Patriotism

Patriotism is a delusion and a false virtue that is one of many types of false groupings of people, used to strengthen a group at the expense of others. It is a specific type of loyalty, another false virtue that is however convenient to espouse. Patriotism's mechanism is to create perceived connections and shared identity between people who are by and large complete strangers. The purpose is to heighten cooperation and loyalty within one group; the problem is that naturally it also heightens aggression and antipathy toward those outside of the group.

Patriotism is but one form of groupism, where artificial groupings are defined in many ways. Groupings of people include:

• by family (nepotism)
• by tribe/team (tribalism)
• by town (town rivalry)
• by state/province (state rivalry)
• by country (patriotism)
• by language (linguistic discrimination)
• by race (racism)
• by religion (religious intolerance)
• by species - humans
• by kingdom - animals
• by life - organisms (ahimsa)
• by matter - non-space (animism)

Each grouping has some degree of artifice involved - e.g. "family" can perceived as nuclear or the whole "clan." Languages are usually defined politically and not linguistically (consider Swedish and Norwegian (mutually intelligible) vs. Cantonese and Mandarin (not intelligible)). State boundaries are often historically set by invaders, plopping multiple "nations" together.

Naturally, nations find patriotism most useful, and thus make efforts to instill this in their populace, usually through childhood education and the media, which they control. Often the arguments are inane, such as "our food is the best" or "our language is the best" or "we naturally are the most hard-working" and so forth. Like the more general loyalty, patriotism is about subtle control.

When patriotism becomes stronger, different words are used to name it:

Patriotism, nationalism, ultranationalism, jingoism, fascism.

Some simple questions can be used to test for patriotism.

• Do you feel pride in being a member of your country? (Did you choose to be born in your country?)
• Are you jubilant when a sports team of your country wins against a team of another country? Do you rage when they lose? (Do you even know anybody in those teams?)
• Do you feel insulted when someone criticizes your country? (Did you make your country that way?)

The various ethical systems can be compared qualitatively and quantitatively. The qualitative part is about actions - e.g., "Do not murder, do not steal," etc. are nearly universal. The quantitative part is straightforward - which groups does this ethical rule apply to? An ethical system that teaches to be ethical to just one's nation is thus quantitatively "less" than an ethical system that teaches to be ethical to all living things.

To move forward, humankind should emphasize togetherness, not difference, so that we can all thrive together.