personally I believe that patriotism is based on loving one's cultural values, not the arbitrary land mass. Whenever I see Americans being patriotic it's usuall

personally I believe that patriotism is based on loving one's cultural values, not the arbitrary land mass. Whenever I see Americans being patriotic it's usually around a pro-individual, anti-authority culture (though that gets pretty muddled because from my perspective, it seems like both sides of the political aisle are 50-50 on individualism vs authority). Republican patriots love their constitutionally guaranteed rights to freedom of speech and to bear arms, as well as the US' culture of entrepreneurialism. Democrat patriots love their cultural melting pot and the values of free self-expression and acceptance. "Nationalism" as a term is murkier, because it not only encompasses patriotism but also isolationism, xenophobia, monoculture enforcement and so on. Over here in the UK it even includes Celtic nations' citizens' individual desires for independence from England.