By James Rothenberg

patriotism (noun): love for or devotion to one’s country
— Merriam-Webster —

Let’s go a little further with this and break it down.

ism (noun):
1: a distinctive doctrine, cause, or theory
2: an oppressive and especially discriminatory attitude or belief
— Merriam-Webster —

July 19, 2019 "Information Clearing House" - This opens things up — as a practice, who uses it, why and how is it used, and what are the ramifications of its use?

Patriotic slogans, closer to shibboleths (…a word or saying used b y adherents of a party, sect, or belief and usually regarded by others as empty of real meaning) such as, freedom isn’t free, support the troops, honor our veterans, and God bless America, rely on a certain set of assumptions. Namely, that the state is benevolent, that it is moral, and that it acts as a whole to represent the goodwill and common interests of ordinary people.

The purpose of a marketing slogan is to create, in the target host, a suspension of the critical thought process. Its success as a strategy is complete when the host is unable or unwilling to seek an alternative. The tethering of the host to the sloganeer presents an imbalance of power, creating a vulnerability.

Patriotic sloganeering makes the citizen into a host, tethered to the state. When the citizen is sufficiently prepared through propaganda, the state has enormous leverage.

The dissident view on patriotism is that the state exploits the goodwill of its citizens into a double cross, rallying them into battle and support for war and vilification of whistleblowers and refuseniks while concealing its true purposes. This is beyond politics and generalizes to all states. States are, by degree, adversaries to the people in them. Big Brother is not a relative.