Patriotism and what it means

Patriotism comes in degrees as I think we agreed in class, but what delineates where patriotism begins and ends. I think we can safely say that someone like Nathan Hale who said “I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country” is a patriot. He not only said that he was willing to die for his country, he did. What about in the example from class though of the person who admires Italy and so wants to make the United States more like Italy. He may feel he is part of the United States, care about the United States, want to make it better and sacrifice his time making it like Italy but is this really patriotism. It seems to me that pride in one’s country is a necessary component of patriotism and thinking that every aspect of your country should be changed to be more like another does not show pride. I do not mean by this that one cannot or should not want aspects of their country to change but feeling a couple things would benefit from other countries ideas is a far cry from finding that the country should be like another. The person who wants all these changes may love their country, but they do not seem to respect it or take pride in it. I think respect and pride in the country are likely necessary aspects of patriotism even though they start to head towards people preferring their country over others regardless of reason. It does not have to go that far though. People can certainly recognize flaws in themselves that they want to work on and change while still having self-esteem and caring about others. It seems that the same could be said of one’s feelings towards a country. They could think highly of their country while still seeing flaws that are worth working on and changing and take pride in being a member of their country. It also seems that someone could have pride and respect for their country and not their government. Would they be patriotic? The government and the country sometimes become so intertwined that it is hard to see one as separate from the other but it seems possible that one could take pride in the people of their country and their heritage, but not the current governmental system.

Is it more patriotic to actively try to solve problems in one’s country or is it more patriotic to turn a blind eye and extol about the good?