By minimum loyalty we mean, quite simply, the minimum that has to be done to maintain a loyal relationship either to a person or to a country. It can be summed up by the phrase "thou shalt not betray me."

What has changed so much in America during the past 50 years to erode the sense of patriotism so much?

If you think about it for a minute you'll know the answer. The average White person can no longer look on America as his family. He no longer feels a part of it. It's just the place where he happened to have been born and happens to be living. He no longer feels a sense of kinship with all other Americans. The reason he doesn't is primarily the result of the enormous increase in what liberals and the media

fondly call "diversity": that is, the great increase in the number of people with
whom we feel nothing in common-people with different roots, people who look different, think differently, behave differently, and have different values-people whom we cannot even imagine being part of our family. When we look at America and see a great many people like that, when we see all of this "diversity," then we no longer feel ourselves a part of America. We no longer feel a sense of loyalty to America. We no longer feel like traitors if we do something to hurt America.

Prior to the 20th century the concept of patriotism was generally understood to be the "family" feeling-a blend of affection and loyalty-one had for one's fatherland, the land of one's ancestors.

A related concept was that of nationalism, the family feeling that one had for one's nation: which is to say, for one's people. The etymology of the word implied that one's nation was one's extended biological family: everyone in the nation was related by birth. If a nation had occupied a given geographical territory for a long time, then the two concepts were practically interchangeable.

Patriotism was much more than an intellectual construct; it was closer to an instinct. It was bred into a people because it had a survival value. A tribe which could

depend on the loyalty of its members was much more likely to survive than one which could not. Thus also the strong taboo against treason.

When North America was settled by the Europeans in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, the meanings of patriotism and nationalism were strained a bit. Fairly soon, however, the descendants of immigrants from Germany, Ireland, Scotland, England, Norway, Poland, Italy, and other European countries developed a new sense of patriotism.

There were exceptions, of course…..non-European groups as a rule did not [transfer their loyalty]. Gypsies still thought of themselves first and foremost as Gypsies. And Jews remained Jews, with a loyalty only to the Jewish people, wherever they might live.

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