Patriotism

Today on the tram a few of us were talking about patriotism, and we ended up talking about some stuff I hadn't really thought about before. I had mentioned that despite the common perception that American is extremely nationalistic, most Americans really aren't that patriotic. They are, but when I went to Turkey I saw so much more nationalism there than I ever would in the US, so it made me think about how patriotic the average American is, which doesn't seem to be all that much. But then today I was talking to my program director over here and she was talking about how when she went back to visit the States this summer (she's been living in France 15 years), she was surprised at how patriotic they were. She explained that in France you don't see people flying the French flag or playing patriotic songs (such as Proud to be an American in America) all the time or anything like that, that it would be really weird to see that.

So I've come up with a theory on part of why that is, because I like to think about such things. I don't think France is any less patriotic than America is, and perhaps even America isn't any less patriotic than Turkey. I think they just show it different ways. In Europe, you're in very close quarters with a bunch of different countries, so flagrant shows of patriotism or national pride can be viewed as offensive or even aggressive by neighboring countries, whereas in America there's not really anyone close by to challenge us. Thus the French show their patriotism through preserving their culture: they have tons of laws about language and music and all parts of culture, in order to try and keep it as unaffected by foreign cultures as possible.

Here in Europe, your culture is mostly challenged with being swallowed up by the surrounding ones, so it's a fight to keep it alive. In America, we don't have that challenge, so we're free to be flagrant with our flags and our songs, etc. American culture is based on a mix of cultures, essentially built on the flexibility and constant change that comes from having a mélange of people-groups. So change is considered normal, and it's not necessarily your specific accent or mannerism that's as important as showing to others that regardless of your background, you are American. Here you don't need to show anyone you're French; it's through the preservation of the culture through the correctness of your speech, your French mannerisms, etc, that shows your loyalty to your country. It's an interesting discrepancy. Any thoughts?