The Cult of Patriotism

"No episode that patriotism is very regularly the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising at the end the honest work of patriots." --Barbara Ehrenreich

They sprang up after 9/11, cheap, synthetic American flags-no vacillate not "Made in American"-sticking outside of machine windows from coast-to-coast. Months later, all that remained were the sticks and tattered remains of Ol' Glory clinging to life: as provided displaying these flags somehow untrue us whole, as whether this was able to ascertain who was with us and who was against.

What is the energy that compels us to flag-wave? Is it 'community'? What is it that compels us to establish everyone other as either for or against a concept? Glum or red? Pro or con? Left or right? Seahawks or Saints? Patriotism is a symbolic act-like the flags and stickers all pledging allegiance.

One of the psychological strategies that agency us to conclude this is the sociological conditioning categorized by Dr. Cialdini in the tome 'Influence' as the 'rule of commitment and consistency'. This principle basically says that we testament event with consistency in relation to any commitment that we make. The minute we generate a commitment, we'll tend to begin trying to reality with consistency towards it.

So we distinguish with the United States, we supposedly accept in the United States so when there's a dispute here, when there's a extensive upheaval, then we slap to back that by saying we pledge our allegiance to the USA.

Early imprinting instills, 'I pledge allegiance to the flag.' I'm pledging my being, who I am, what I believe, to the United States of America. A pledge is a promise. A vow is a psychological contract. That's heavy. We are forging a psychological business agreement to behind 'one nation, indivisible' no argument how deficient it gets.

And yet, our patriotism is the isolated patriotism we can tolerate. How is it that when we examine other countries when they're duration patriotic as lifetime terrorists? Their patriotism is a detrimental and ours is the end positive.

Speaking of cults: how approximately us and our sports teams? Wow. We actually invest in into this one. We wear the shirts, the hats, place flags and banners up in our windows and bumper stickers on our cars. We argue in a bar with fans of the differing team. When one of our team's players is accused of doping? Well, . . . Hey, we're all human, right? How about if another team's player is accused? Cheater!

We corner a commitment to our team, our religion, our country, our school, our trade-mark of car-whatever the conformation or thought or product-and possibly we are dependable category of going along with it for it's the pathway we've always thought, the means it's always been, the custom the star works, all we keep ever experienced. We've always identified with it and so accordingly we're acting with consistency towards it. No critical cognition is involved. It's all a knee nincompoop reaction to a figure of behaviour that we've come to envision of as an integral any of ourselves.

What are you committing to in your life? What is it that you are working toward become? What hold you agreed to already that you're going to feature with consistency towards? What are those things? How can stepping elsewhere of ourselves and our thought systems and thinking about all sides critically immeasurably embellish our abilities to persuader?

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