Making distinctions risks appearing unpatriotic. Patriotism by definition demands loyalty to one fatherland. This is an issue for any immigrant; and the predicament is no small matter in a country of combined heritage that is made up mostly, if not nearly entirely, of recent and remote immigrants, of hyphenated citizens. Does one hate the grandfather or refuse to love him in order to be totally devoted to the dad? How does a child born of a Moroccan mom and a Mongolian daddy and raised in Malm speaking Swedish before settling in the United States conceive her or his patriotism? The poor kid is possibly by fate unpatriotic.
Is the president, like Reagan and Clinton, being just a bit unpatriotic when they think about themselves as Irish and check out Ireland to pay their tribute to their Irish heritage? Is your family Polish or Croatian, someone may ask you, and you most likely address, no, it's actually Czech. You may respond to, no, I'm American, however most likely just in an unique situation as when your country of origin is interpreted to be an opponent like the German-Americans in World War I and Japanese-Americans during the World War II.
It is much better to kill than to be eliminated, even though two lives may be then lost. The assumption is that the circumstance prevents saving both lives however can only enable one life to be conserved at the expenditure of the other. An opponent is no enemy unless it is beat.
Patriotism likewise thrives in a police state since it can be forced on its residents more efficiently by striking worry into them. I know since I resided in one. Silent bystanders are considered as suspects and dissidents are reduced; they are thought about unpatriotic and as such bring threat to the state.
They might ultimately prove themselves to possess a larger vision crossing national borders, even beyond the horizon; but they have to spend their lives for years under suspicion. Historically, patriotism served its function best in the age of increasing nations. Try This was a worthy idea and still is but only if the notion of the fatherland is internationally expanded to meet the requirements of the world of interdependent countries.