Interdependance is human reality. No man can function alone in modern society and having someone to depend on for safety, social interaction and services is a must. In order to satisfy these needs, human have an innate tendancy to align themselves with other humans for various purposes, thereby forming several concentric circles of sub-socieatal ties, with the innermost being the closest and most important to an individual, if for no other reason thean for the fact that your neighbor is more likely to help in case of a fire than a person that lives 1000km from you.
Love of country comes into play for different people at different places. Some people find existential security in being a part of a larger tribe and put country above family while some don't. But patriotism is fairly important as the love of country is often times indicative of the love of that country's society, and sometimes those that rate love of country as a highly important factor can equate the lack of love of country in an individual as lack of love, or criticism, of that country's society and in turn themselves. This being considered patriotism is not only a love that one diplays for their country and therefore an individual sentiment, but also the connecting factor between an individual and others that he doesn't have family ties with.
Being European, and more importantly a Euro-federalist by conviction, I have to say that I've found myself envying and abhoring US patriotism at times. These days I mostly find myself envying the US for it since the EU doesn't have that kind of a connecting factor between its people. The only ones loving Europe as a whole and feeling fraternal ties with other Europeans are those of us that live and work all over Europe, those of us that have international marriages, those that study or practice EU law or trade or are involved in culture. I realise that the average middle class or lower class European has no real concept of what the EU is and therefore fears and distrusts continental integration and here is where I would love to have the kind of supra-familial connection between Europeans that Americans seem to have.
You should be happy to have it. Patriotism is not only a blind love for one's country but also the willingness to critisize it to make it better.
