Patriotism is a Scam

Ikhee Lee '26

*Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.

Ask yourself this: why should you love your country? 

You may not have an immediate response. You may not love your country. You may disagree outright and hate your country altogether. After all, no individual was able to choose their nationality at birth. This begs the question: if nationality is arbitrarily assigned, why should we be patriotic? 

Patriotism denotes a feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to a country or state. Nationalism, with which patriotism is often confused, is an ideology where the individual’s loyalty and devotion to the nation-state surpasses other individual or group interests. Herein lies a critical distinction: true patriotism is rooted in love, not hate, and certainly not the unchecked compliance associated with nationalism. It is in the exploitation of this ambiguity for self-serving ends which lies the true danger.

Not all manifestations of patriotism are inherently negative. For example, patriotic loyalty rooted in the embrace of civic values constitutes a democratically vital force (coined as civic patriotism). Conversely, the strategic mobilization of national sentiment to enforce ideological compliance promotes morally indefensible decisions. This analysis specifically challenges the latter phenomenon: patriotism being exploited as a propaganda tool while functioning as a catalyst of conflict.

This essay will examine the roots of patriotism and the process through which it manipulates individuals to the will of the collective, concluding that patriotism is not only a scam but a political facade, exploiting the emotions of man while providing no tangible return.

Instinctual Patriotism

Humans are inherently social creatures. Our ancestors relied on cooperative hunter-gatherer communities for protection against environmental dangers, and as such, community was an evolutionary imperative. This innate desire endures today, where it manifests itself as a willingness among individuals to concede their personal values to preserve group affiliation. This drive is the psychological lever that patriotism so effectively leverages. To this end, patriotism, on paper, has its upsides. 

Patriotism unites people under one nation, inspiring a sense of togetherness and satisfying our desire for community. Additionally, patriotism motivates individuals to work for the betterment of the country. Take South Korea’s “Miracle on the Han River” as an example. The South Korean economy, devastated by the Korean War in the 1950s, was rebuilt at an unprecedented rate in part due to a surge of collective patriotic desire for progress. Patriotism, when leveraged as a collective sense of purpose, fuels a nation's resilience in times of adversity and drives its investment in the future.

Manipulative Patriotism

The most important flaw with modern patriotism lies in the situation where institutions instrumentalize this innate human drive to advance state agendas. This exploitation stems from the fact that citizens primarily require governments for the public goods they provide, not ideological enforcement. Under Rousseau’s ‘Social Contract’ model, constituents retain the right to dissent and replace administrations that fail these service-oriented mandates. 

In reality, it is standard practice for politicians to employ patriotic rhetoric to influence the thoughts and behaviors of the public. During crises, most notably armed conflicts, governments frame compliance with state demands as synonymous with patriotism, often compelling citizens to breach ethical boundaries under the guise of collective duty, under a fallacious patriotic banner. Citizens are forced to choose between acquiescence and being labelled as traitors. To those who defend this claim, I ask, if patriotism requires you to break your moral compass, who is it truly serving? This contentious power dynamic transforms patriotism into a propaganda mechanism; in essence, governments are weaponizing communal belonging to legitimize otherwise unconscionable actions. 

When one thinks of patriotic (political) manipulation, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Regime come to mind. Hitler tapped into deep feelings of injustice and wounded national pride among veterans and the populace by weaponizing the economic and political crisis in Germany, deflecting blame to the West. He twisted the Germans’ genuine love for their country and their desire for a better future into a vindictive, militaristic rage. Simultaneously, the Regime’s Ministry of Propaganda exploited patriotic rhetoric to appeal to the youth. The Hitler Youth and League of German Girls indoctrinated young people with the idea that loyalty to Hitler and the Nazi state was the ultimate patriotic expression. Many were brainwashed into prioritizing the nation above all else, often at the cost of personal values and basic human morality; dissenters who opposed Nazi policies were considered a ‘Volksverräter (traitor of the people)’ and tortured in concentration camps. Although Nazi Germany bears a closer resemblance to an extreme form of nationalism than patriotism, Hitler indisputably exploited patriotic rhetoric to advance racist agendas, culminating in the systematic genocide of six million.

Even when not used as a tool, patriotism itself creates division. Its most zealous advocates often present a false choice by framing anything less than passionate patriotism as an act of betrayal. Consequently, even those who are non-patriotic (not actively opposed, but merely unenthusiastic) face accusations of disloyalty and are stigmatized, much like overt anti-patriots; there is no acceptable middle ground. This foundational tension is a common cause of social conflict in both historic and modern contexts: Brexit in the United Kingdom, McCarthyism in the United States, and the Middle Eastern crisis.

Conclusion

Blind loyalty to one’s government is not patriotism. Patriotism is a love of one’s country, not a blind acceptance of and obedience to all acts of its government. Too often, those in power distort and twist these two ideas at their own convenience. When their power is threatened, they raise their patriotic flag to rally support. When their integrity is questioned, they hide behind their patriotic flag to curtail suspicion. When facing resistance, they arm themselves with their patriotic flag and bludgeon opposition. With inflammatory labels like “woke”, “extremist”, and “fascist” being recklessly flung at different factions and partisan divide at an all-time high, it is our collective responsibility to distinguish between right and wrong, to uphold our moral compass to the highest degree, and to prevent tyranny from influencing how we view and value what is rightfully ours. Patriotism is far from a positive sentiment, but an easily weaponized political tool that irreversibly fractures the nation it purports to honor.

Thus, patriotism is a scam.