{"id":1475302,"date":"2024-07-04T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-04T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1475302"},"modified":"2024-07-04T18:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T22:00:00","slug":"americans-share-what-patriotism-means-to-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/americans-share-what-patriotism-means-to-them\/1475302\/","title":{"rendered":"Americans Share What Patriotism Means To Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

Americans Share What Patriotism Means To Them<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Lawrence Wilson, Dan M. Berger, Janice Hisle, Natasha Holt, Jackson Richman, Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times<\/a>,<\/em><\/p>\n

Independence Day is the nation\u2019s most patriotic holiday, and Americans celebrate it with abandon.<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Illustration by The Epoch Times, Shutterstock, Public Domain)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

On this day of parades, baseball games, hot dogs, and sparklers, even the stodgiest old uncle may arrive at the family cookout wearing a red-white-and-blue top hat and suspenders.<\/p>\n

By day\u2019s end, some 260 million pounds of commercial fireworks will be lit, filling city skies with splendor and leaving the air in suburban neighborhoods thick with the smell of smoke and sulfur.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Americans love to display their patriotism.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yet there is little agreement on what that means. The majority\u2014some 55 percent\u2014of Americans think the United States has become a less patriotic nation in recent years,<\/strong> according to a Marist poll released on July 1. Only 14 percent think Americans have become more patriotic.<\/p>\n

That could be because Americans display patriotism in a variety of ways and may not recognize it in others, says Ken Kollman, director of the Center for Political Studies at the University of Michigan.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitions of patriotism, and behavioral standards for what counts as patriotic, are both folded into our current political divisions and reflect them,\u201d Mr. Kollman told The Epoch Times. \u201cWho counts as a patriot and what counts as patriotism are in the eyes of the beholders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just ahead of the 248th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, The Epoch Times asked Americans to define patriotism.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat does patriotism mean to you?<\/strong>\u201d we wanted to know, \u201cAnd how do you display it?<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

Most answers were rooted in a deep appreciation for sacrifices that were made to create and defend the country, and a desire to continue to do the same. That desire manifests itself in different ways.<\/p>\n

Honoring the Symbols<\/h2>\n

Pride in America and its symbols was the most common way people said they expressed patriotism. We heard frequent references to standing for the national anthem, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and wearing star-spangled clothing. Voting was mentioned often.<\/p>\n

These simple expressions of national pride can also be used by some\u2014though not by everyone\u2014to emphasize divisions within the country, according to John Bodnar, an emeritus professor of history at Indiana University.<\/p>\n

Locals take part in the annual Fourth of July Bicycle Cruise in Huntington Beach, Calif., on July 1, 2023. A majority of Americans (55 percent) think the United States has become a less patriotic nation than a few years ago. (John Fredricks\/The Epoch Times)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSome people express their patriotic loyalty to show they are superior to other citizens within the nation,\u201d Mr. Bodnar told The Epoch Times. \u201cOn the other hand, some patriots see in the flag or in the nation they love the promise of equal rights for all, regardless of one\u2019s political views or race or religion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The latter seemed to describe most of the people we encountered.<\/p>\n

Bailey, 31, of Las Vegas, said that standing for the national anthem is one way he shows patriotism. Another was his recent visit to the nation\u2019s capital. He believes that a patriot should respect the office of the president regardless of which party is in power.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou love America? You\u2019ve got to love who\u2019s running it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Healing Divisions<\/h2>\n

Brothers Peter and Rory Corrigan, whose parents met while serving their country during World War II, are driven both to honor the past and to ensure that America lives up to its promise.<\/p>\n

Their father, a lieutenant in the Marine Corps SeaBees Battalion, met their mother on Guam, where she served with the Red Cross.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Our father] rarely talked about the war. Both parents had acquaintances who were killed or seriously wounded in the Pacific<\/strong>,\u201d Peter Corrigan, 76, of Delmar, New York, told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n

Yet the war symbolized something more than bloodshed to the elder Corrigan.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne night in the mid-1950s, while tucking me into bed, I was probably 7 or 8, [my father] asked if I could think of one good thing about the war,\u201d Peter Corrigan recalled. \u201cI tried, but I couldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

What his father said next made a lasting impression on the boy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s where I met your mother,\u201d he said simply.<\/p>\n

Peter Corrigan now honors the sacrifices of the Greatest Generation by wearing a SeaBees cap and holding an American flag as veterans pass by in the Memorial Day parade.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think how grateful I am to live in this country<\/strong>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Brother Rory Corrigan, 74, of Richmond Hill, Georgia, said his sense of patriotism took on a more profound meaning after the 9\/11 attacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lost 37 friends that day<\/strong>,\u201d Rory Corrigan said. \u201cMy sense of America\u2019s unique promise and necessary leadership was deepened as the face of evil confronted me in a new and profound manner.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have never been prouder of our country than in the period closely following those attacks,\u201c he said, citing pride in the nation\u2019s struggles \u201dto overcome our demanding history and divisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

A parachutist brings in the U.S. flag before the start of the 101st annual Black Hills Roundup rodeo in Belle Fourche, S.D., on July 4, 2020. The town celebrated Independence Day with the rodeo, a parade, a street dance and a carnival.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Connecting America to the World<\/h2>\n

Peter McCormick, 69, of Dunedin, Florida, found a sense of patriotism as a foreign correspondent in Central America during the 1980s.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was our backyard, and as a reporter I realized U.S. readers needed, as citizens, to know what was going on,<\/strong>\u201d he told The Epoch Times. His reporting on Marxist versus right-wing factions shattered preconceived notions held by friends on both the left and the right, he said.<\/p>\n

Mr. McCormick later worked as a USAID contractor in Rwanda, where he wrote checks to charities that supplied wells, food, and medical attention to that war-stricken nation. He considered it an expression of patriotism.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe operation was an example of American largesse being put to efficient use,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Political Activism<\/h2>\n

Shelley Freeman, 58, of Clements, California, is part of a four-generation military family and has a son now on deployment with the Army. She has served her country as a civilian by sitting on local government committees, volunteering for Senate and presidential campaigns, and hosting political discussions on social media.<\/p>\n

She sees political discourse as unifying rather than divisive.<\/p>\n

Ms. Freeman recalled a discussion she had about presidential candidates that provoked strong disagreement from another woman. Though the debate was intense, it ended with a hug.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s OK. We\u2019re going to get through this, and we\u2019re all going to be alright<\/strong>,\u201d Ms. Freeman said she told the debater.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur Constitution gives us our First Amendment right, and to have our own opinions,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s important to agree to disagree … no matter who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more here…<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nThu, 07\/04\/2024 – 14:00<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/americans-share-what-patriotism-means-them<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Americans Share What Patriotism Means To Them Authored by Lawrence Wilson, Dan M. Berger, Janice Hisle, Natasha Holt, Jackson Richman, Jacob Burg via The Epoch…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1475303,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1475302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1475302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1475302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1475302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1475303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1475302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1475302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1475302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}