system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: Patriotism is stupid and evil.

I believe patriotism is stupid and evil. Why? A few reasons:

\- Patriotism is rarely ever grounded in any logic or reason, but is rather rooted in a blind and strong sense of attachment/love for the country. People who claim to be patriots rarely base their view on actual good aspects and qualities of a country, they often ignore and don't admit the negative aspects and can't take criticism of their country.

\- Patriots are not willing to admit the flaws and negative aspects of their country which means that these flaws will remain and progress, because people are not willing to protest against issues in the country, which prevents the country and nation from any advancement altogether.

\- Patriotism encourages and reinforces social division. The belief that your country is the best simply because you were born/raised in it is not only extremely close-minded, but also leads to separation and alienation from other nations.

\- Patriotism is dangerous and evil as it encourages and reinforces fascist and nationalist ideologies. The belief that your country or nation is the best leads to division as these people separate and portray themselves or their country/nation as superior, which is discriminative in nature. There is evidence throughout history that highly conservative and patriotic beliefs lead to development of extreme ideologies (e.g. Nazi Germany).

EDIT: A lot of people say I confuse patriotism with nationalism - that's not true. I know the difference, but what I mean is that the line between the two is very thin and can be crossed very quickly. There is a direct relationship between patriotism and nationalism, in fact you can say that nationalism is an extreme form of patriotism, which isn't entirely false. In addition to that, patriotic culture is extremely silly and just cringeworthy. You can love your country, but you don't have to hang a flag on your bedroom wall or put a bunch of stickers and decals on your car. Which leads to my next new point: in addition to all of that, patriotism also promotes consumer culture. What I’m trying to say is that the entire label and concept of patriotism is dumb and unnecessary, and you can still love your country without putting this label onto yourself.

Change my view.
gpt
I think you’re confusing patriotism with nationalism.

Patriotism is loving your country, and wanting the best for it.  A patriot will also not shy away from criticizing their country when it has fallen from the ideals that it claims to support.

A nationalist will believe their country is doing right no matter what, as long as they’re doing “better” than the other side.  How “better” is defined will vary wildly, as long as there’s someone they can point to and say “at least I’m not that person.”