What we talk about when we talk about patriotism

It's binary time once again. It doesn't have to be that way.

Photo by Vini Brasil on Unsplash

When I was a kid, and maddened by some injustice I’d seen on TV, I’d sometimes express my rage to my father. Whether it was the desperate poverty or some overseas misadventure, it would spark an argument. And more often than not, the argument would end with my old man issuing an ultimatum.

“If you don’t like it, why don’t …