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Well, Sesh, for Americans of a certain age, we were brought up with a mandatory pledging of allegiance to the American flag every morning in grade school (ages 5 to 12). The history we were taught at an early age was always American-centric, and we were actually instructed that it was Manifest Destiny (or God's Plan) that the American colonists expand and conquer what is now known as The United States. Now, I don't know if it was my being brought up during the Watergate/Vietnam era, but even when I was in grade school I was never one to go all gooey-eyed at the sight of the American flag. I went to church during those years as well, and I never had a belief in a Supreme Being, either. I was never vocal about either of those beliefs or feelings (I went along to get along).
The real eye-opener for me was spending two years being educated abroad in my late teens in Europe, where one learns rather quickly that the rest of the world doesn't necessarily think America is the be-all, end-all, all-time apex of Western Civilization. Exposure to that mindset, as well as reading history from non American-centric texts (which chronicle America's historical interactions with the rest of the world through a prism other than that of Manifest Destiny), taught me to be a bit more critical about this country I live in...more critical than merely spouting bumper-sticker slogans such as "America: Love It or Leave It!" and telling anyone else who questions what we do as a nation that "if you don't like it, get the fuck out!"
People still wonder how fascism via the Nazi Party took over Germany. I have to tell you, all it would take is the right set of circumstances and the right type of demagogue to come along at an opportune time and pitch his candidacy in the guise of nationalism, and I could see the United States go the same way. There are plenty of people in this country who are willing to do whatever the government tells them to, are undereducated and underemployed and reflexively turn to xenophobia as a means of explaining all the problems the country has. And it all starts with things like compulsory flag salutes, supporting the President no matter what he (or she) does, having a fetish for the use of our military and treating soldiers like they are warrior gods to whom we owe our blind allegiance and without whom we would be enslaved.
Although in all fairness, America did invent the Big Mac, so there's one thing in our favor. We also pioneered adult-onset diabetes, but you know...yin and yang.
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