The Misconstrued Patriots: The Everyday Changing Definition of Patriotism

Patriotism, like religion, is a phenomenon that harbours on the highest order of conviction of the practitioner. However, like religion, it has started deriving its belief not from convictions but from conveniences. While they may sound similar, their connotation is as different as chalk and cheese. One derives its strength from unshakable belief while the other does it from opportunism. One goes beyond a person’s physical being while the other is very much confined to physical and mental conditioning. One hardly ever changes while the other can be as fickle as the weather.

Why the need to talk about ‘Patriotism’ all of a sudden?

 Nowadays, from the papers that I read and the news that I watch, I get a sense that the definition of patriotism is changing every day. There is a certain section of people, very active on the social media, who have taken upon themselves to give the world a new thesis every morning, the response to which is going to determine whether a person is patriotic or not. So, if a misguided mob throws stone at my country’s army men and I detest it, I am a patriot. If a CEO of an internet company ‘allegedly’ calls my country poor and I uninstall the app and downgrade it, I am a patriot. If an actor makes a comment about the rising intolerance in my country and I condemn it and make claims of socially boycotting his movies, I am a patriot. There seems to be this unending validation of my patriotism which is being monitored by a relentless brigade which is waiting to latch onto the opportunity of labelling me unpatriotic.

That forces me to wonder, what exactly is patriotism?

To put is simply, patriotism fundamentally means affection for one’s country. It is as simple and straight forward as that. Affection is very subjective thing and different individuals have different ways of expressing it. I am in no way advocating the dastardly act of throwing stones at the army men. Any action that is against the national integrity should be condemned. But my condemnation alone shouldn’t be used as the only yardstick to measure my patriotism. My patriotism, my belief, is something very personal to me which I may or may not choose to share with others. Given its subjective nature, as long as I am not distorting the integrity of my nation, I don’t see how my patriotism should be anyone else’s business. I am being more of a patriot if I make sure I – don’t litter on the streets, follow traffic signals, respect public property, do good for the socially underprivileged! My actions make me a patriot and not merely my condemnation.