The fact that many people feel the need to be patriotic to be a “real American” is mind-blowing to me and confirms stereotypes about Americans. There’s nothing wrong with loving your country, but the effect patriotism has on some people can be terrifying.
Few Europeans dare to describe themselves as patriotic, mostly because nationalism has led to warfare.
If you live in Germany and have a German flag hanging on your balcony and there is no soccer game going on, you will most likely be looked at as a neo-Nazi because you seem to be proud of what this country has done in its past. In Norway, you show the nation’s flag for special occasions only. There is not really a reason otherwise. It would seem weird to always show it to the public. People know what the flag looks like.
Then there’s The United States, where it seems like half the citizens have the flag hanging in their room, balcony and backyard 365 days a year. People wake up and salute it. Students look up to it in classrooms and have to recite the Pledge of Allegiance every morning. You cannot even go to a beach without seeing at least one overly patriotic guy wearing an American flag bathing suit.
One of the things I have learned since moving to the U.S. is that every country has its pros and cons. The U.S. has many pros (especially if you have money), but many cons as well.
What are you guys so proud of? Is it the number of shootings that occur every day? The number of homeless people begging for money on every corner? The number of high school dropouts, racists and teenage pregnancies? It seems like America is only comparing itself to the Middle East, Russia and China, because these examples are only a small part of the things that should not be normal for a country that calls itself the greatest in the world.
The U.S. has the 21st best high school graduation rate in the world, according to a ranking on aneki.com, even though 85 percent of high school exchange students say American classes are easier, according to wamu.org.
Patriotism results in people not acknowledging these facts.
Let’s take a look at news in socialist countries such as Germany and Norway and keep in mind all the daily crimes and gang fights that are not even newsworthy in America anymore. On tagesschau.de, one of Germany’s most trustworthy networks, one of the biggest national issues is that train drivers are on strike, so a large number of trains are not running for the next few days. The other front-page news is about soccer and how German classes are getting less popular in France.
On aftenposten.no, one of Norway’s most trustworthy newspapers’ front page, the biggest story is how the police have found an item that might have been used in a murder that happened three years ago. This is newsworthy because newspapers would only write about sports and international news otherwise.
This daily news is proof that there’s less crime in other countries, but they still don’t see a reason to flaunt their patriotism.
I cannot imagine how frustrating it must be for a foreigner to point out the flaws of your country. But instead of feeling insulted and protective, people should acknowledge these facts and do something about them. Unfortunately, this is where the patriotism kicks in the most, and the narrow-minded, ignorant voices are heard the best.
I feel like I am kicked back into the “good old days,” where any form of criticizing the government is illegal. This results in people being extremely shocked every time socialist countries like Denmark and Norway place first for having the best democracy and being the best country to live in.
Instead of trying to compete with those countries, Americans think about 70-year-old war victories and other great times in the country’s history and feel like this country is great enough already.
Don’t get me wrong; I do enjoy it here and will probably stay after graduation because I have my own reasons to do so. But the belief that America is best in everything gives its citizens a crooked picture of the world and the country a reputation nobody should be proud of.
Markus Hüfner is a 19-year-old mass communication freshman from Kristiansand, Norway. You can reach him on Twitter @MHufner_TDR.