Patriotism, like all tribalism, is a tool with which to subvert the minds of others. You should do something for me because I belong to your tribe. For example: you should buy that lousy and expensive car made in my factory because I belong to your tribe. Or: you should pay me in return for substandard service, and not my competitors, even if their service is better and cheaper, because I belong to your tribe. But what has my tribe ever done for me? And why should my tribal origin limit my choice of services and products, or indeed, friends and lovers? Look at this member of my tribe, a drunken hooligan returning from a football match, yelling something incomprehensible, if clearly obscene, jumping up and down, being rude and confrontational, looking for a fight. What do I have in common with him? What do I want to have in common with him? Why should I owe him anything just because the team he roots for wears the colors of my passport? It's embarrassing.
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