Down with patriotism

Having served in the military, I’m often expected to be patriotic which cannot be more wrong. Not only am I not patriotic, I am vehemently against the idea. In fact, I’m against taking pride in anything given at birth and not earned.

Having intrinsic love for ones country is a dangerous thing. It makes it difficult to look at your country’s policies and leaders from a neutral standpoint. I enjoy many of the freedoms provided by my country and enjoy living in the United States. This being true, I still don’t feel it’s the “greatest country in the world”. The truth is, every country has pros and cons and none should be considered greater than any other.

Society should take pride in their accomplishments, not their birth rights. Taking pride for being born in a particular geographic location is as illogical as taking pride in ones age or skin color.