Love of country can be expressed in a number of ways, so we asked Americans how they display their patriotism.
Independence Day is the nation’s most patriotic holiday, and Americans celebrate it with abandon.
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.
By day’s 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.
Americans love to display their patriotism.
Yet there is little agreement on what that means. The majority—some 55 percent—of Americans think the United States has become a less patriotic nation in recent years, according to a Marist poll released on July 1. Only 14 percent think Americans have become more patriotic.
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.
“Definitions of patriotism, and behavioral standards for what counts as patriotic, are both folded into our current political divisions and reflect them,” Mr. Kollman told The Epoch Times. “Who counts as a patriot and what counts as patriotism are in the eyes of the beholders.”
Just ahead of the 248th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, The Epoch Times asked Americans to define patriotism.
“What does patriotism mean to you?” we wanted to know, “And how do you display it?”
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.
Honoring the Symbols
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.
By Lawrence Wilson, Dan M. Berger, Janice Hisle, Natasha Holt, Jackson Richman, Jacob Burg
