Watching the Olympics and seeing the various gold medal winners sing their various national anthems, the thought of patriotism comes to mind. It's commonly regarded as a virtue, but why?
People seem to innately resort to social behavior when a common goal exists. When you're on a pick-up game of basketball or football, you're likely to have pride in that team, even if you otherwise have nothing in common with them.
If angry Martians were to attack earth, all nations would instantly be united and forget about their hatred for each other because they have a common goal.
the only benefit that I can see to patriotism goes entirely to the government. At least as it applies to the United States, this strikes me as perverse. The government exists to serve the best interests of its citizens, rather than the reverse. At least that's my conception of the matter.
I'm not a huge fan of blind patriotism, like forcing kids to recite pledge of allegiances. It smacks of indoctrination. Let the children decide if they want to align themselves with the US or not.
On the other hand, I root for the American teams in general because of our commonality. That doesn't mean I despise other teams or don't value their lives as humans.
But all in all you and I seem to be on the same track. The only thing that I consider making me patriotic is the sense that I desire for the US to be a nation modeled after because it treats its citizens the best, has the most opportunities, etc, etc. As of late that hasn't been the case, so for me I look back to the virtue and foundation it began with as a template for how we should be now.
That's kind of how I view it.
"Political correctness is tyranny with manners." -- Charlton Heston