Patriotism: Why We Need It

[July 10, 2026]  “Why do we need patriotism?” is a question often asked in America today, and the fact it is being asked points to a deep problem in our culture.  Fortunately, there are many of us who have attempted to give a useful answer.

At PragerU, in a series of videos published on the 4th of July this year, they have attempted to address it.  Doug Carswell appears in the video which can be watched for free at this link (5:13 minutes).  I also recommend their entire seven-part series.

Carswell begins with a question.  “What kind of future will the United States have if young Americans are taught to have contempt for their country?”  He doesn’t think this bodes well for America.  He brings the receipts, providing examples.

”Ask sixth graders what they know about George Washington and they they’re likely to answer, ‘He owned slaves.’”

Carswell notes correctly that while that is true that Washington did own slaves, that is only a small part of the story.  The full story is that he was the first president of the United States,  a great man of his age, widely admired for his bravery, integrity, and visionary leadership.

Washington was a remarkable man, but only one of many remarkable individuals throughout American history.  This was once taken for granted.  And now, those facts are barely acknowledged, if at all.  This is deeply troubling.

Looking in on America from the outside, Carswell sees American patriotism as part of its “charm,” but also a major reason for America’s success.  He sees this being undermined in the public classroom of young boys and girls.

For example, the “1619 Project” that contends that America was conceived in racism in 1619, rather than in free freedom in 1776, is taught in over 4,500 schools. He notes that instead of teaching young Americans to revere their country, the left-leaning educational establishment seems bent on teaching them to be ashamed of it.

Are these teachers succeeding in convincing students to hate America?  It would seem so.  Carswell still believes patriotism continues to thrive in much of the country.  You can see it in Friday night football as the crowd sings the Star Spangled Banner.  You can sense it in every small town parade on the 4th of July, but there’s no doubt this patriotism is fading.

There is plenty of evidence that in some places, patriotism is disappearing altogether.  He asks, “Why is this such a big deal?”  The answer is straightforward, patriotism is the glue that holds America together.

To love America is to love the values it stands for.  Above all freedom, the value for which America, more than any country in history, has been known.  Carswell lays out a few of our freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom to practice the religion of one’s choice, and the freedom to pursue one’s own interests with minimum government interference.

These are the values that unite Americans, not ethnicities, skin color, or anything else.  These are the values that have made America a magnet for the world.

He tells the story of President Ronald Reagan who noted that anybody can live in France, but never become a Frenchman.  Or live in Turkey or Japan, and never become a Turk or Japanese.  But anyone can come to America and become an American.  That’s because being Americans are about a set of ideas.

These ideas seem like “magic,” but that magic only works if you buy into these ideas.  To do so makes you a patriot.

If America loses that patriot spirit, then Americans will stop thinking of themselves as individual citizens united by a common set of values and begin to define themselves in terms of their race, ethnicity, religion, or something else.  America would soon start to resemble the places its immigrants once fled.  Over here would soon become little different from over there.

“Before you judge the United States too harshly, you should compare its history with the likes of Germany, Russia, or China, or any country in Africa or South America.  From that perspective, America looks pretty good.  And the closer you look, the better America looks.”

To illustrate, three times in the 20th century America helped save the world: WWI, WWII, and in the Cold War.  All the while, the Left rages against American imperialism; which is complete nonsense.  The U.S. has the power to take over just about any country or set of countries anywhere on Earth.  But what does it do instead?  It planted its flag on the Moon.

We often hear about the “ugly American” who is brash and over self-confident, but that is not the case; most are very humble.  True, we do love to celebrate our patriotic holidays.  But the most important holidays on their calendar don’t celebrate battles or wars but Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Americans have so much to be grateful for, and they acknowledge that on these two holidays.

We are all the beneficiaries of those who came to America before us.  These holidays are set aside to honor God and country; a time of gratitude and family.  We do this for good reason.  We are living in a land of the free and the home of the brave, indeed any American with common sense has so much to be grateful for.

Regardless how our ancestors got here, we are all beneficiaries of the hard work and good choices by those who came before them.   Choices like declaring their independence, setting up a constitutional republic, ending slavery, and fighting fascism and communism.

That’s what should be taught in school.  The fostering of a love of America, not contempt for it, is the way to keep America as the beacon of freedom.

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NOTE: Douglas Carswell is president of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy (MCPP), Jackson, MS.

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Please read my books:

1. “55 Rules for a Good Life,” on Amazon (link here).
2. “Our Longest Year in Iraq,” on Amazon (link here).