Patriotism Essay
Patriotism Essay
Patriotism Essay
Being a true patriot doesn’t have to be defined by your support for a certain presidential
candidate or the military, but it’s more of wanting to better your country, fight for equality, and
recognize the faults being made. After the events of 9/11, people may view being a patriot
differently when seeing how people from all over came together to help others and the city, it
was a moment of compassion and selflessness. Patriotism is a word that has many different
meanings to many different people, but it’s more than just the definition of vigorous support for
one’s country.
A true patriot is someone who is willing to help and make a difference in their
community and or country. An example of this was shown during the 9/11 attacks, people were
trying to flee the city to get to safety and there weren’t enough coast guard boats, so civilians
from nearby came on their own boats to take people off the island. This put themselves at risk
but they made that sacrifice to help other people and their country when experiencing this
disaster. A day of such tragedy happened to show one of the best examples of true patriotism. In
protesting/fighting for equality. People from all around came together to fight for things such as
BLM, Stop Asian Hate, and pro choice movements. Understanding that these people may not
love their country at the moment since it’s sad that we still have to protest these things, but by
fighting for what you believe in, is what makes you patriotic. The people attending these protests
want equality, freedom, peace, and love. In the Declaration of Independence it states, “all men
are created equal”, we must fight until this statement is true. Soldiers have fought for our
freedom and independence for decades but that doesn’t mean we can’t still try to better our
country.
On the other hand, some people may believe the word patriotism can only be defined by
flying the American flag, unconditionally supporting the government, and doing huge things, so
basically chauvinism, while in my opinion, that’s not what it is. In an article I read once the
author claimed that seeing the flag after 9/11 was endearing but later on it started to symbolize
having to stand behind all government policies, when she may not agree with everything they do.
People having different opinions is a good thing though, it allows us to grow and see things at
different points of view. Being a patriot can be as simple as making donations such as after
Hurricane Katrina, tons of people all around the world made charitable donations. Small things
like donating can make a big impact, no matter the size, your support is appreciated.
There are many different ways to express patriotism, therefore there’s no right or wrong
way to be a patriot. It is an important aspect of one’s life and it’s something you develop
overtime while you shape your own thoughts, even if that’s just involving yourself and
celebrating with your community. No matter who you are, or what you stand for, being patriotic