On Patriotism

As July 4th approaches, you can probably imagine that there is a lot of patriotic feeling in the air - only natural, I suppose - but, having said that, over here in the US, it has struck me on occasion of how loving your country seems to get taken to new heights. This starts off with simple things of many houses having the Stars and Stripes hanging outside (a large number of houses have proper brackets and everything for flagpoles to sit in). Nothing wrong with that - it happens in the UK as well, although usually when there is some big sporting event (such as the recent World Cup). At the baseball game the other day, the crowd stood up to sing the National Anthem (and look at the flag - hands on hearts), something that occurs at ball games all across the country, same with the American Football games as well I believe. Again, nothing wrong with that - although in soccer, it tends to be something done only internationally. I couldn't imagine seeing all the club teams in the Premier league doing this - it would be somewhat crazy given the vast number of foreign players there!

From speaking to the children of workmates, I was surprised to find out that every day the pupils have to recite the 'Pledge of Allegiance' - a ritual whereby they stand up, hand on heart and pledge their loyalty directly to the Stars and Stripes - of course, being non-American, my friend's child does not partake in this to the full extent. I believe that this extends even further when it comes to citizenship - in that the US does not allow dual citizenship with a lot of places (there are exceptions, of which the UK is one, I believe) and so, if you wish to become a citizen here, you have to fully pledge your allegiance to the US and renounce your former heritage. Now I know the British practically invented Jingoism, but when it comes to loving your country, it seems like no-one does it quite like the USA.