There's an old idea of 'tacit consent' in a lot of social contract theory, which basically posits that you have obligations to your society as a result of benefiting from it, and that you effectively consent to the systems of that society through living in them, and making use of them.
Just because you didn't pay a price for something doesn't mean no price was paid for it (which is why the concept of privilege is the wrong way to evaluate status on any society): people have sacrificed millions of gallons of blood, sweat and tears in building our society, and in making use of the benefits that they generated we tacitly consent to contributing our part when the time comes.
Patriotism is a way that we affirm that responsibility, and recognize the ways in which our society generates value, and the ways in which our making use of those values generate responsibilities. I don't think it's 'optional' for any decent person who has carefully considered how the virtues and valuable institutions of their society might generate responsibilities on their part. To attempt to dispense with our privileges without considering the responsibilities that they entail, or to otherwise disregard those responsibilities, is an attitude which is supremely ungrateful, immoral insofar as it causes one to fail to repay one's obligations, and unsustainable insofar as dissuades one from continuing building up the valuable parts of society.
That said, I think that 'how has this society treated me in the past?' is one of the important questions one should ask when considering one's responsibilities to that society. One should also ask 'what kind of society would I like to contribute to building?', since that obligations as well in regard to one's society.
Anyway. Good talk: this question about patriotism is one of the only reasons that I'm a conservative and not a libertarian.
There's an old idea of 'tacit consent' in a lot of social contract theory, which basically posits that you have obligations to your society as a result of benefiting from it, and that you effectively consent to the systems of that society through living in them, and making use of them.
Just because you didn't pay a price for something doesn't mean no price was paid for it (which is why the concept of privilege is the wrong way to evaluate status on any society): people have sacrificed millions of gallons of blood, sweat and tears in building our society, and in making use of the benefits that they generated we tacitly consent to contributing our part when the time comes.
Patriotism is a way that we affirm that responsibility, and recognize the ways in which our society generates value, and the ways in which our making use of those values generate responsibilities. I don't think it's 'optional' for any decent person who has carefully considered how the virtues and valuable institutions of their society might generate responsibilities on their part. To attempt to dispense with our privileges without considering the responsibilities that they entail, or to otherwise disregard those responsibilities, is an attitude which is supremely ungrateful, immoral insofar as it causes one to fail to repay one's obligations, and unsustainable insofar as dissuades one from continuing building up the valuable parts of society.
That said, I think that 'how has this society treated me in the past?' is one of the important questions one should ask when considering one's responsibilities to that society. One should also ask 'what kind of society would I like to contribute to building?', since that obligations as well in regard to one's society.
Anyway. Good talk: this question about patriotism is one of the only reasons that I'm a conservative and not a libertarian.