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Anti-Patriotism As Political Promiscuity

But to fully love a woman, or a country, is to love some one particular thing. Now, it is surely better to love a woman than to love her qualities. But when it comes to countries, it is better by far to give your heart to freedom, and to love countries themselves incidentally and faithlessly. ~Will Wilkinson

In other words, if America were to become unfree it would be time to abandon it and move on to greener pastures?  It’s not clear to me how this is a credit to the love of freedom, since it basically entails getting out of town as soon as freedom is seriously restricted.  Instead of staying and fighting for freedom and country, this approach involves leaving your country when the going gets tough.  Then again, you wouldn’t want to be oppressed and limited by community or patriotic loyalty, since that might get in the way of your own success.

about the author

Daniel Larison is a senior editor at TAC, where he also keeps a solo blog. He has been published in the New York Times Book Review, Dallas Morning News, World Politics Review, Politico Magazine, Orthodox Life, Front Porch Republic, The American Scene, and Culture11, and was a columnist for The Week. He holds a PhD in history from the University of Chicago, and resides in Lancaster, PA. Follow him on Twitter.

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