My own thoughts on patriotism.

The way I see it right now, patriotism is failing miserably in America because of the failure of the government to listen to the people. Before the Bush administration, I felt proud to live in America and to be considered American. Of course this could be attributed to the fact that I was much younger and more impressionable, but even now I see younger children who are being effected by the lack of patriotism. My own siblings are not proud to be in America, and they are both still under the age of 14, which is a very sad thing. When I was in elementary school I remember learning about what a great and free country America is. As I got older, I became more cynical about America and its policies. When I went to Europe two years ago I was told to tell anybody who asked where I was from that I was Canadian. It's a sad state of affairs when a person is afraid to be truthful about their own home.
I do not consider myself a patriotic person, but I can recognize that America has its good points. Yes, most of the world disagrees with our goverenment's actions, and even most of it's own citizens disagree with the war, but at the same time America is still fairly free. The freedoms are being taken away, mind you, but as of right now we still have it alright. Don't get me wrong, I am NOT in any way a supporter of the war, American government, or some of its policies, but it's good to think positively. But the fact that I feel that I have to explain that I am not patriotic means something, as well. I feel that if I were to admit to being patriotic or to having the smallest positive thought about American government, I would come under attack from those who disagree. This has happened in the past, before I decided that I completely disagreed with the war a few years ago. Friends got angry at me for expressing the tiniest bit of support for anything to do with America, and if I had any positive comments about Bush (which I have few) I came under even fiercer attack. A country whose own people come under attack for expressing patriotism is in a bad state indeed.
Then again, I do not believe that support of wars is the definition of patriotism. Patriotism is the love and pride of a country as a whole, not just how it handles its foreign affaris. A person may diagree with it's government's policies, but still be proud of the history and culture of their country. Although I don't find American history to be the most interesting, I can appreciate the struggle that early Americans went through to make this country. In that respect I suppose I am patriotic, as I believe that appreciation for a country's history and struggle is an important part of patriotism.
More on this later.