Book I: The Call for the Patriot and the Numerous Impostors of Patriotism

At present, there is a general failure of true political and national unity amongst the teeming free masses.  It is not that dissent is problematic (as dissent is what makes progress possible inevitably) or that governments fail to maintain order (as at least across many a nation, order is maintained as well as it can be civilly).  Rather, it is a different sort of problem: a different sort of disunity.  The disunity among the free is how to be genuine political bodies within our society (that is, how to properly conduct oneself in political contexts), how it is to be decided who is truly fit to be followed, how it is to be decided what is truly the best course of action to be followed, and other such dis-unifying concerns.  To restore national and political unity, a single sort of entity is thereby required: the true and wise patriot.

The patriot, a term of regarding one who professes and feels the most profound love for one's country is a person of great respect, but also is a person vastly misunderstood or confused for other people of a similar or seemingly similar nature.  As of these fleeting days of my youth and oncoming of my more mature years, the patriot (whomever loves one's country truly and surely) has been thought to be or confused as at least one of the following:

1) one who has an ignorant and uncritical loyalty strictly to a party or singular political group. (The Party-Loyalist)
2) one who has an ignorant and uncritical loyalty strictly to a single political leader. (The Idolater)
3) one who has an ignorant and uncritical loyalty to his or her nationhood or ethnicity solely, bearing neither trust nor understanding for any other group. (The Nationalist)
4) one who has an ignorant and uncritical loyalty to the military actions of his or her country. (The Militant)
5) one who has an ignorant and uncritical loyalty to his or her religion solely. (The Preacher)
6) one who has a complete misunderstanding as to the application of his or her individual rights and capacities, as well as those of others. (The Fool)

Any of this lot would claim themselves or find themselves claimed by others to be manifestations of the patriot.  Sadly, in one way or another, be it through ignorance, arrogance, or perhaps even mere outright stubbornness, the entirety of them fails to truly be as such.  In their failure to be, they thus cannot wear the title of patriot, or at least they cannot wear such a title with any sort of honesty or honor to that title's nature.  Since the patriot is one who has a great deal of honor and respect, the title itself is demanding that he who bears it bear with complete honesty and acting in such ways that are in true accord with that title's nature. Thus, since these six who would be claimed patriots ultimately fail to do so, and by being claimed patriots bring a degree of dishonesty to the title, it is thereby necessary to understand their failures, so that the true nature of the patriot can thereby be thoroughly explained and understood.  Though they fail as patriots, however, that is not to say that these six are figures of evil or maleficence.  They are no sort of moral or political cancer, but rather they are simply in a state that presently has them rendered either ignorant or misguided.  Thus, though it is necessary to know them so as to know a true patriot from an impostor who would seek to use the title of patriot for whatever misguided ends an impostor would seek, they are not to be singled out for any sort of destruction.  If anything, they are the sort to be approached and educated, so that a greater union of true patriots may perhaps yet be formed.

At the very least, when considering these impostors, one thing about the patriot can be said.  The patriot is not one who has love and loyalty to any single individual or isolated body within his or her country, but has love and loyalty to the entire collective of his or her country, or even more broadly (for those who have not a country or wish not to be of allegiance to any particular country) the entire collective of human society.  Furthermore, the patriot's love and loyalty are not uncritical, but rather, they are thoroughly critical, constantly evaluating, and constantly seeking to better his or her country.  Thus, the patriot is ultimately whomsoever truly is loyal to and has true love for their country: whomsoever has true loyalty towards and love for his for her fellows as much or more than his or her-self.