Can someone explain it to this Canadian?
At this point, I don't understand American patriotism. You guys are the most powerful country in the world ,that uses it mostly to fund wars for profit, refuse to provide your citizens with health care and well funded education, imprison your population for profit, and elected an administration that claims climate change is a lie.
America is by far, BY FAR, the biggest threat to the survival of the species as has ever been formed on the planet. Now Trump wants to have NFL players fired for not bending a knee.
Human beings are largely computer programs that are a combination of their DNA and their upbringing, which includes what they are told by their parents, media, school system, and popular entertainment. Americans have patriotism because of what they are taught by their parents and the culture. It's no different than any other nation or culture on the planet. You are your enviornment.
Also, America is far from the biggest threat to the survival of the species. You need to stop swallowing the media kool aid. Though I disagree with Trump on some things, he is not the barbarian he's made out to be. He's a bit of a narcissist, but so was Hillary. Looking at the way she's trying to blame everyone but herself for losing the election, I'm glad she didn't become president. Also, I don't understand why so many people condone nations like North Korea while bashing Trump for bothering to do something about it. Seems like big political people tend to be sheep that follow their herd and not many of them are able to take an independent mindset. They just swallow whatever kool aid their party tells them to believe.
The fact that lefties in the US would support Islam while bashing Christianity is evidence of this brainwashing... how they go out of their way to support a religion that does not have the rights of gays and women in mind... life is not black and white, of course, and many muslims are fine people. Likewise, there's more to a political position than simply using simple logic, or doing what "feels" good. Life is all about shades of grey, which is why I like to remain independent, moderate, with perhaps a slight social libertarian lean. Political parties in the US are for the sheep who need someone to tell them what to think, as there are only 2 of them, and both have their strengths and weaknesses.
Mostly it seems like a big chessboard where the same person controls both sides of the board, and they give the illusion of choice... they use media as a tool of social conditioning but the media here in the US is getting so extreme lefty that people are simply tuning out. Nobody likes being preached too. The religious right failed at it in the 1980's, and the leftie loonies are failing at it now... so high they ride on their high horses of supposed moral superiority...
The US has done a lot of good in advancing social causes around the world the last 100 years. If you can't see this, then you're blind... not that I particularly care either way. I'm not a massive patriot by any means. I'd gladly take Norway, Switzerland, etc. as places to live given the opportunity, but let's face facts.. they haven't made the dent on the world stage that the US has. The US has been a global powerhouse that has fueled much of the things we take for granted today, including the technological revolution, cultural advances stemming from Hollywood, popular media, and the rise of the internet which provides access to information that is unprecedented compared to the past where information tended to be controlled by whoever was in power, the center of investment and R&D by major corporations, including big biotech companies that continue to pave the way to cures for many diseases, companies like Intel and AMD which push the microprocessor revolution to new levels, and much more.