Once someone said to me that she was disappointed that Canadian patriotism exists only in beer ads. Years later around Canada day I started taking pictures of random displays of patriotism, but stopped. Patriotism is all around. Of course, we tend to put it down after July 1st.

Far from being non-existent, I think that instead the appearance of patriotism is changing. The United States is very good at the old style of patriotism. But I think there is a new style coming. A new context of looking at patriotism. Before, patriotism was about size, military, and money. I think that as Human civilization moves out of our adolescence and becomes a truly mature as a species—which we are far from, of course—that patriotism will be about something else all together different.

An example of how something changes over time is imperialism. Before, imperialism required you to control and use the lands that you conquered. However, by the time the British built their empire imperialism was more about taxation and buying cheap resources than outright control. The control had slowly shifted to more economic measures. These days such empires cannot happen. However, some accuse the US of a new type of imperialism that’s not based on governments or even weapons, but is ever more purely economic or business oriented. Instead of controlling the economy like the British did, they simply work within it to exploit others. The British took resources and sold it back as products, while the US use the people to build the products and then sell them elsewhere.

Another example is government. The British Government started as a system of control by the king, but has evolved in to a democracy for the people.

I think that patriotism is changing as well. Now I think it’s becoming more about the standard of living, equality, education, freedom, and increasingly is moving towards non-violence and the protection of the environment. Patriotism is moving more from the boys and their toys view of things to something that’s more about actually having a healthy, literate society.