2021年3月3日
A Hongkonger
EJ Insight
A true patriot wouldn't be a sycophant
Patriotism – love of one's country, love of one's land, love of one's origins and roots. Brilliant stuff – in theory.
We should take patriotism to be perfectly benign and eminently harmless. Benign, in that it lends a natural form of credibility and gravitas to statements, declarations, proclamations that individuals make in a functioning polity – means to overcoming collective action problems. Patriotism, imbued with the appropriate level of compassion and sacrificial collectivism, could make a country ‘great again' – it is harmless if its exuberance could be harnessed for sociopolitical progress and change. It is the nation, not the dollar, that keeps individuals toiling away at times of great catastrophes and national crises. It is also patriotism, as opposed to narrow-minded rationalism, that fuels sacrifice. ...
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