If you asked me like 4-8 years ago, I felt kind of neutral about things. Now I don’t feel an ounce bit patriotic or proud enough to even state that I’m an American.
Now, when I see an American flag around, I see it as a symbol of fascism, anti-intelluctialism, neo-nazism, and late-stage capitalism amongst other things. If there’s an American flag flying on a car, I can totally see that person possessing at least one of those qualities.
I suppose it’s good to be self aware and not blindly feel patriotic and ignoring that your country needs improvement.
I don’t know what I’m expecting in the comments here but just thought I would get this off my chest.
I hate even dressing up on July 4th for fear of looking like a capitol raiding moron. It didn’t use to be like this, and frankly, it’s depressing as fuck. I used to be very proud of my nation, and the progress we’d made in my short lifespan. We legalized gay marriage, elected a black president, tried to get healthcare for all (didn’t work and we all know why), but I genuinely felt optimistic about our nation and the future. 4 years of Trump did a number on my sense of patriotism, and were only 1 months in to Trump 2.0 and he’s dealt a knockout blow to it. I genuinely cringe seeing any amount of national pride now.
Back in the day when my grandfather had a shack in Canada for the summers he would wear a Canada flag hat from time to time. People complimented him on it. This was in the 80s when pride in your country wasn’t associated with “nationalism” and sort of racial pride. Now-a-days even a Canadian flag holds weirdo connotations not even getting into the American flag…