We just celebrated the 4th of July and I have to ask….what are we celebrating?
Our American families are struggling for survival…..our country is split into camps of hatred……our rights are being stripped away….our Congress is as useless as tits on a flashlight….we have a president that would rather spend money on some little country than here where it is needed…..again I ask what the Hell are we celebrating?
The day is suppose to be about patriotism….instead it is about beer and fireworks.
Thomas Paine had a name for the America of today….”sunshine patriots”…..The word Sunshine Patriot refers to individuals who claim to fight against tyranny on the side of freedom, yet are unable to stick it out when the going gets tough or unfavorable.
A great definition of America today.
Speaking of patriotism….which is the most and which is the least……
Happy Independence Day, especially to residents of Alaska, 2022’s most patriotic state in the US. To calculate the list, WalletHub looked at 13 metrics related to military engagement and civic engagement, including: the share of adults who vote; rates of participation in volunteer activities, groups, organizations, AmeriCorps, or Peace Corps; jury participation rates; average number of military enlistees per year; and share of active-duty military, veterans, and military reservists. Overall, blue states were found to be slightly more patriotic than red states. The top and bottom 10, starting with most patriotic, and their score on a 100-point scale:
- Alaska, 65.57
- Montana, 61.46
- Virginia, 58.97
- North Dakota, 58.43
- Oregon, 56.42
- Maryland, 56.25
- Hawaii, 55.26
- Vermont, 54.77
- New Hampshire, 54.23
- Iowa, 52.76
And the bottom of the list:
- Louisiana, 35.15
- Pennsylvania, 34.80
- Alabama, 34.67
- Indiana, 34.43
- Connecticut, 34.10
- Massachusetts, 32.67
- Florida, 32.13
- Rhode Island, 31.78
- New York, 30.95
- Arkansas, 28.62
“A patriot is someone who can see the flaw, inequities, and injustices in one’s country and do what they can to address and rectify them,” says professor Suzanne M. Chod, one of the experts interviewed by WalletHub. “A patriot is someone who is committed enough to one’s country to want to make it better for everyone, especially those who have had the least access to the benefits or privileges a country promises.”
See the complete list here. (Or check out other lists.)
Patriotism is a subjective term…..open to all sorts of interpretations.
Who are ‘real’ Americans?
There’s a long history of patriotic rhetoric that equates Americanness with whiteness — a tactic that influences the public’s perceptions of American belonging and who gets political or social power, according to research.
“Whatever we typically think of as patriotic language often puts borders in place about who counts and who doesn’t count,” said Lisa A. Flores, a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, and political rhetoric researcher.
Who Gets To Be A ‘Real American’ Has Always Been About Exclusion
What is your definition?
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In Saner Thought 
Someone who doesn’t hate and target their fellow citizens might be a good place to start.
True…..sadly we are far and between these days…people hate for many reasons. chuq
What are we celebrating this 4th of July? I will tell you what we are celebrating. We are celebrating the day when our Founding Fathers laid the foundations of a nation where the inhabitants could completely screw up all their good work … and we have done a damned good job of it if you ask me. We have taken the good intentions of the Founding fathers and we have allowed the dissidents and the oligarchs and the crazies to crap all over them. That’s what we are celebrating… we are celebrating the idiocy of ignorant people more concerned with immediate material and physical gratification than any thing else on the face of the earth.
Ignorance is the best answer. chuq
It seems neither of us are feeling the celebrating thing.
Nope not right now…..I sincerely hope that changes….but I am old and not very optimistic. chuq
Speaking of Britain (as I live here) and not America, (which is a far more patriotic country overall) if someone tells me they are a ‘Patriot’, it makes me concerned. That usually means they hate immigrants and any foreigners, and blame them for everything that might be wrong with the country. I’m sure the Brown Shirts were very ‘patriotic’ in Germany, in the 1930s.
Best wishes, Pete.
Sounds about right here as well…..chuq