mouais c'est vague, j'adhère ou pas?

I would need more specifics to really evaluate this one.

Like most Americans, I do the best I can by being a good citizen, not a blind follower mind you, but by working and standing on my own two feet, not going on welfare, not trying to chisel some insurance company and by voting, I'm working in my country's best interest.

no. you dont need to do this. to hell with best interests. as long as i can read a good book, have a drink, and get laid, i dont care if Osama bin Laden is president.

I think it's important to be patriotic, but not nationalistic. (Using my own definitions here....) To be nationalistic means to care only about your own country and no one else. To be patriotic is to ask God to bless America, but also to bless other nations THROUGH America.

Yes, I think it can not be underestimeated how important it is to work in the best interests of our country. I am an American and that which negatively affects America negatively affects me. So then what are our countries best interests? As many raters have pointed out, there is a wide variety of opinion about what this country's best interests are when it comes to domestic, economic, and foreign policy decisions. Truly working for our country's best interests means doing everything we can to be responsible citizens and keep our society and our democracy strong and vibrant. In my opinion all that it takes to be patriotic is civic participation, holding those we elect accountable, keeping educated/not allowing yourself to be brainwashed by party propaganda, and denying one's own selfish desires to ensure that every countrymen of ours will be healthy, educated, fed, and safe. These are not merely my own ramblings about democratic responsibility; they come from the French, English, and American political philosophers who provided the political beliefs upon which this country is founded. Those who wish to see spending cut for public education or even those who don't support it; those that oppose healthcare for the sick and needy; and those that support reckless and dangerous environmental policies- all these people are unpatriotic and anti-american. People who vote for long term reprecussions for our nation in the future for short term personal financial gain are unpatriotic. If my personal interest is detrimental to the interests of many more of my countrymen then patriotism requires me to consider them before myself. America is a country of individuals, working for the benefit of America means working for the benefit, both long and short term, of those individuals.

One could view this a couple ways. I guess it depends on how you define your country's best interests. If you mean, acting in the best interest of the U.S. maintaining an open pipeline of cheap oil no matter what the cost in lives and diplomacy, then I would rate this lower. If you mean, look out for our interests without crapping on others, then I think it is okay. For me, working in this country's best interests means getting out to vote Bush out of office.

Certainly! But don't forget that their are those such as Chuancey who would not work for the advancement of the country that has let him aspire to what he has become (as bad as it may be), but rather for their own selfish intrests. Those selfish intrests were the same intrests that led to rulers such as Saddam Hussien, Adolf Hitler, Fidel Castro etc,.

This is IMO a poorly chosen choice. What exactly ARE our best interests? Aren't everyone's opinions of our best interests different?

America is based on the individual. Although we are united as one, nobody is obligated to follow suit to what the others believe. Our forefathers wanted it that way, and that is the policy america stands for. And going against a national policy is not patriotic is it?

You must decide what your country's best interests are, just like you must decide what it means to be patriotic. There are some words that dictionaries cannot completeley cover. I believe that it is in my country's best interests to work in the best interests of the people, and of the world. This includes peace, happiness, freedom, justice, love, and simple things like food, clean water and air, shelter, and security. It is not in the country's best interests to create enemies around the world by being destructive. It is patriotic to want to work in favor of your country's best interests.

Very interesting items on this list. I'm sure a lot of people think that it is almost always a good idea to do this, but neglect to consider that often building their own country's best interests causes so much misery and suffering elsewhere that the process ends up *undermining* the very interests they seek to promote. Bomb and kill enough innocent people in the Middle East and you end up creating thousands more terrorists; eventually the coup comes in Saudi Arabia, and-- you think gas is expensive NOW? Just wait.