I see what you're getting at, and perhaps my definition of patriotism is more wistful than the reality of it, but I've always thought of patriotism as similar to family. You're more devoted to them because you are closer to them and there's a certain want to preserve that alongside the places where it happened, y'know? And just like family, sometimes you have to override that devotion when the relationship becomes too toxic to maintain.

I feel like that's where I'm at with the US. I've always been a naturalist at heart and I adore the landscapes of the country in particular, but it's like a toxic parent. I try my best to pursue reform but I'm nearing a point where I'll just have to leave and cut my losses. But it is hard because I legitimately do love this country, just...not the government or the people who run it.

The problem ain't just the Trump administration, it's systemic and I wish more people here understood that. I just think it would be better for the whole world if the US could get its shit together instead of every person with a moral compass abandoning it to its inevitable doom and the subsequent suffering of everyone too screwed by the system to leave.

I care about the welfare of every living breathing human, but tbh I think fixing the US (however that's done) would benefit a hell of a lot of people in a whole lot of places. This country's global military presence is so pervasive and damaging, it'd be nice to put a stop to it.

If the want to truly fix this place makes me not patriotic, so be it, but I've always seen that as the definition of patriotic. Maybe I'm just naive tho