Kultur 9 - Matthew Simpson

I found the article on German patriotism to be very surprising, yet enlightening.

First of all, I didn't think it was possible for a country to practically shun the kind of patriotism we're used to in America. To me, and likely many Americans, hanging a flag and expressing love for "The Land of the Free" almost defines the concept of patriotism. After the 9/11 tragedy, Americans were encouraged to stand together. To accomplish that, flags were displayed EVERYWHERE as symbols of national unity. You saw them on cars, buildings, people, you name it. The American flag is one of the biggest symbols of patriotism we have, so learning that German has four(!) total in it's capital city was astonishing, to say the least.

Secondly, I found this "Verfassungspatriotismus" to be a very refreshing idea. Many people in Germany have decided that the horrors of world war should not be repeated and took the patriotic approach of learning from the past. Some countries seem to completely ignore the past, with only an eye on the future. Take Germany, for instance, after World War I. Now, it sounds like they have learned much from the past and are approaching the future very responsibly. Raising monuments to remind themselves of a future that should not be repeated and being very careful about how they approach national patriotism are both great ways to ensure responsibility and learn from mistakes. If only more people were so devoted to prevent future atrocities by learning from the past!