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darkwolf131 t1_j6hy2qt wrote

NJ. It's kind of funny.....when that Fox News bit came out that NJ is the "least patriotic" state in the country, I thought a bit about it and yeah, I'm not proud to be an American. I'm not necessarily not proud, either--I just happened to be born and live in the USA, it feels like a neutral to me.

But on a national scale, I'm proud of NJ. I'm proud that we have one of the highest qualities of life, best access to healthcare, and it's one of the best states to be a woman. We've got bodily autonomy, no pink tax, we were the 2nd state to outlaw child marriage, and stats show you're less likely to be raped here than you are in every other state.

That kind of stuff matters to me. I might be a 2nd class citizen at the federal level, but not here.

And so it dawned on me that I'm patriotic for NJ. Like legit, I'll proudly wave the buff and blue all day.

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patsully98 t1_j6i9vkn wrote

>stats show you're less likely to be raped here than you are in every other state.

Or killed by a gun. We don't have the lowest rates of gun homicide and suicide, but we're doing shit pretty well here when it comes to gun violence.

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darkwolf131 t1_j6idry3 wrote

Yep. But my comment was specifically discussing issues that predominantly affect women.

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Used_Pudding_7754 t1_j6j8lb8 wrote

The symbology of Nationalism has been co-oped by folks that a majority of NJ dislike or disagree with. I don't, not love my country, I just resent some redneck nascar meth-head nominating themselves as the gatekeeper of what the nation stands for. I dont need some low IQ fox noise talking head questioning my loyalty.

My side did not fail in a coup. Cause that's super patriotic.....

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darkwolf131 t1_j6jehoa wrote

yeah.

The thing I don't get, and I get it, I'm beating the deadest of dead horses here, but the cognitive dissonance between that some consider "patriotism" and actual, patriotic actions and legislation.

Think about it: what's more patriotic than helping American people live better lives? Loving your country means loving its people, right? Following this logic, you'd think supporting things like paid parental leave, universal healthcare, and living wages is patriotism. But the ones who caw the loudest about being patriots largely seem to be against these things.

I think progressive politicians need to reclaim the "patriot" label. Just lean real hard into it, how voting for policies that benefit Americans is the most patriotic thing you can do. Don't let the ones who actively want to restrict Americans' rights be the ones hoarding the patriot label.

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tinker_toys t1_j6kmjtt wrote

They don't actually love America. They love corn fields, and white people, that "purple mountains majesty" stuff. They love the romanticized version of America that all the songs are about and that was kinda pushed on us as children (especially if you went through school while the Cold War was still on). The cognitive dissonance would hurt too much for them to admit that the country they love so much doesn't actually exist, and never has. So when we criticize the country we do have, and insist that there's room for improvement...well, America is already near perfect so we must just be unpatriotic, right?

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mszanka OP t1_j6ktfnq wrote

100000% this!

You typically won’t find me rocking any red, white and blue on the 4th, but along the lines of what you wrote, just wearing red, white and blue and buying a bunch of paraphernalia doesn’t make one a patriot… more likely a nationalist.

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