think about anything else in such a scenario. Love for the country and serving the country is almost a forgotten concept these days. Instead of working towards the betterment of one’s country and contributing in its development the youth today is migrating to other countries in search of better lifestyle. If the mindset of people had been same around 100 years back, they would have never united and fought for the freedom of the country. They would have only looked for their own selfish motifs in that situation.

True Patriot Vs. False Patriot

While many people claimed to be patriots during the British reign few among them were false patriots who took advantage of the situation to further their own selfish motives. Even today there are many people who truly love and respect their country while some only pretend to do so. A true patriot is one who is dedicated towards serving his nation. He puts the interest of his country and countrymen first and is willing to sacrifice everything for the betterment of his country. On the other hand, false patriot is one who claims to love his country and shows that he is a patriot while in public. However, he does so for his own gain and does not actually possess these feelings.

Patriotism Vs. Nationalism

The terms nationalism and patriotism are often used interchangeably. However, there is a difference between the two. Patriotism means being proud of one’s nation for its positive points and working towards its betterment. On the other hand, nationalism means being proud of one’s nation regardless of its positive and negative points. While patriotism is good, nationalism is considered irrational and spiteful.

Patriotism is inborn in some while it can be instilled in the others. The feeling of patriotism is required for the betterment and development of a country. It also brings people of a country closer and helps them experience the love and joy of sharing and caring.

Long Essay on Patriotism 600 words

Patriotism is one of the purest feelings in the world. A patriot feels selflessly for his country. He keeps his country’s interests and well-being above his own. He is ready to sacrifice for his country without thinking twice.

Patriotism is a Virtue Everyone Must Possess

Our country is also referred to as our motherland and we must love it the way we love our mother. Those who feel the same love and devotion for their country as they feel for their mother and family are known to be true patriots. Patriotism is a virtue that every individual must possess. A country full of patriots certainly makes a better place to live compared to the one where people are fighting with each other in the name of religion, caste, creed and other issues. A place where people have collective interests and mission would certainly have lesser conflicts. Here is why everyone must possess the virtue of patriotism:

• Nation Building

When everyone is dedicated towards building the nation strong in every aspect, there is no way that country wouldn’t grow and develop. Patriots put the nation’s interest above their own and work with devotion for its betterment.

• Maintaining Peace and Harmony

A good nation is one where peace and harmony is maintained at all times. People have a feeling of brotherhood and help and support each other. The feeling of patriotism is known to promote the feeling of brotherhood among one’s countrymen.

• Working for a Common Goal

Patriots work for a common goal and that is for the betterment of their country. When everyone is driven towards a common goal or mission there is no way it cannot be achieved.

• No Selfish Motives

Patriots work selflessly for their country without any individual interest. If everyone possesses the feeling of patriotism and does not think about gratifying his/ her individual interest, there will be benefits certainly to the country.

• No corruption

If political leaders have a feeling of patriotism, they will work for the country unlike the present scenario where in those in power are busy making money for themselves rather than working for the upliftment of the country. Similarly, if the government officials and other citizens of the country are determined towards serving the nation rather than making quick money or getting quick services for themselves, the level of corruption will fall.

Patriotism Must Not Turn Into Chauvinism

Being patriotic is a great virtue. We must love and respect our country and serve it in whatever way we can. The positive points of possessing feeling of patriotism shared above show how it can help the country prosper and grow. However, some people take this love for their country to the next level. Excess love for one’s country and believing that your country is superior and important is termed as chauvinism. As excess of everything is bad so is excess love for one’s country. Chauvinists’ strong belief in their country’s ideologies and irrational belief of superiority of its own people creates a feeling of hatred for others. This often instigates conflicts and war amid countries thereby disrupting peace and harmony.

There have been several instances in the past wherein chauvinism has resulted in unnecessary conflicts turning into riots. There is a very thin line between patriotism and chauvinism. While patriotism is healthy, chauvinism is fanatic and irrational. People must ensure that their devotion and love towards their country does not turn into chauvinism over the time.

Love for one’s native land is the purest form of love. A person who is ready to sacrifice his own interests for his/ her country deserves a salute. Each country in the world needs more and more people who possess this feeling.

Essay on Patriotism FAQs

What is patriotism in an essay.

Patriotism in an essay means writing about love and loyalty to one's country.

What is important patriotism?

Important patriotism is about caring for your country, showing respect, and being proud of its values and history.

Why one should be patriotic in 5 sentences?

Being patriotic is essential because it fosters unity, defends freedom, honors sacrifices, promotes peace, and strengthens a sense of belonging.

What is patriotism class 9?

In class 9, patriotism is often taught as the love and devotion towards one's own nation.

Why is patriotism important in English?

Patriotism is important in English as it helps express feelings of love and loyalty towards one's country.

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Essay on Patriotism: Samples for Students in 100, 250, 500 Words

• Updated on  
• Oct 13, 2023

Essay on Patriotism: Patriotism can be defined as one’s love and loyalty towards their country. Everybody loves to serve their country and take it to new heights. These people are referred to as patriots. The feeling of patriotism allows a set of people to come closer. It must be promoted for the betterment of the country as well as the people residing there. 

Those who are true patriots work towards building their nation in whichever way they can. Here are essays on Patriotism of varying lengths to help you with the topic in your exam. You can select any Patriotism essay as per your interest. 

Also Read: Maharana Pratap: The Patriotic Hero of the Century

Essay on Patriotism in 100 Words

Patriotism in India is a fervent devotion and love for one’s country, deeply ingrained in its rich history and diverse culture. It transcends mere flag-waving and extends to an unwavering commitment to the nation’s progress. Patriotism finds expression in the sacrifices made by countless freedom fighters for India’s independence, serving as a timeless inspiration.

This sentiment is not confined to any particular religion, caste, or creed; it unites Indians from all backgrounds. It is evident in the respect for the national flag and anthem, symbolizing the collective pride of  1.4 billion people.

Patriotism isn’t blind allegiance; it involves constructive criticism and an earnest desire for India to reach greater heights. It fuels the spirit of nation-building, fostering unity in diversity and preserving the values that make India unique. In a rapidly changing world, patriotism remains the bedrock upon which India’s future is built, reminding all Indians of their duty to their beloved motherland.

Also Read- Famous Personalities Of India

Essay on Patriotism in 250 Words

Patriotism is a powerful force that has shapes a country’s history and continues to influence its present. In this essay, we will explore the significance of patriotism in India, its historical roots, and its manifestations in contemporary society.

Historical Roots of Patriotism

India’s rich history of patriotism can be traced back to its struggle for independence against British colonial rule. Visionaries like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Subhas Chandra Bose inspired millions with their unwavering love for the nation. Their sacrifices and dedication instilled a deep sense of patriotism in the hearts of Indians.

Diverse and United

India’s diversity in culture, language, and religion is a testament to its unity in diversity. Patriotism in India transcends these differences, binding the nation together. Indians take pride in their heritage, from the majestic Himalayas to the serene backwaters of Kerala. This love for the motherland fosters a sense of belonging and unity.

Modern Expressions of Patriotism

Today, patriotism finds expression in various forms. Indians celebrate their independence on August 15th with flag-hoisting ceremonies, parades, and cultural events. Social media has provided a platform for citizens to express their love for India, and campaigns like “Make in India” promote economic patriotism by supporting indigenous products.

Patriotism in India is a deep-seated emotion that binds its people together. Rooted in history, it has evolved to suit the modern world. As India continues to progress, patriotism remains a guiding force, reminding citizens of their responsibilities and the importance of unity in building a brighter future for the nation.

Also Read: Education of Rabindranath Tagore

Essay on Patriotism in 500 Words 

Introduction.

Patriotism in India is an enduring sentiment deeply etched into the collective psyche of its citizens. This essay explores the multifaceted dimensions of patriotism, tracing its historical roots, examining its contemporary expressions, and highlighting the challenges and responsibilities it entails.

Historical Legacy of Patriotism

1. The Freedom Struggle: Patriotism in India finds its origins in the arduous struggle for independence from British colonial rule. Visionaries like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Subhas Chandra Bose became iconic symbols of unwavering love for the nation. Their sacrifices and dedication stirred the hearts of millions, laying the foundation for modern Indian patriotism.

2. Iconic Moments: The Salt March, Quit India Movement, and Dandi March stand as enduring symbols of patriotic fervor. These historic events not only marked milestones in the journey towards independence but also demonstrated the power of non-violent resistance and unity.

Diverse and Unified

1. Unity in Diversity: India’s remarkable diversity in culture, language, religion, and geography is a testament to its unity in diversity. Despite these differences, Indians share a common bond of love for the motherland. This sense of belonging transcends regional and cultural boundaries.

2. Cultural Expressions: India’s rich cultural tapestry, from the majestic Himalayas to the vibrant festivals of Holi and Diwali, serves as a canvas for expressions of patriotism. Songs, dances, and traditional rituals celebrate the nation’s heritage and its people’s attachment to it.

1. National Celebrations: Independence Day and Republic Day are grand celebrations that unite the nation. Flag hoisting ceremonies, parades, and cultural performances showcase the pride Indians take in their country’s achievements.

2. Economic Patriotism: Initiatives like “Make in India” promote economic patriotism by encouraging the consumption of indigenous products. Supporting local businesses and industries is seen as a way to contribute to the nation’s growth.

Challenges and Responsibilities

1. Upholding Democratic Values: Patriotism must go hand in hand with upholding democratic values. Respecting the Constitution, ensuring equal rights, and promoting social justice are crucial aspects of being a patriotic Indian.

2. Tackling Divisions: While patriotism unites, it can also be misused to promote division and intolerance. Indians must be vigilant against divisive ideologies that threaten the nation’s unity.

3. Environmental Responsibility: Protecting India’s natural heritage is an essential facet of patriotism. Preserving forests, rivers, and wildlife ensures a sustainable future for the country.

Patriotism in India is a timeless bond that has withstood the test of time. Rooted in a history of struggle, it has evolved to encompass the vast diversity of the nation. 

As India continues to progress on the global stage, patriotism remains a guiding force, reminding citizens of their responsibilities and the importance of unity in shaping a brighter future for the nation. It is a sentiment that continues to inspire and define India’s identity in the modern world.

Ans. Patriotism arises organically and holds great importance in safeguarding a nation’s cultural and historical legacy. It involves a deep sense of pride in being a representative of one’s country. Patriotism encompasses a profound love for the nation and a willingness to endure any hardship for the sake of one’s homeland.

Ans. The top 5 points of a best patriot are a unique fondness for one’s native land, a feeling of personal connection to the nation, a particular care for the welfare of the country and readiness to make sacrifices to advance the nation’s welfare.

Ans. The term “patriot” refers to an individual who harbors a deep affection for their homeland and is willing to courageously uphold and protect it. This definition has remained constant since the word was introduced to the English language in the 16th century, although it has faced occasional scrutiny and debate over the years.

We hope that this blog essay on Patriotism has given you some known and unknown facts and secrets about Patriotism. For more amazing reads on essay writing , follow Leverage Edu. 

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A bachelors in Journalism and Mass Communication graduate, I am an enthusiastic writer. I love to write about impactful content which can help others. I love to binge watch and listen to music during my free time.

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Home — Essay Samples — Government & Politics — Political Systems & Ideologies — Patriotism

Essays on Patriotism

When it comes to writing an essay on patriotism, the topic you choose can make a big difference. Patriotism is a broad and complex subject that encompasses a wide range of ideas, emotions, and actions. Choosing the right topic is essential for crafting a compelling and engaging essay that captures the essence of patriotism. In this guide, we will discuss the importance of the topic, provide advice on choosing a topic, and offer a detailed list of recommended essay topics, divided by category.

Patriotism is a concept that holds different meanings for different people. It is not only about love for one's country, but also about the values and principles that one believes in. Writing an essay on patriotism allows you to explore and express your thoughts on these important ideas. The topic you choose will shape the direction of your essay and influence the way your audience perceives your perspective on patriotism.

When choosing a topic for your patriotism essay, it's important to consider your own interests and beliefs. Think about what aspects of patriotism are meaningful to you and what you want to communicate to your audience. Consider topics that are relevant and timely, as well as those that offer opportunities for in-depth exploration and analysis. Additionally, make sure to choose a topic that is manageable within the scope of your assignment and that allows you to present a compelling argument or narrative.

Recommended Patriotism Essay Topics

When writing an essay about patriotism, it's important to choose a topic that is both interesting and relevant. Here is a list of patriotism essay topics categorized by different themes:

Historical Perspectives

• The role of patriotism in the American Revolution
• Patriotic symbolism in the Civil War
• Patriotism in World War I and II
• The impact of patriotism on the founding of a nation

Modern Perspectives

• The relationship between patriotism and nationalism
• Patriotism in the context of globalization
• The influence of patriotism on contemporary politics
• The role of social media in shaping patriotic sentiment

Cultural Perspectives

• Patriotism in literature and the arts
• Patriotic traditions and celebrations around the world
• Patriotism in popular culture and media
• Immigrant perspectives on patriotism

Ethical and Philosophical Considerations

• The ethics of patriotism and its implications
• Patriotism vs. cosmopolitanism: a philosophical debate
• The role of patriotism in shaping moral values
• Patriotism and the concept of duty

Personal Reflections

• My personal journey with patriotism
• Family traditions and patriotism
• Patriotism and identity: a personal exploration
• How my perspective on patriotism has evolved over time

Global Perspectives

• Comparative analysis of patriotism across different cultures
• The role of patriotism in international relations
• Patriotism and global citizenship
• Patriotism and the challenges of multiculturalism

Social and Political Implications

• The impact of patriotism on social cohesion
• Patriotism and protest movements
• The role of patriotism in promoting social change
• The intersection of patriotism and social justice

Education and Patriotism

• The role of patriotism in the school curriculum
• Patriotism and civic education
• Teaching patriotism in a diverse classroom
• Patriotism and the challenge of historical accuracy

Psychological Perspectives

• The psychology of patriotism
• Patriotism and identity formation
• The impact of patriotism on mental health
• Patriotism and group dynamics

Environmental Considerations

• Patriotism and environmental conservation
• The role of patriotism in sustainable development
• Patriotism and climate change activism
• The intersection of patriotism and ecological ethics

These recommended essay topics cover a wide range of perspectives on patriotism, offering ample opportunities for exploration and analysis. Whether you are interested in historical, cultural, philosophical, or personal reflections on patriotism, there is a topic that will suit your interests and allow you to craft a compelling and thought-provoking essay.

Remember to choose a topic that resonates with you personally and provides a platform for expressing your thoughts and ideas in a meaningful way. With the right topic, your patriotism essay has the potential to spark important conversations and inspire critical thinking about the concept of patriotism in today's world.

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Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or historical aspects.

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The Ethics of Patriotism: A Debate

John Kleinig, Simon Keller, and Igor Primoratz, The Ethics of Patriotism: A Debate, Wiley-Blackwell, 2015, 189pp., $34.95 (pbk), ISBN 9780470658857.

Reviewed by Jill Hernandez, University of Texas at San Antonio

Within the landscape of global terror and amidst the necessary philosophical dialogue about the ethics and scope of just war, it can be difficult to remember that many real-world people across the globe believe they have a patriotic duty to take up arms for their country. But providing a useful definition of patriotism and a moral defense of it can prove to be just as difficult.

The earlier scholarship of the interlocutors in The Ethics of Patriotism already demonstrates that they are up to the challenge, and their latest contributions offer insight into the complexities of the morally relevant considerations that frame the debate surrounding the permissibility of patriotism. John Kleinig's reputation as a scholar who deftly explains complex applied issues in security ethics positions him well to address how patriotism might be conceived as a virtue -- but one that could potentially be corrupted by the vicious. If, indeed, patriotism entails some version of loyalty, then Simon Keller -- whose interesting (and renowned) work denies that loyalty is a virtue -- sets him up as a natural critic of Kleinig's view. A middle position is given by Igor Primoratz, who has made a distinguished career of defending a version of ethical patriotism which he explains further here. Although much of the the initial essays' contents have been articulated elsewhere by the authors, in this volume they each take pains in the middle section to truly engage with the other scholars' arguments. The result is that the "Debate" promised in the title is delivered at least as a "Dialogue", which culminates in a short final section in which each author summarizes his own view, the criticisms of it offered in the other authors' initial essays, and his replies to those criticisms.

This dialogue begins with an explanation of what the authors actually agree on -- which turns out to be (surprisingly) some very important things. They all believe that patriotism conceptually must involve an agent's love for a country rather than for a people group (4). (The latter affect is identified as "nationalism" as opposed to patriotism, and throughout the authors are careful to both separate the two and also to remind the reader how difficult it really is to separate them.) Collectively, the authors agree also that if an agent is a patriot, then she favors her country over others, which they argue indicates that given "the right circumstances, the patriot will do things for her country that she would not do for other countries" (5), including performing actions to protect the country's defense, health, and prosperity. Finally, they think that being a patriot means that an agent's self-conception integrates a patriotic identification with her country in a way that impacts how others view her character (5). The patriot identifies with her country in relational terms: her country is hers, and the reciprocal obligations between country and patriot matter morally. The disagreements that emerge out of these agreements fuel the book's content and include questions about the nature and scope of patriotic actions, the moral permissibility of identifying with a country, the value of patriotism, and even whether one could be a patriot without also being a scoundrel.

Part One clearly demarcates the distinctive features of the authors' previous work and sets up the interesting dialogue function of Part Two. Kleinig's view is laid out first. He argues that, all things being equal, a country is an associative object (regardless of whether it is loved for its own sake or instrumentally, 24) that may be justified in demanding our patriotic commitment (35). When we have a dispositional attitude to behave towards an associative object with which we identify, we exhibit loyalty. And, although this loyalty is subject to corruption (and so may be exploited by a country's government towards its own morally nefarious purposes), as long as agents are aware of patriotism's potential susceptibility, they can be patriotic in a virtuous way (36). Since whether patriotism becomes a virtue or vice depends in part on whether the agent is able to spatially delineate between nationalism and patriotism and take the best bits of each (42), the moral justification of patriotism is tied to agential volition, and so not every version of patriotism is imbued with bad faith.

Keller argues differently. Patriotism rests on a particular positive picture an agent has of the country, not just on the agent's positive belief that the country conforms to some positive picture (169), with the result that patriotism is fundamentally, constitutionally flawed. Patriotism cannot function as a virtue (contra Kleinig) because it is intertwined with bad faith (164) and motivates agents to hide displeasing truths about the country to which they are patriotic or to present ugly truths about it as pleasing untruths (35). Keller worries that governments take advantage of the patriot's willingness to be deceived, and more, that the patriot's participation in institutional deception is glossed with a veneer of moral permissibility when the patriot 'spins' as true whatever evidence is at her disposal in order to maintain an image of what her country should be. (Americans who continue to justify the invasion of Iraq because they believe the evidence suggests there could have been weapons of mass destruction in Iraq would fall into this category.) Keller thinks that advocates of patriotism can only at best tell us that we cannot know if patriotism is required for a state to flourish, and if we cannot know if it is required then we need not conclude that it is. Indeed, there might be examples of countries that had success without widespread patriotic feeling (see West Germany in the late twentieth-century). But, intrepid fans of the Star Spangled Banner need not worry too much about Keller's rejection of the virtue of patriotism because although he cautions against the epistemic and moral pitfalls of patriotism, he wants to replace it with good citizenry (170).

Primoratz's middle position resides between Kleinig's contention that patriotism is not a vice and can be morally obligatory and Keller's view that patriotism is a vice that leads the agent to join in systemic deception and potential harm. His goal is to distinguish among cases in which "patriotism is morally unobjectionable and … [when] … it is morally required or virtuous" (83). He identifies the concern that agents have for a country's defense, health, and prosperity as "worldly patriotism" and the concern they have for a country to perform well in its laws and policies and to act rightly in relationships with other countries (without having the same feeling for those other countries) as "ethical patriotism" (5). Primoratz thinks that there are three main reasons to adopt ethical patriotism, or a patriotism that focuses on the country's moral record and the implementation of just and humane laws (176). First, ethical patriotism better positions agents to repair past injustices because agents are in a better position to know what laws and activities of their home country are unjust -- and patriots have a better chance of being heard by their governments when they argue against one of their government's practices (96). Second, and much stronger, ethical patriotism is morally mandatory for any citizen who tacitly benefits from a government's public policies. Finally, ethical patriotism ought to be adopted because we ought to "cultivate and exercise a special concern for the moral well-being of my country and compatriots" (98). Ultimately, Primoratz contends, the moral responsibility for a government's actions -- even if those actions are unjust -- falls on the citizenry of a country (99). If this is true, Primoratz's grounding for ethical patriotism becomes clearer: citizens ought to care and work to repair unjust action because if they do not, they are complicit in the actions of their government.

The volume provides an excellent and timely reminder as to some of the moral questions that weigh on how we identify with our country (of origin or residence), and a background knowledge of the authors' antecedent work is not required to follow the argument trajectories from the beginning. Dabblers in applied ethics will be disappointed by some obvious constraints of the book, including its diminutive size and its argumentation's correlatively thin scope. For example, the moral arguments are solely framed by either a virtue ethical or deontological background, and the authors do not really consider the question from consequentialist or intuitionist perspectives, which (to me) seem oddly excluded. (Igor Primoratz is the only author to address the possibility for a utilitarian argument, but he dismisses the potential for a successful utilitarian standpoint in two small statements: first, "Both the consequentialist argument and that of reciprocity present the patria as an association . . . . But- at least as the patriot sees it -- patria is something quite different: it is community," 90, and second, that "The special concern for the well-being of one's country and compatriots that is grounded in utility will be found much too tenuous by a patriot worth his salt. Nor is such concern part and parcel of citizenship" 73.) And, although the book need not exhaustively treat the moral issues involved in the ethics of patriotism, a utilitarian perspective is one of the most widely-represented views when it comes to justifying patriotic action. The state, for example, minimally seems to have strong utilitarian pragmatic reasons to want its citizens to be patriotic (including the need to secure stability and trust within and between nations, see Føllesdal 2000), and a number of scholars have argued for the stronger position that a citizenry ought to be patriotic for the utilitarian benefit reaped by the patriotism (Nathanson 2009).

But, there are deeper worries than its failure to connect with major moral theories. The primary difference between the writers really is not about what patriotism is or where it falls on the scope of what virtues are considered to be. Fundamentally, they disagree about the value of patriotism. Kleinig's view that loyalty to the state can be morally obligatory means that patriotism ought to have a positive moral value -- especially if it functions as a virtue. But much of the book is a morality play about the dangers that can come with attributing patriotism as a virtue. This worry conflates with the difficulty most writers on the topic have: just how can you preserve patriotism without preserving nationalism? These authors state at the beginning they just aren't talking about nationalism, but the equivocation between the concepts lurks in the background of the arguments. For example, when Primoratz responds to Keller's and Kleinig's criticism that 'ethical patriotism' really is 'collective responsibility' he replies that a "I can have a lively sense of collective responsibility in relation to many groups, large or small, but I can be an ethical patriot only when the collective is my patria " (176). While it is true that a patriot's moral obligations are to country , and so to patria , we do not mean that her moral obligations are to place . Rather, those moral obligations are to the state, as populated by people. So, the strict delineation between place and people that the authors want (20-21) is difficult to maintain when discussing what moral obligations patriots might have. If I think I have moral obligations to Texas, what I mean is that I have moral obligations to the people and, perhaps, institutions that are populated by people, within the state, and not to the land circumscribed as 'Texas'. Similarly, a patriot would have obligations to country only insofar as she has relationships within it. Interestingly, I think Primoratz would agree with me on the last point. Ethical patriotism only works if the obligations we have to rectify state policy are placed on agents because of action by a country's institution (decided upon by the people within that institution).

Finally, a main concern about the content of the book should be what it does not present -- namely, the strongest arguments against patriotism. The debate over whether patriotism is a virtue or a vice pales in comparison to the view that patriotism is morally abhorrent. (MacIntyre argued that the difference depended on whether someone viewed patriotism as merely a set of empty practical slogans or as potentially always in conflict with an impersonal moral standpoint, 1984, 6). Keller's articulation of patriotism as a vice that ought to be avoided in favor of good citizenship, for example, seems innocuous in comparison to some of the most vocal critics against patriotism. Among them, George Kateb argues that conceiving of patriotism as a vice is insufficient to prevent patriotic humans from participating in atrocities because the fact that something ought not morally be done has historically never been a good constraint on human action.

The horror is that hyperactive and inactive imagination (or moral blindness) in combination make it easy, or easier, to commit atrocities on a large scale and not feel regret or remorse, whether after victory or defeat. On every level, the participants have little or no conviction of vice (2006, 390).

Even if we as a citizenry were able to make incremental moral improvements, human nature does not change, and so "unchanged human nature … produces discontinuity in the scale of atrocious effects of deliberate state or movement policy, and could produce yet greater atrocities in the future, and even culminate in the extinction of humanity and much of nature" (387). And, for the debate within the book about the moral value of patriotism (whether extrinsic or intrinsic), comparatively, what value does patriotism have when it is grounded in loyalty to countries that facilitate "humanly inflicted and humanly endured catastrophes" and which deliberately perpetuate atrocities?

Andreas Føllesdal, "The Future Soul of Europe: Nationalism or Just Patriotism?", Journal of Peace Research , 37:4, July 2000, 503-518.

George Kateb, Patriotism and Other Mistakes , (Yale University Press), 2006.

Simon Keller, The Limits of Loyalty , (Cambridge University Press), 2007.

--  -- . "Patriotism as Bad Faith," Ethics, 115: 3, 2005, 563-592.

John Kleinig, "Patriotic Loyalty," in Patriotism: Philosophical and Political Perpsectives , Igor Primoratz and Aleksandar Pavković (editors), (Ashgate), 2008, 37-53.

Alasdair MacIntyre, Is Patriotism a Virtue? Lindley Lecture, University of Kansas, 1984.

Stephen Nathanson, "Patriotism, War, and the Limits of Permissible Partiality," The Journal of Ethics , 13:4, January 2009, 401-422.

Igor Primoratz, "Patriotism and the Value of Citizenship," Acta Analytica, 24:1, 2009, 63-67.

Igor Primoratz and Aleksandar Pavković (editors), Patriotism: Philosophical and Political Perspectives (Ashgate), 2008.

Loyalist vs. Patriot

Written by: rebecca brannon, james madison university, by the end of this section, you will:.

• Explain how British colonial policies regarding North America led to the Revolutionary War
• Explain how various factors contributed to the American victory in the Revolution

Suggested Sequencing

Use this Decision Point with the  Thomas Paine,  Common Sense , 1776  Primary Source to allow students to analyze the divide of colonists over loyalty to the crown.

The American Revolution was many things—a tax revolt, an international debate over good government and consent, and a revolution in pursuit of sovereignty. But at its heart, it was also a civil war between colonial Americans. The colonists increasingly had to take sides in this civil war. While some found it easy, others struggled to choose.

John Adams famously said Americans divided into three equal groups: the staunch Patriots, the Loyalists, and those remaining neutral. Yet a better estimate would put Loyalists at about 20 percent of the population. These were the colonists who were ultimately willing to fight for the Loyalist cause, or at least to publicly express their loyalism even when it was not popular. Perhaps another 30 percent to 40 percent of the population were Patriots who visibly supported the Revolution in some way. Others were determined to remain neutral, even as that became harder in the midst of a civil war.

The choice was complex. No clear deciding factor predicted who would become a Patriot, a Loyalist, or neither, and generations of historians have tried to find a common pattern without success. Groups such as Scotch-Irish immigrants in the newly settled backcountry regions leaned Loyalist at times because they opposed the eastern elites who ran the colonies. When sizable numbers of those elites became Patriots and led the government, some Protestant religious minorities and recently settled farmers decided that they trusted a far-off king more than the local elites, who were more likely to enact policies for the benefit of easterners than those who lived in the west.

Neutrals had differing motivations. Religious beliefs certainly influenced many. Quakers, Mennonites, and other pacifists (people opposed to all war) were neutrals and had their patriotism questioned as a result. Although many ordinary Anglicans (members of the Church of England, the official state church in several colonies) became Patriots despite their religious beliefs, the vast majority of Anglican clergymen were Loyalists. Many Anglicans wanted to remain loyal to the monarch as the head of state and head of the Church of England. This association of Anglicanism with Loyalism tarred the church for many years after the Revolution. Some Protestant minorities, especially Presbyterians, were slightly more likely to choose Loyalism than others.

Some neutrals did not much care who governed them so long as the government largely left them alone; others simply did not want to be on the losing side. It was a great risk to stake out a position, and the truth is most humans usually try to take the safe course. In places where the war stayed a distant concern, people found it easier to be neutral, or barring that, lukewarm in their support of either side. But where troops arrived on the doorstep, pressure grew rapidly to take a side and vigorously support it. In the port city of Boston, Patriots were motivated by political ideology, but also by economic concerns. In occupied New York City, artisans were under pressure to choose the Loyalist cause to keep working in the city. Farmers in the backcountry South who had tried to stay out of politics found one side or the other plundering their food and horses—and promptly chose the other side.

(a) John Malcolm, a customs official loyal to the British Crown, is tarred and feathered by men in Boston in this 1774 print attributed to Philip Dawe. (b) In  The Alternative of Williams-Burg , a merchant has to sign a nonimportation agreement or risk being covered with the tar and feathers suspended behind him. Can you tell whether each artist supported the Patriot or Loyalist cause?

Historians have not found any connection between educational level, occupation, position in society, or economic status and the choice to be a Patriot or a Loyalist. Well-educated doctors, lawyers, and newspaper publishers all could be found on both sides. Families were split by the Revolution. Benjamin Franklin, a newspaper publisher and Enlightenment scientist, became a Patriot. He had secured a royal post for his son William Franklin as governor of New Jersey, and William chose to be a Loyalist. The two never spoke again.

Enslaved Africans and African Americans usually chose to support the British cause. In 1775, the last royal governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, issued a proclamation offering male slaves their freedom in return for taking up arms to defend the king’s cause. In many ways, Dunmore’s Proclamation was the product of a truly desperate royal official who used it as a last-gasp way to raise troops and cause chaos. The British actually hesitated to support Dunmore’s Proclamation because they were aware it alienated planters who might otherwise support the king’s cause. (It might also unnerve otherwise-loyal colonists in the Caribbean colonies, who did not join the independence movement but depended on slavery to generate wealth.)

Yet as the War for Independence wore on, and British and Loyalist troops swept through the South from 1779 on, slaves took the gamble. More than 20 percent of the enslaved population voted with their feet and ran to British lines in South Carolina and Georgia during the war to claim their freedom. At the end of the war, these black Loyalists pressed the British to honor their promise of freedom, which they grudgingly did, providing transportation for them and many white Loyalists to the British colony of Nova Scotia in today’s Canada.

Free blacks, on the other hand, lived lives similar to those of poor white colonists, and they often chose the Patriot side for similar reasons. Crispus Attucks worked as a sailor and on the docks, and he joined fellow dockworkers on March 5, 1770, to protest now-hated British policies. In the Boston Massacre that night, he became the first African American to die for the American Revolution.

New England states offered male slaves freedom in return for their military service, although their owners had to agree to allow them to serve. Historians estimate that approximately five thousand African Americans served in the Continental Army during the war.

For all the debate over political ideals in the lead-up to the War for Independence, much of what motivated most people may have been more practical. Many were persuaded more by their own personal concerns about their farm goods or the need to feed their families than they were by political ideas. When the Revolutionary War ended, the debate shifted to the kind of government the Americans were creating.

Review Questions

1. What best describes the Patriots before and during the American Revolution?

• Patriots usually had strong economic ties to Great Britain and were hesitant to risk their livelihoods by joining the cause.
• Patriots supported the cause of liberty and independence for the colonies, which meant active support of the war effort.
• Most Patriots had religious commitments that prevented them from joining a side, even though it made them unpopular.
• Support for the war increased over time, and by the end of the conflict, every colonist identified as a Patriot.

2. What best describes the Loyalists before and during the American Revolution?

• Loyalists were willing to risk treason and death to support colonial independence and remained devoted to the ideas of enlightenment.
• Loyalists continued to support the British Parliament or king, believing their economic or political interests would be best served by fighting for, or at least speaking up for, the British.
• Most Loyalists identified as pacifists and were morally unable to choose a side, owing to their religious beliefs.
• Loyalists tended to be upper middle class, educated elites; their social identity was woven to that of the crown.

3. Which of the following generalizations is true about Loyalists, Patriots, and neutrals?

• The Declaration of Independence was a turning point that decided for each of these groups who they would support in the Revolution.
• Loyalists were typically upper class, Patriots typically middle class, and neutrals usually lower class.
• There was no deciding factor; instead, each person made choices on the basis of political beliefs, economic opportunity, and proximity to war.
• Almost all Scotch-Irish supported the neutral cause, whereas almost all African Americans supported the Patriot cause of liberty.

4. How did the Revolutionary War affect the U.S. relationship with the Church of England?

• Most in the colonies remained devoted to their Anglican religion, and the church itself experienced little change.
• Loyalists were unwilling to support the Church of England because it conflicted with their views on liberty, resulting in a decline of Anglicanism in the colonies.
• Adherence to religious freedom was respected to such a degree that religious affiliation with the Anglican Church did not matter to the colonists.
• The Church of England was associated with Loyalists, so Patriots distrusted it to such an extent that the reputation of Anglicans was marred after the conclusion of the war.

5. Which of the following is not true about the relationship between African Americans and the Loyalist Cause?

• Many Loyalists in the Caribbean relied on slave labor and were hesitant about the possibility of their property being freed.
• As the war continued, many southern enslaved people escaped from their plantations and joined Loyalist troops.
• Free Blacks overwhelmingly supported the Loyalists because that gave them opportunities elsewhere in the British empire.
• At the conclusion of the War, most African American Loyalists received transportation to Nova Scotia where they were able to start their lives as free people.

6. If the Patriots had lost the war, what would have been a likely consequence for them?

• Patriots would be punished for rebelling against the Crown, and the organizers would likely face death.
• Their allies would safely transport Patriots out of the colonies.
• Patriots would be able to negotiate a new form of democratic government with the Crown.
• Patriots would immediately realize their mistake and become Loyalists once again.

Free Response Questions

• Explain why the American Revolution was a civil war.
• Explain how religious beliefs and social standing influenced some colonists’ decisions to choose a side in the American Revolution.
• Explain how economic realities influenced some colonists’ decisions to choose a side in the American Revolution.

AP Practice Questions

“But what topics of reconciliation are now left for men who think as I do, to address our countrymen? To recommend reverence for the monarch, or affection for the mother country? Will the distinctions between the prince and the ministers, between the people and their representatives, wipe out the stain of blood? Or have we the slightest reason to hope that those ministers and representatives will not be supported throughout the tragedy, as they have been through the first act? No. While we revere and love our mother country, her sword is opening our veins. The same delusions will still prevail, till France and Spain, if not other powers, long jealous of Britain’s force and fame, will fall upon her, embarrassed with an exhausting civil war, and crush, or at least depress her, then turn their arms on these provinces, which must submit to wear their chains or wade through seas of blood to a dear bought and at best a frequently convulsed and precarious independence.” Letter from John Dickinson to Arthur Lee in response to Lexington and Concord, April 29, 1775

• British troops opened fire on colonists, signaling a willingness to use violence.
• An alliance was signed with the French to gain economic and military support.
• American Indians led a coordinated attack on frontier outposts, stunning the British troops there.
• Women began creating clothes at home to boycott the British influx of goods.
• Federalists
• Anti-Federalists
• lack of united feelings about American independence
• high literacy rates among the colonies compared with other places in the world
• likelihood of men to discuss current events in the eighteenth century
• extreme enthusiasm for revolution without regard for the consequences

“Where the money is to come from which will defray this enormous annual expense of  three millions  sterling, and all those other debts, I know not; unless the author of  Common Sense , or some other ingenious projector, can discover the  Philosopher’s Stone , by which iron and other base metals may be transmuted into gold. Certain I am that our commerce and agriculture, the two principal sources of our wealth, will not support such an expense. The whole of our exports from the Thirteen United Colonies in the year 1769, amounted only to £2,887,898 sterling; which is not so much, by near half a million, as our annual expense would be, were we Independent of Great-Britain. Those exports, with no inconsiderable part of the profits arising from them, it is well known, centered finally in Britain, to pay the merchants and manufacturers there for goods we had imported thence; and yet left us still in debt! What then must our situation be, or what the state of our trade, when oppressed with such a burden of annual expense! When every article of commerce, every necessary of life, together with our lands, must be heavily taxed, to defray that expense!” Charles Inglis, Anglican Church Minister in New York City,  The Costs of Revolution , 1776

• Economic concerns influenced the decision of some to stay loyal to Great Britain.
• The primary concerns for many were the Enlightenment ideals of freedom and liberty.
• Colonists along the Atlantic seaboard agreed that taxes were a necessary part of the economy.
• Independence was the solution to the financial woes of the merchants in the colonies.

5. Which of the following places the sentiments in the excerpt in proper historical context?

• Colonists traded with all European powers equally, competing for the best profits.
• A system of mercantilism limited the colonists’ legal trade options and, therefore, their profits.
• Countries poured money into researching alchemy to create gold out of other minerals.
• Colonies had been illegally printing paper currency to offset the large amount of taxes levied on them by the British.

6. Which of the following post-war developments ensured a continuation of the sentiments provided?

• U.S. products were well made and able to compete internationally, producing quick profits for the new country.
• British manufactured goods continued to flood the market and fare better than U.S. products for decades after the conflict.
• U.S. merchants were able to trade with all countries, allowing them to quickly pay off their debts.
• British taxes continued to hurt the U.S. economy as the new nation struggled to pay war debts and taxes.

Primary Sources

http://americainclass.org/sources/makingrevolution/war/text2/oliveraddresssoldiers.pdf

http://americainclass.org/sources/makingrevolution/war/text2/painecrisis1776.pdf

Peter Oliver. Origin and Progress of the American Rebellion. 1781.  https://books.google.com/books/about/Peter_Oliver_s_Origin_Progress_of_the_Am.html?id=08IL5DO_q94C

Suggested Resources

Brannon, Rebecca.  From Revolution to Reunion: The Reintegration of the South Carolina Loyalists . Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2016

Brown, Wallace.  The King’s Friends: The Composition and Motives of the American Loyalist Claimants . Providence: Brown University Press, 1965.

Calhoon, Robert M.  The Loyalists in Revolutionary America, 1760–1781 . New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1973.

Chopra, Ruma.  Unnatural Rebellion: Loyalists in New York City During the Revolution  ( Jeffersonian America).  Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2011.

Jasanoff, Maya.  Liberty’s Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World . New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2011.

Piecuch, Jim.  Three Peoples One King: Loyalists, Indians, and Slaves in the Revolutionary South, 1775–1782 . Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2008.

Related Content

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

In our resource history is presented through a series of narratives, primary sources, and point-counterpoint debates that invites students to participate in the ongoing conversation about the American experiment.

Essay on Patriotism

Patriotism can be defined as love and loyalty towards our country.

Many people dedicate their lives to serve their country, these people are called patriots, and the spirit of patriotism brings people closer.

It should be promoted for the upright of the country as well as the people living there.

Essay on Patriotism 200 words:

Patriotism is first in the interest of one’s country, to work for its development and to sacrifice for it when needed.

Many people think that patriotism is to die for their country, but that is not what it means.

It means living for the good of the country, dedicating it in every possible way and sacrificing the life of a person whenever needed.

In the past, many people have served their countries and even laid down their lives for it. Many people still serve their country with equal reverence.

Indian freedom fighters were full of patriotic spirit, did not care for themselves and worked selflessly for the nation.

Even today, many people are dedicated to serving the nation in whatever way they can, however, the spirit of patriotism is slowly fading.

The youth of today do not feel as strongly for their country as those of previous generations.

Elderly people should try to impart a sense of patriotism in their children, Institutions like schools and colleges should also promote the same spirit.

The youth of the country should love and respect the country and work towards strengthening it.

Patriotism Essay 300 words:

Patriotism is a feeling of love and respect for a country, patriots love their country unconditionally and are proud of it.

There is a group of patriots in every country of the world – people who are willing to do anything for their country.

However, due to the increasing competition in every field and the changing lifestyle of the people, the spirit of patriotism is disappearing these days.

In the past, especially during the British reign, many people came forward to instill a sense of patriotism among their fellow countrymen.

Patriots held meetings, gave lectures and used various other means to inspire those around them.

Similarly, patriotism should be instilled in today’s younger generation, and this should be done while they are still young.

Schools and colleges should take the initiative to invite children with a sense of love and respect for their country.

Many institutes organize ceremonies and programs on 15 August and 26 January.

Patriotic songs are sung and the spirit of patriotism surrounds the entire country at that time.

But is it real patriotism?

No! Such an environment should be created in general and not around these particular dates, then that such a feeling will be born in the heart of every citizen forever.

A nation where the youth loves the country and is motivated to improve their position socially and economically.

Conclusion for Patriotism Essay:

A true patriot is one who works hard for the good of his country contribute to improving the condition of their country.

A true patriot not only works towards building his nation but also inspires those around him to do so.

Essay on Patriotism 400 words:

The spirit of patriotism means a feeling of boundless love for our country. Our country has had many patriots in the past and many still exist today.

However, the spirit of patriotism was particularly visible among the people of India during British rule.

Famous Indian Patriots:

Look at some of the true patriots during British rule:

Shaheed Bhagat Singh:

Bhagat Singh is known as a true patriot, he was certainly to free our country from the clutches of the British government.

He participated in various freedom struggles and started a revolution and he was so dedicated to his mission that he did not think twice before sacrificing his life for his motherland.

He proved to be an inspiration to many citizens.

Subhash Chandra Bose:

Subhash Chandra Bose, popularly known as Netaji, took an active part in India’s freedom struggle, he was known for his strong ideologies.

Apart from being part of various independence movements to drive the British out of the country, Bose also promoted Hindu-Muslim unity.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi:

His contribution to India’s freedom struggle is well known, he led the maximum independence movements against the British.

He was a perfect example of “simple living, high thinking”. He dreamed of India’s independence and worked hard to achieve it in his own unique way.

Sarojini Naidu:

Famous singer Sarojini Naidu of her time was also a patriot of heart, he participated in the freedom struggle and contributed to liberate the country from British rule.

He played an important role in the Civil Disobedience Movement, which led to his arrest along with other prominent freedom fighters.

He was also arrested during the Quit India movement but his patriotic feelings were not suppressed.

Conclusion:

Citizens of India should be motivated to serve the country.

The government, schools and other institutions should take initiative to develop the spirit of patriotism among the citizens.

Patriotism Essay 500 words:

Mark Twain said, “Patriotism is supporting your country and your government all the time.” Patriotism is about giving love and respect to all and working for its betterment.

People have to join hands with the government and other institutions to work in this direction.

Patriotism fades over time:

Patriotism is fading with the passage of time, this is rarely seen in the younger generation these days.

This is because these days’ people have become very engrossed in their own lives, they are also becoming selfish.

A selfish person is one who always thinks of himself and puts his interests above all and on the other hand, patriotism is all about loving a country selflessly.

A person who is very engrossed in himself and gives great importance to himself and his needs, can never be a patriot.

These days increased competition has also contributed a lot to it.

Everyone is busy earning money to make their lives more comfortable and better than those around them.

There is hardly area to think of anything else in such a scenario. Love for the country and serving the country is almost forgotten these days.

Instead of working towards the betterment of one country and contributing to its development, the youth of today are moving to other countries in search of a better lifestyle.

If such a mentality exists in the minds of those who were around 100 years ago, they would never have unitedly fought for the freedom of the country.

They only looked for their own selfish motifs in that situation.

True Patriots vs. False Patriots:

While many claimed that the British were patriots during his reign, some of them were false patriots who took advantage of the situation to pursue their selfish motives.

Even today, there are many people who truly love and respect their country, while some pretend to do so.

A true patriot is one who is dedicated to serving his nation, he puts the interests of his country and countrymen first and is willing to sacrifice everything for the good of his country.

On the other hand, a false patriot is one who claims to love his country and shows that he is publicly patriotic.

However, he does so for his own benefit and does not really possess these feelings.

Patriotism vs. Nationalism:

The terms nationalism and patriotism are often used interchangeably.

Patriotism means working towards your positive points and your betterment.

On the other hand, nationalism means being proud of one’s nation regardless of its positive and negative points.

While patriotism is good, nationalism is considered irrational and fickle.

Patriotism is natural in some people while in others it can developed. A sense of patriotism is required for the well-being and development of a country.

It also brings people of a country closer and helps them to experience the love and joy of sharing and caring.

Essay on Patriotism 600 words:

Patriotism is one of the purest feelings in the world, patriot feels selfless for his country.

He puts the interests and welfare of his country above his own. He is willing to sacrifice twice for his country without thinking twice.

Patriotism is a quality that everyone should consider, our country is also known as our motherland and we should love our mother as we love her.

Those who feel as much love and dedication for their country as they feel for their mother and family are true patriots.

Patriotism is a quality that every person should possess.

A country full of patriots definitely makes a place better than one where people are fighting each other in the name of religion, caste, creed and other issues.

In a place where people have collective interests and the mission will definitely be less conflicting.

All should have Patriotic Qualities:

Nation-building: When everyone is dedicated to making the nation strong in every aspect, there is no way that the country will not develop.

The patriots kept the interest of the country above themselves and worked for its good.

Maintaining peace and harmony: A good nation is one where peace and harmony is maintained at all times.

People have a sense of brotherhood and help and support each other, the spirit of patriotism is known to promote a sense of brotherhood among a countryman.

Working for a common goal: Patriots work for a common goal and this is for the betterment of their country.

When everyone is motivated to a common goal or mission, there is no way that cannot be achieved.

Selfless: Patriots work selflessly for their country without any personal interest.

If everyone has a sense of patriotism and does not think about their personal interest, the country will definitely benefit.

There should not be corruption: If political leaders have a sense of patriotism, they will work contrary to the current scenario for the country, where those in power are busy making money for themselves instead of working for the upliftment of the country.

Similarly, if government officials and other citizens of the country are determined to serve the nation instead of making quick money or receiving quick services for themselves, the level of corruption will be erased.

Patriotism should not be develop in a college: being a patriot is a great quality, we should love our country and respect it.

The positive points of the above patriotic spirit show how it can help the country to prosper and develop.

However, some people take this love for their country to the next level, true love for a country and believing that your country is superior and important is called truism.

Various beliefs in the ideologies of our country and irrational beliefs in the superiority of its people create feelings of hatred towards others.

It often promotes conflict and war between countries thereby disrupting peace and harmony.

There have been many instances in the past where disorder has turned unnecessary conflicts into riots.

There is a very reedy line between patriotism and anarchism. While patriotism is healthy, conservatism is stingy and irrational.

RELATED ESSAYS:

NATIONAL INTEGRATION | MAHATMA GANDHI ESSAY | SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE ESSAY

Love is the purest form of love for one’s birthplace.

A person who is willing to sacrifice his interests for his country is entitled to a salute, every country in the world needs more and more people who possess this spirit.

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NPR defends its journalism after senior editor says it has lost the public's trust

David Folkenflik

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust.

NPR's top news executive defended its journalism and its commitment to reflecting a diverse array of views on Tuesday after a senior NPR editor wrote a broad critique of how the network has covered some of the most important stories of the age.

"An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don't have an audience that reflects America," writes Uri Berliner.

A strategic emphasis on diversity and inclusion on the basis of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation, promoted by NPR's former CEO, John Lansing, has fed "the absence of viewpoint diversity," Berliner writes.

NPR's chief news executive, Edith Chapin, wrote in a memo to staff Tuesday afternoon that she and the news leadership team strongly reject Berliner's assessment.

"We're proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories," she wrote. "We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world."

NPR names tech executive Katherine Maher to lead in turbulent era

She added, "None of our work is above scrutiny or critique. We must have vigorous discussions in the newsroom about how we serve the public as a whole."

A spokesperson for NPR said Chapin, who also serves as the network's chief content officer, would have no further comment.

Praised by NPR's critics

Berliner is a senior editor on NPR's Business Desk. (Disclosure: I, too, am part of the Business Desk, and Berliner has edited many of my past stories. He did not see any version of this article or participate in its preparation before it was posted publicly.)

Berliner's essay , titled "I've Been at NPR for 25 years. Here's How We Lost America's Trust," was published by The Free Press, a website that has welcomed journalists who have concluded that mainstream news outlets have become reflexively liberal.

Berliner writes that as a Subaru-driving, Sarah Lawrence College graduate who "was raised by a lesbian peace activist mother ," he fits the mold of a loyal NPR fan.

Yet Berliner says NPR's news coverage has fallen short on some of the most controversial stories of recent years, from the question of whether former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia in the 2016 election, to the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19, to the significance and provenance of emails leaked from a laptop owned by Hunter Biden weeks before the 2020 election. In addition, he blasted NPR's coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

On each of these stories, Berliner asserts, NPR has suffered from groupthink due to too little diversity of viewpoints in the newsroom.

The essay ricocheted Tuesday around conservative media , with some labeling Berliner a whistleblower . Others picked it up on social media, including Elon Musk, who has lambasted NPR for leaving his social media site, X. (Musk emailed another NPR reporter a link to Berliner's article with a gibe that the reporter was a "quisling" — a World War II reference to someone who collaborates with the enemy.)

When asked for further comment late Tuesday, Berliner declined, saying the essay spoke for itself.

The arguments he raises — and counters — have percolated across U.S. newsrooms in recent years. The #MeToo sexual harassment scandals of 2016 and 2017 forced newsrooms to listen to and heed more junior colleagues. The social justice movement prompted by the killing of George Floyd in 2020 inspired a reckoning in many places. Newsroom leaders often appeared to stand on shaky ground.

Leaders at many newsrooms, including top editors at The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times , lost their jobs. Legendary Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron wrote in his memoir that he feared his bonds with the staff were "frayed beyond repair," especially over the degree of self-expression his journalists expected to exert on social media, before he decided to step down in early 2021.

Since then, Baron and others — including leaders of some of these newsrooms — have suggested that the pendulum has swung too far.

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Legendary editor marty baron describes his 'collision of power' with trump and bezos.

New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger warned last year against journalists embracing a stance of what he calls "one-side-ism": "where journalists are demonstrating that they're on the side of the righteous."

"I really think that that can create blind spots and echo chambers," he said.

Internal arguments at The Times over the strength of its reporting on accusations that Hamas engaged in sexual assaults as part of a strategy for its Oct. 7 attack on Israel erupted publicly . The paper conducted an investigation to determine the source of a leak over a planned episode of the paper's podcast The Daily on the subject, which months later has not been released. The newsroom guild accused the paper of "targeted interrogation" of journalists of Middle Eastern descent.

Heated pushback in NPR's newsroom

Given Berliner's account of private conversations, several NPR journalists question whether they can now trust him with unguarded assessments about stories in real time. Others express frustration that he had not sought out comment in advance of publication. Berliner acknowledged to me that for this story, he did not seek NPR's approval to publish the piece, nor did he give the network advance notice.

Some of Berliner's NPR colleagues are responding heatedly. Fernando Alfonso, a senior supervising editor for digital news, wrote that he wholeheartedly rejected Berliner's critique of the coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict, for which NPR's journalists, like their peers, periodically put themselves at risk.

Alfonso also took issue with Berliner's concern over the focus on diversity at NPR.

"As a person of color who has often worked in newsrooms with little to no people who look like me, the efforts NPR has made to diversify its workforce and its sources are unique and appropriate given the news industry's long-standing lack of diversity," Alfonso says. "These efforts should be celebrated and not denigrated as Uri has done."

After this story was first published, Berliner contested Alfonso's characterization, saying his criticism of NPR is about the lack of diversity of viewpoints, not its diversity itself.

"I never criticized NPR's priority of achieving a more diverse workforce in terms of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. I have not 'denigrated' NPR's newsroom diversity goals," Berliner said. "That's wrong."

Questions of diversity

Under former CEO John Lansing, NPR made increasing diversity, both of its staff and its audience, its "North Star" mission. Berliner says in the essay that NPR failed to consider broader diversity of viewpoint, noting, "In D.C., where NPR is headquartered and many of us live, I found 87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions and zero Republicans."

Berliner cited audience estimates that suggested a concurrent falloff in listening by Republicans. (The number of people listening to NPR broadcasts and terrestrial radio broadly has declined since the start of the pandemic.)

Former NPR vice president for news and ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin tweeted , "I know Uri. He's not wrong."

Others questioned Berliner's logic. "This probably gets causality somewhat backward," tweeted Semafor Washington editor Jordan Weissmann . "I'd guess that a lot of NPR listeners who voted for [Mitt] Romney have changed how they identify politically."

Similarly, Nieman Lab founder Joshua Benton suggested the rise of Trump alienated many NPR-appreciating Republicans from the GOP.

In recent years, NPR has greatly enhanced the percentage of people of color in its workforce and its executive ranks. Four out of 10 staffers are people of color; nearly half of NPR's leadership team identifies as Black, Asian or Latino.

"The philosophy is: Do you want to serve all of America and make sure it sounds like all of America, or not?" Lansing, who stepped down last month, says in response to Berliner's piece. "I'd welcome the argument against that."

"On radio, we were really lagging in our representation of an audience that makes us look like what America looks like today," Lansing says. The U.S. looks and sounds a lot different than it did in 1971, when NPR's first show was broadcast, Lansing says.

A network spokesperson says new NPR CEO Katherine Maher supports Chapin and her response to Berliner's critique.

The spokesperson says that Maher "believes that it's a healthy thing for a public service newsroom to engage in rigorous consideration of the needs of our audiences, including where we serve our mission well and where we can serve it better."

Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp and Managing Editor Gerry Holmes. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.

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Guest Essay

J.D. Vance: The Math on Ukraine Doesn’t Add Up

By J. D. Vance

Mr. Vance, a Republican, is the junior senator from Ohio.

President Biden wants the world to believe that the biggest obstacle facing Ukraine is Republicans and our lack of commitment to the global community. This is wrong.

Ukraine’s challenge is not the G.O.P.; it’s math. Ukraine needs more soldiers than it can field, even with draconian conscription policies. And it needs more matériel than the United States can provide. This reality must inform any future Ukraine policy, from further congressional aid to the diplomatic course set by the president.

The Biden administration has applied increasing pressure on Republicans to pass a supplemental aid package of more than $60 billion to Ukraine. I voted against this package in the Senate and remain opposed to virtually any proposal for the United States to continue funding this war. Mr. Biden has failed to articulate even basic facts about what Ukraine needs and how this aid will change the reality on the ground.

The most fundamental question: How much does Ukraine need and how much can we actually provide? Mr. Biden suggests that a $60 billion supplemental means the difference between victory and defeat in a major war between Russia and Ukraine. That is also wrong. This $60 billion is a fraction of what it would take to turn the tide in Ukraine’s favor. But this is not just a matter of dollars. Fundamentally, we lack the capacity to manufacture the amount of weapons Ukraine needs us to supply to win the war.

Consider our ability to produce 155-millimeter artillery shells. Last year, Ukraine’s defense minister estimated that the country’s base-line requirement for these shells was over four million per year but that it could fire up to seven million if that many were available. Since the start of the conflict, the United States has gone to great lengths to ramp up production of 155-millimeter shells. We’ve roughly doubled our capacity and can now produce 360,000 per year — less than a tenth of what Ukraine says it needs. The administration’s goal is to get this to 1.2 million — 30 percent of what’s needed — by the end of 2025. This would cost the American taxpayers dearly while yielding an unpleasantly familiar result: failure abroad.

Just this week, the top American military commander in Europe argued that absent further security assistance, Russia could soon have a 10-to-1 artillery advantage over Ukraine. What didn’t gather as many headlines is that Russia’s current advantage is at least 5 to 1, even after all the money we have poured into the conflict. Neither of these ratios plausibly leads to Ukrainian victory.

Proponents of American aid to Ukraine have argued that our approach has been a boon to our own economy, creating jobs here in the factories that manufacture weapons. But our national security interests can be — and often are — separate from our economic interests. The notion that we should prolong a bloody and gruesome war because it’s been good for American business is grotesque. We can and should rebuild our industrial base without shipping its products to a foreign conflict.

The story is the same when we look at other munitions. Take the Patriot missile system — our premier air defense weapon. It’s of such importance in this war that Ukraine’s foreign minister has specifically demanded them. That’s because in March alone, Russia reportedly launched over 3,000 guided aerial bombs, 600 drones and 400 missiles at Ukraine. To fend off these attacks, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and others have indicated they need thousands of Patriot interceptors per year. The problem is this: The United States only manufactures 550 per year. If we pass the supplemental aid package currently being considered in Congress, we could potentially increase annual production to 650, but that’s still less than a third of what Ukraine requires.

These weapons are not only needed by Ukraine. If China were to set its sights on Taiwan, the Patriot missile system would be critical to its defense. In fact, the United States has promised to send Taiwan nearly $900 million worth of Patriot missiles, but delivery of those weapons and other essential resources has been severely delayed, partly because of shortages caused by the war in Ukraine.

If that sounds bad, Ukraine’s manpower situation is even worse. Here are the basics: Russia has nearly four times the population of Ukraine. Ukraine needs upward of half a million new recruits, but hundreds of thousands of fighting-age men have already fled the country. The average Ukrainian soldier is roughly 43 years old , and many soldiers have already served two years at the front with few, if any, opportunities to stop fighting. After two years of conflict, there are some villages with almost no men left. The Ukrainian military has resorted to coercing men into service, and women have staged protests to demand the return of their husbands and fathers after long years of service at the front. This newspaper reported one instance in which the Ukrainian military attempted to conscript a man with a diagnosed mental disability.

Many in Washington seem to think that hundreds of thousands of young Ukrainians have gone to war with a song in their heart and are happy to label any thought to the contrary Russian propaganda. But major newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic are reporting that the situation on the ground in Ukraine is grim.

These basic mathematical realities were true, but contestable, at the outset of the war. They were obvious and incontestable a year ago, when American leadership worked closely with Mr. Zelensky to undertake a disastrous counteroffensive. The bad news is that accepting brute reality would have been most useful last spring, before the Ukrainians launched that extremely costly and unsuccessful military campaign. The good news is that even now, a defensive strategy can work. Digging in with old-fashioned ditches, cement and land mines are what enabled Russia to weather Ukraine’s 2023 counteroffensive. Our allies in Europe could better support such a strategy, as well. While some European countries have provided considerable resources, the burden of military support has thus far fallen heaviest on the United States.

By committing to a defensive strategy, Ukraine can preserve its precious military manpower, stop the bleeding and provide time for negotiations to commence. But this would require both the American and Ukrainian leadership to accept that Mr. Zelensky’s stated goal for the war — a return to 1991 boundaries — is fantastical.

The White House has said time and again that it can’t negotiate with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. This is absurd. The Biden administration has no viable plan for the Ukrainians to win this war. The sooner Americans confront this truth, the sooner we can fix this mess and broker for peace.

J.D. Vance ( @JDVance1 ), a Republican, is the junior senator from Ohio.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .

Replace Scott Perry with a true patriot

As a resident of the 10th Congressional District, I cringe whenever anyone asks me who my congressman is. In my opinion, Scott Perry is a traitor who betrayed his oath of office when he would not certify my vote following the Jan. 6 insurrection.As a life-long female Democratic voter, I usually support female candidates, but there is one female candidate I will not be supporting. Janelle Stelson, a life-long Republican, recently changed her registration so she could run against Scott Perry. Janelle lives in Lancaster County and wants to represent the 10 th Congressional District – all of Dauphin County, most of Cumberland County, and northern York County.

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She is the only one of six Democrats who has repeatedly skipped candidate events. We already have a congressman who isolates himself and avoids questions from voters. In my opinion, Janelle Stelson is Perry Lite. Why would I cast my vote for a candidate who won't vote for herself?After much due diligence, I have decided to support Mike O'Brien. As I have gotten to know Mike, my decision has been confirmed and re-affirmed. Mike gets it. He is a pragmatic, moderate problem-solver. He is what we, people living in the 10th, need and deserve.Mike O'Brien has the resume to take on Perry. As we like to say in south-central Pennsylvania, Mike O'Brien is "locked, loaded and ready" for a debate with Perry. Mike is a genuine servant-leader and has the ability to attract Independent and moderate Republican voters needed to defeat Scott Perry.It is time to replace Perry with a true patriot who has the brains and heart to represent the 10th with honor.

According to Stephen King, This Is Why We Crave Horror Movies

The horror king breaks down our obsession with the macabre.

Stephen King and horror are synonymous. Are you really able to call yourself a fan of horror if one of his novels or film adaptations isn't among your top favorites? The Maine-born writer is hands down the most successful horror writer and one of the most beloved and prolific writers ever whose legacy spans generations. Without King, we might not be as terrified of clowns and or think twice about bullying the shy girl in school. One could say that King has earned the moniker, "the King of Horror." In addition to all he's written, King has also had over 60 adaptations of his work for television and the big screen and has written, produced, and starred in films and shows as well. He has fully immersed himself in the genre of horror from all sides, and it's unlikely that we will ever have anyone else like Stephen King. But did you know that King wrote an essay that was published in Playboy magazine about horror movies?

In 1981, King's essay titled " Why We Crave Horror Movies " was published in Playboy magazine as a variation of the chapter " The Horror Movie As Junk Food" in Danse Macabre . Danse Macabre was published in 1981 and is one of the non-fiction books in which that wrote about horror in media and how our fears and anxieties have been influencing the horror genre. The full article that was published is no longer online, but there is a shortened four-page version of it that can be found.

RELATED: The Iconic Horror Movie You Won't Believe Premiered at Cannes

Stephen King Believes We Are All Mentally Ill

The essay starts out guns blazing, the first line reading "I think that we're all mentally ill; those of us outside the asylums only hide it a little bit better." From here, he describes the general behaviors of people we know and how mannerisms and irrational fears are not different between the public and those in asylums. He points out that we pay money to sit in a theater and be scared to prove a point that we can and to show that we do not shy away from fear. Some of us, he states, even go watch horror movies for fun, which closes the gap between normalcy and insanity. A patron can go to the movies, and watch someone get mutilated and killed, and it's considered normal, everyday behavior. This, as a horror lover, feels very targeted. I absolutely watch horror movies for fun and I will do so with my bucket of heart-attack-buttered popcorn and sip on my Coke Zero. The most insane thing about all of that? The massive debt accumulated from one simple movie date.

Watching Horror Movies Allows Us to Release Our Insanity

King states that we use horror movies as a catharsis to act out our nightmares and the worst parts of us. Getting to watch the insanity and depravity on the movie screen allows us to release our inner insanity, which in turn, keeps us sane. He writes that watching horror movies allows us to let our emotions have little to no rein at all, and that is something that we don't always get to do in everyday life. Society has a set of parameters that we must follow with regard to expressing ourselves to maintain the air of normalcy and not be seen as a weirdo. When watching horror movies, we see incredibly visceral reactions in the most extreme of situations. This can cause the viewer to reflect on how they would react or respond to being in the same type of situation. Do we identify more with the victim or the villain? This poses an interesting thought for horror lovers because sometimes the villain is justified. Are we wrong for empathizing with them instead?

Let's take a look at one of the more popular horror movies of recent years. Mandy is about a woman who is murdered by a crazed cult because she is the object of the leader's obsession. This causes Red ( Nicolas Cage ) to ride off seeking revenge for the love of his life being murdered. There are also movies like I Spit On Your Grave and The Last House On The Left where the protagonist becomes the murderer in these instances because of the trauma they experienced from sexual assault. Their revenge makes audiences a little more willing to side with the murderer because they took back their power and those they killed got what was deserved. This is where that Lucille Bluth meme that says "good for her" is used. I'll die on the hill that those characters were justified and if that makes me mentally ill then King might be right!

What Does Stephen King Mean When He Tells Us to "Keep the Gators" Fed?

At the end of the essay, King mentions he likes to watch the most extreme horror movies because it releases a trap door where he can feed the alligators. The alligators he is referring to are a metaphor for the worst in all humans and the morbid fantasies that lie within each of us. The essay concludes with "It was Lennon and McCartney who said that all you need is love, and I would agree with that. As long as you keep the gators fed." From this, we can deduce that King feels we all have the ability to be institutionalized, but those of us that watch horror movies are less likely because the sick fantasies can be released from our brains.

With that release, we can walk down the street normally without the bat of an eye from walkers-by. Perhaps this is why the premise for movies like The Purge came to fruition. A movie where for 24 hours all crime, including murder, is decriminalized couldn't have been made by someone who doesn't get road rage or scream into the void. It was absolutely made by someone who waited at the DMV for too long or has had experience working in retail around Black Friday. With what King is saying, The Purge is a direct reflection of that catharsis. Not only are you getting to watch a crazy horror movie where everyone is shooting everyone and everything is on fire, but it's likely something you've had a thought or two about. You can consider those gators fed for sure.

Do Horror Movies Offer Us True Catharsis or Persuasive Perspective?

Catharsis as a concept was coined by the philosopher Aristotle . He explained that the performing arts are a way to purge negative types of emotions from our subconscious, so we don't have to hold onto them anymore. This viewpoint further perpetuates what King is trying to explain. With that cathartic relief, the urgency to act on negative emotion is less likely to happen because there is no build-up of negativity circling the drain from our subconscious to our reality. However, some who read the essay felt like King was just being persuasive and using fancy imagery rather than identifying an actual reason why horror is popular. Some claim the shock and awe factor of his words and his influence on horror would cause some readers to believe they are mentally ill deep down. I have to say, as a millennial who rummages through the ends of social media multiple times a day, everyone on the internet thinks they're mentally ill, and we all have the memes to prove it. It is exciting and fascinating to watch a horror movie after working a 9-5 job where the excitement is low. Watching Ghostface stalk Sidney Prescott ( Neve Campbell ) in Scream isn't everyone's idea of winding down, but for the last 20-something years, it has been my comfort movie when I'm feeling sad or down. The nostalgia of Scream is what makes it feel cathartic to me and that's free therapy!

What is the Science Behind Loving Horror Movies?

Psychology studies will tell us that individuals who crave and love horror are interested in it because they have a higher sensation-seeking trait . This means they have a higher penchant for wanting to experience thrilling and exciting situations. Those with a lower level of empathy are also more likely to enjoy horror movies as they will have a less innate response to a traumatic scene on screen. According to the DSM-V , a severe lack of empathy could potentially be a sign of a more serious psychological issue, however, the degree of severity will vary. I do love rollercoasters, but I also cry when I see a dog that is just too cute, so horror lovers aren't necessarily the unsympathetic robots that studies want us to be. Watching horror films can also trigger a fight-or-flight sensation , which will boost adrenaline and release endorphins and dopamine in the brain. Those chemicals being released make the viewers feel accomplished and positive, relating back to the idea that watching horror movies is cathartic for viewers.

Anyone who reads and studies research knows that correlation does not imply causation, but whether King's perspective is influenced by his position in the horror genre or not, psychology and science can back up the real reasons why audiences love horror movies. As a longtime horror lover and a pretty above-average horror trivia nerd, I have to wonder if saying we are mentally ill is an overstatement and could maybe be identified more as horror lovers seeking extreme stimulus. Granted, this essay was written over 40 years ago, so back then liking horror wasn't as widely accepted as it is today. It's possible that King felt more out of place for his horror love back then and the alienation of a fringe niche made him feel mentally ill. Is King onto something by assuming that everyone has mental illness deep down, or is this a gross overestimation of the human psyche? The answer likely falls somewhere in between, but those that love horror will continue to release that catharsis through the terrifying and the unknown because it's a scream, baby!

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Iran missile and drone attack on Israel – what we know so far

Israel’s military has reported minor damage after Iran launched dozens of drones and missiles towards it late on Saturday

• Iran attack on Israel – live updates
• Full report: Iran launches drones and cruise missiles against Israel

Iran launched hundreds of drones as well as cruise missiles towards Israel , in the Islamic Republic’s first ever direct attack on the Jewish state, in response to the 1 April strike on an Iranian diplomatic building in the Syrian capital, Damascus, which killed a senior figure in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards and eight other officers.

Benny Gantz, a member of the war cabinet, said that Israel will exact a price from Iran in response to its mass missile and drone attack when the time is right. His comments came ahead of a war cabinet meeting alongside Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the country’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant.

Tehran has warned it will strike again with greater force if Israel or the US retaliate for the Iranian strike on Israel by more 300 drones and missiles on Saturday night. The air raids , the Islamic Republic’s first ever direct attack on the Israeli state, brought a years-long shadow war into the open and threatened to draw the region into a broader conflagration as Israel said it was considering its response.

However, the attack, mostly launched from inside Iran, caused only modest damage in Israel as most were shot down with the help of the US, Britain and Jordan. An air force base in southern Israel was hit, but continued to operate as normal and a seven-year-old child was seriously hurt by shrapnel. There were no other reports of serious damage. Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm Daniel Hagari said that 99% of the launches had been intercepted.

Most of the Iranian drones flying over Syria’s airspace during Tehran’s strikes overnight were downed by Israeli and US jets before reaching their targets in Israel, two western intelligence sources told Reuters .

The UN security council will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday at the request of Israel’s ambassador to the UN, the council’s president said in a statement.

Iran informed Turkey in advance of its planned operation against Israel, a Turkish diplomatic source has told Reuters . The source also said that the US conveyed to Iran via Ankara that its operation must be “within certain limits”. These reports come after Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian , said in a meeting with foreign ambassadors in Tehran that Iran had informed the US that its attacks against Israel will be “limited” and for self-defence only.

John Kirby, the White House’s top national security spokesperson, told ABC’s This Week programme on Sunday that the US will continue to help Israel defend itself, but does not want war with Iran. “We don’t seek escalated tensions in the region. We don’t seek a wider conflict,” Kirby said. News outlet Axios reported that Joe Biden , the US president, had told Netanyahu that he would oppose an Israeli counterattack against Iran and that the prime minister should “take the win”.

UK Royal Air Force fighter jets and refuelling aircraft were also involved in Israel’s defence, taking off from bases in Cyprus. Their role, according to the UK Ministry of Defence, was to fill in for the US air force in the sorties against Islamic State normally carried out over Iraq and north-eastern Syria, but also to intercept Iranian drones if they came into the UK area of operations.

World leaders have condemned Iran’s attack, with regional powers including Saudi Arabia and Egypt calling for restraint. The UN secretary general, António Guterres, said: “I am deeply alarmed about the very real danger of a devastating region-wide escalation. I urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid any action that could lead to major military confrontations on multiple fronts in the Middle East.”

Jordan’s prime minister, Bisher Khasawneh , warned that any escalation in the region would lead to “dangerous paths”, joining a chorus of condemnation from world leaders to the attack. Other countries including the UK, Spain, the US, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and China, have called for restraint amid fears of a regional escalation of conflict across the Middle East. Iran’s foreign ministry has summoned the ambassadors of the UK , France , and Germany to question what it referred to as their “irresponsible stance” regarding Tehran’s retaliatory strikes on Israel, the semi-official Iranian Labour news agency reported .

Major airlines across the Middle East, including Emirates Airlines and Qatar Airways , announced they would resume some of their operations in the region after cancelling or rerouting some flights in response to Iran’s attack on Israel. Israel said it had reopened its airspace as of 7:30am local time on Sunday morning, with Beirut airport also reopening this morning. Several Iranian airports, including Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International, however, have cancelled flights until Monday.

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