Where to Turn When Patriotism Seems to be Dying

By Justin Poythress - Posted at Time and Chance:

Many people have moved to Idaho looking for, in essence, a patriotism retirement community. In their minds, if patriotism isn’t already dead in many parts of the country, it’s in its wheelchair, subsisting on a regimen of pills and injections. I remember in twelfth grade in my Philadelphia public school class, the teacher asked us what we would do if we were drafted for a war. Nearly every student said they would flee the country. The city of Star, where I live, beckons visitors to a home where patriotism receives a new lease on life, rejuvenated by flags, fireworks, and freedom.

Yet even here, one can find a defensive patriotism that reveals a concern for its fragility. Beneath the fanfare, there is a haunting doubt: What if America’s great values were to start crumbling here, as well? You will find patriotism’s real threat in that very question.

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