What do I consider Patriotism?

When I am in discussions with people, one of the most common things I hear from my conservative friends is: "Well, one thing I do know.  I'm a patriot." 

Now let me state this first, that as I write this, I realize that I have never heard from one of my liberal friends that they were patriots.  Rest assured next time we talk politics I will ask them about that. And please, please! don't assume because they have never said they were patriots doesn't mean they aren't.  You don't have to say what you are to be what you are.  But it is a question I will ask in the future.

So... back to my conservative "I am a patriot" friends. To some I have responded with: "What kind of patriot are you?"  And there, THERE... is where it got sticky.  See by definition a patriot is:

pa·tri·ot

[ˈpātrēət]

NOUN

1. a person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against enemies or detractors:

   "a true patriot"

   synonyms:

   loyalist · nationalist

So that means there are patriots in North Korea, Russia, China - every country has its patriots.  So you could then be a patriot to Socialism, Communism, Authoritarianism.  When I brough that up each one responded but I'm an American patriot.  I would then ask: "What is your definition / idea of America?"

"How would you define America, How do you see it?"  Again it got sticky... Some saw it as the 1950's version in which I grew up.  The term then was 'nuclear family'.  Some saw and described it in the Reagan 80's and some see it today as Trump's America (although not a one could define what that was).

So then they retorted: "OK -  how do  you see America?  How do you define it?"  For those who know me, seldom do I ask a question of that ilk without having my response ready.  I respond:

"America, to me, is the Constitution applied with equity to all; in a capitalist economy that promotes and rewards individual creativity and achievement without the greed and avarice we see in the 1% today."  Then I add this definition of capitalism:

cap·i·tal·ism

[ˈkapədlˌizəm]

NOUN

1. an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state:

   "an era of free-market capitalism" · 

   [more]

   synonyms:

   private enterprise · free enterprise · private ownership
2. I amend my definition of America by adding that I fully believe that creators, inventors, and entrepreneurs MUST be allowed to reap the financial rewards of their efforts.  But I also feel that too many - take so much more than they can ever use or need.  That they could willingly share the fruits of their genius to enhance the lives of so many (a topic I'll discuss further in Capitalism - what it is to me) 
3. But economics aside, to me America is the Constitution and that is best described in the Preamble.  When I enlisted in the Air Force, I didn't do it because of the draft.  My draft number when called was in the 300's.  I did it because I wanted to serve.  I love America - my immigrant grandfather imbued me with that love of the country that took him in at 16 and allowed him a better life than he could ever have had in Italy at that time.  I enlisted in the Air force wanting to be a medic but because of my test scores I was assigned to Nuclear Weapons.  In 1970 you weren't given a choice.  Anyway, I took my oath:
4. “I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me, God.”
5. I enlisted at 18 and honestly had no clue about the Constitution.  After I took the oath, I decided to read it and was overwhelmed by its depth and complexity.  But I did understand the Preamble:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

So I was (and am) a patriot to the America that this Constitution established.  Initially it was to the Preamble, but as I matured and read more of the Constitution and Amendments and worked to understand them I became (and still am) an American Constitutional patriot.  When I fly my flag, this is what I feel and see.  When I see military personnel, this is what I feel and see.  

But as I see the greatness that is America I also see the things we have done that - well - we could have , should have done better.  And being an American Constitutional patriot I try, within what I can, to help America be better.  

In my opinion, a patriot doesn't see America as perfect, they see it as so many describe it... a GREAT EXPERIMENT.  A form of government flawed by the people who vote in it - for we elect those who lead us.  I am still willing to die for that America against any enemy - foreign... or domestic.

The easy ones to see are those who are outside our borders.  But the ones inside who would alter or ignore the premises of the Preamble, the Constitution, and its Amendments.  They are the greater and more subtle threat.  Those who would go back to the 1950's or earlier, to "better times" that were only better for them and not for ALL.

So now I hope you know what type of patriot I am, what type are you?