Does a true patriot defend their country against their government?
I think a true patriot defends values, not nationality. That is — whatever values are worth preserving (i.e. justice, freedom, equality) sometimes need to be defended. The “attacker” could be another nation, it could be one’s own government, it could be a political group or religious faction. I don’t see much value in defending the *symbols* of group membership: the flags, the songs, the cultural touchpoints which say “we are us and they are them”. Those things are nice, but they’re not worth killing people about. What deserves firm defense are the values that, if removed, make a nation morally unviable. If you take away freedom as a value, the nation needs to die. If you take away the flag or change the government, it’s not so crucial.
