Friday you-know-what

I am a Patriot!

Here's my score on The Are You a Patriotic American? Test: I got 75% in US Philosophy; 18% in American Pride (ahem); 73% for Involvement; and 100% in Citizen Status! Not bad, eh? There was another part of the results that I don't include here that indicates that my score on all four variables is higher than 99% of all other test-takers in my age and gender cohort. I'm suspecting that not very many middle-aged women have taken very many tests over at OkCupid, because it says that for every test I take over there.

Anyway, I thought this was a pretty good test, as far as it goes. It's not surprising, though, that I agree with a lot of the test's* stated opinions. Though I'm a little confused about how a test can have opinions, but whatever.

Philosophy reflects whether you agree with the philosophical foundations of the United States, such as: liberty, equality, democracy (though limited, not absolute), capitalism, checks and balances, constitutionalism, etc.

Pride reflects your assessment of the factual reality and history of the United States as a nation. It is your opinion as to whether the United States has been a "good" country and whether it has acted rightly or not.

Involvement reflects your level of political activism--whether you act to stay informed of what is going on in the world, and what you do on the basis of that information.

Citizen Status simply reflects whether you claimed to be a citizen of the U.S. when asked by this test.

It is the opinion of this test that, of these four factors, the only one that matters when it comes to being considered a Patriotic American is one's score in the first category--Philosophy. Therefore, if you scored between 0-33% in that category, you have been rated 'Unpatriotic'; 34-66%, 'Somewhat Patriotic'; 67-100% 'Patriotic'.

Certainly, the other categories provide interesting information for your (and others') consideration. However, they are not crucial for Patriotism, and they do not necessarily reflect a love, or its lack, for one's country. Regarding American Pride, some people will be surprised that it does not affect the outcome of the test; some people will be upset by this. However, if a person supports every military action the United States has ever engaged in, but does not really support his neighbors' right to live their lives in the ways that they see fit, then they do not truly love the United States. Further, and despite much of the rhetoric some political pundits engage in, a truly Patriotic American can be highly critical of many of the actions undertaken by the U.S. throughout history. Certainly, much of what the United States has done has been done poorly or for the wrong reasons. And while the author of this test believes that the United States has been mainly a force for good in the world (and the most-free, best nation ever to exist), he respects the opinions of those who would disagree with him and fully supports their right to dissent. For that is what America is all about.

Regarding Involvement, it has been said that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. This is true, however it is also true that liberty means that people can be as involved, or not involved, as they want. Choosing not to vote, while perhaps unwise, is as much an exercise of political liberty as anything else. Certainly, however, a low score in involvement might mean that a person could stand to try to be more aware of current events, or more actively involved in shaping them, because sometimes they matter.

Regarding Citizen Status, I am certain that many people will believe that to truly be a Patriotic American, one must be a citizen of the United States. However, that is not so. One of the traits that sets the U.S. apart from many other nations in history, is that it is a country not organized specifically around a particular ethnicity, language, religion, culture or common historical origin, but a shared political ideology. The United States is organized around a common love of liberty, individual rights and free expression. This, in part, accounts for the unending stream of immigration starting from the very conception of the nation and continuing on to the present day. In today's United States, there are many thousands who are not citizens, and yet who live in the United States and share its dreams (and many of them will be citizens when they are able). The author would even argue that there are many Patriotic Americans who have never yet even set foot on U.S. soil. There are no requirements of language, skin color, religion, sexual orientation or particular condition of any other personal detail to be a "true American." Just a love of liberty.

Link: The Are You a Patriotic American? Test written by donathos on OkCupid