Among many things that characterise the human kind disposition, their capacity of loving is one of the most admired and appreciated. People seem to have a special propensity towards becoming attached to almost everything they make contact with. Therefore, it would be abnormal for human beings not to be extremely fond of the place they were born in. This kind of love is called patriotism. Nevertheless, nowadays people do not have the same respect towards the love of one's country as they used to have in the past. Many would sustain the idea that the disappearance of patriotism may lead to the loss of the identity of each country. But those who believe that, should not forget that history itself has shown people that patriotism can be brought by humans to its extreme form, nationalism, which involves many evil aspects. It is human mind that must decide whether patriotism is a dangerous thing or not.
Human beings have an extraordinary capacity of loving and that is probably because love is their only chance of escaping from the daily routine of their materialistic life. Therefore, it is through love that ordinary people are able to defeat the egoism about which Schopenhauer says, 'it is the one that rules humans' life'. Due to the great amount of spiritual values that the concept of love gathers in its structure, there are multiple forms that it can have. One of the most controversial of them is patriotism, which means love for one's country. Its existence is given by the strong connection each human being has with the place they were born in. People are influenced both by the geographical space they live in and also by its cultural aspects and values.
Every country has its own identity, as time has had different effects on each of them. Moreover, people are born with some of their country's characteristics; Jung called the computation of all these characteristics 'collective psychology'. As the existence of patriotism involves defending each country's particularities, love towards one's country is vital for everybody. Nevertheless, nowadays people tend to forget about the importance of preserving the old values and the most fashionable conception is that 'your country is wherever you feel fine'. There is an international propensity towards globalism, towards considering geographical and political borders inexistent.
Although the disappearance of patriotism may seem tragic for some people there are good parts in it too. History has shown that between love and hate there is only one small border. One of the most relevant examples is the evil effects that the extreme form of patriotism, that is nationalism, can have on human beings' lives. From this point of view patriotism is a risk that is not worth taking.
Patriotism is something special as it is a form of love that give humans the possibility of feeling that they are part of something, that there is a place that they can call their own.
