Why are Americans so patriotic? Does it affect cat ownership?

This is a discussion article. Input from others would be welcome. It is clear to me, living in the UK, that Americans appear to be far more patriotic than the British. Or at least they show it with far more confidence. Look at these two videos of delivery drivers. They scream to me ‘patriotism’. In the UK you don’t have flags outside the home in the first place (there are none) and if we did you wouldn’t see delivery drivers saluting it or protecting it.

Half of Americans have an American flag at home. Although it varies by age. Those aged 65 and older are more likely to have a flag in their home at 69%. But it is the overt display of patriotism by having a large flag on a pole outside the home which looks astonishing to British people and I suspect other Europeans. It may work against Americans as it might create a perception in the minds of the peoples of other nations that Americans are smug and arrogant.

Never in England

If an English citizen placed the national flag of England which is the St George’s Cross, outside their home, they’d be branded racist. Absolutely no doubt about it. They would be considered to be a white supremacist. A very stark difference between England and the United States of America.

Education & great nation

Research doesn’t really produce a clean answer as to why Americans are so patriotic compared to the English and British. It has to be to do with education and a belief that the US is a great nation.

It is clearly deeply embedded into the American psyche of the majority of citizens to be very proud of their nation. Perhaps Americans love their nation more than the British love the UK. Perhaps there is good reason to love their nation more because it’s a better country than the UK?

That may be part of the reason but the underlying reason must be to do with how children are taught patriotism. I don’t think that British children are taught patriotism in the classroom at all.

Whereas, I’m told that patriotism is taught either directly or indirectly through history classes in public schools and at preschool and most private schools in the US. It varies from school to school but it’s there.

Although kids are not force-fed to believe that America is a wonderful place. But many children learn to believe it. And they are also taught that it is okay to show patriotism which is an important point. Although it can’t be a black-and-white situation because a lot of Americans will think that America is no good for whatever reason. And every country has good and bad sides to it.

History

The history of the United States of America may have something to do with their patriotism. It’s a country that was created by the people for the people. That’s because it is a new country, relatively speaking, compared to Britain. This may play a role. Americans love their freedoms and they don’t like interference from government.

The government is there to serve them. I think there’s a very strong feeling among American citizens. So American citizens have a strong belief that America is run by them for them. This supports a patriotic attitude.

Confidence to show it

Another factor might be this. There may not be that big a difference in terms of patriotism between the British and Americans but there may be a big difference in terms of showing it off. And to tell the world that you are patriotic you put a flag outside the home. The British are more reserved in that way. The don’t want to shout to the world that they are patriotic. This could partly be to do with the British character which is more reserved than the more outgoing American character.

Cultural

Putting a flag outside the home is a kind of cultural thing. It is seen as being acceptable and desirable. Whereas, as mentioned in the UK it would be interpreted in an entirely different way. Perhaps the Brits are more ‘woke’ than the Americans. More politically correct. ‘Wokeness’ is very big in the UK at present. There is too much of it but political correctness prevents overt patriotism as it looks xenophobic (having or showing a dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries).

Cat ownership

Does patriotism have any impact on the quality of cat ownership? I would doubt it. Although patriotism is a very human-centric attitude. And being about humans exclusively it may shut out animals a little bit. Patriotism may support the idea that in the world there are humans and then other animals under them. If patriotism engenders an ‘us and them’ attitude it may have a negative impact on the quality of cat caregiving.

Although, America is the country where the domestic cat is perhaps the most popular. That said, there are far more full-time indoor cats in America than in other countries. The underlying reason for that is to keep them safe from predators and other dangers but one reason might be the “us and them” attitude. Cata will do as we say and do what we (humans) want.

The constitution

Under the Second Amendment of the Constitution citizens have the right to bear arms which is interpreted to mean the right to own handguns and semi-automatic rifles. This has an indirect impact upon cat ownership. Irresponsible cat ownership needs to feral cats. A lot of people don’t like feral cats. If you have a rifle in the home, you can shoot feral cats. That is the order of events. You will find quite a lot of people in America shooting feral cats which is something you do not see the UK for example because there are very heavy gun restrictions UK. I feel that there is a link here between patriotism and the relationship between cats and people.

Is patriotism a good thing?

Yes.

What do you think? Please share your thoughts.

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