I believe you have misunderstood the purpose of patriotism. Belief in a country is self-identification with a shared narrative. Just like with a startup, some

I believe you have misunderstood the purpose of patriotism. Belief in a country is self-identification with a shared narrative. Just like with a startup, some things are impossible to achieve unless everyone (perhaps irrationally) believes they are possible. Is Country X special? Maybe not. But if everyone there believes it's special, the country may yet become some version of its ideal self. Patriotism is vision casting. It is the story we tell ourselves that we may become the people we want to be.