If I am patriotic to any one thing it is to democracy. It just so happens that my country of birth and choice is America where democracy has been the hallmark of our society. We have many problems within our democracy but we have been overcoming these problems with progressive and steady solutions. Our nation, generally, has embraced modernity with an eager anticipation and our structural institutions exemplify that. However, we are currently and for a few decades now been under a cloud. There is a philosophy born from faulty logic that has inculcated itself within our overall learning apparatuses. Through political, media and educational means, our society has been pulled rightward with policies that attack the very foundation of our democracy under the guise of moral and/or nationalistic dog whistle propaganda. I fear that too may of us have been exposed too long to this anti-democratic rhetoric and now despite provable logic, we find ourselves splintered into factions that have no qualms with diluting democracy in order to satisfy either a distorted belief system or some unhealthy baser bias. The only recourse as I see it is to continue to convince those who are not yet swayed into any idealistically shuttered camp of the efficacy of our democracy as it was intended. Again, our democracy has been a work in progress over the centuries but the only path forward is to make it more perfect, not undermine it. I feel that my patriotism is embedded with protecting our democracy and any and all subverters of our democracy are my enemies. I love my country but my country has to have it's process of rights and equal protections in order for me to hold it dearly evermore.
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