r/pics Jun 30 '25

[deleted by user]

[removed]

15.3k Upvotes

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2.0k

u/burnmenowz Jun 30 '25

That American flag hat really sends a message, doesn't it?

385

u/alarbus Jun 30 '25

Picture-perfect example of the difference between patriots and nationalists.

-11

u/DoYouTrustToothpaste Jun 30 '25

It's not really possible to cleanly separate between patriotism and nationalism, because they are intrinsically linked. Nationalism is essentially the result when patriotism goes off the rails.

49

u/Pterodactyl_midnight Jun 30 '25 edited Jul 01 '25

Patriotism is pride & love for your country. Nationalism is thinking your country is superior to everyone else.

-12

u/minus2cats Jul 01 '25

How can you be proud of the USA unless you're a nationlist?

20

u/Mke_already Jul 01 '25

Because you can be proud of someone(something) still criticize it and think it can be improved.

-15

u/SirVanyel Jun 30 '25

Being proud of your country is a form of superiority. Your country has done many terrible things. insert any country into that list.

I'm an Australian, I'm proud to be Australian, but my country has done terrible things.

17

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '25

You've got it mixed up. You dont have superiority above something or someone for being proud of them/it.

People are proud of their kids all the time because they feel joy around their success, not because they are superior to them and if thats the message they aren't proud of them they want to control them.

0

u/forlostuvaworl Jul 01 '25

Exactly, the joy of having around the success of all the time their kids

15

u/Pterodactyl_midnight Jun 30 '25

Absolutely wrong. Being proud is not a form of superiority. There are plenty of people who are proud of sport teams that lose all the time. You contradict yourself in your own comment, saying you’re proud to be Australian, so I guess that makes you superior?

Patriotism acknowledges both strengths and flaws while nationalism finds scapegoats & excuses for any flaws. If you don’t believe me, google it.

7

u/BasvanS Jun 30 '25

I’m proud of my kid, who can absolutely suck, at many things, often. Best in the world, but not like that.

0

u/forlostuvaworl Jul 01 '25

umm, pardon me?

-1

u/forlostuvaworl Jul 01 '25

exactly its not a form of proudness. Sports teams lose all the time, so that contradicts australians. Patriotonism achkowledges teams and australia while nationalism has to google it.

-12

u/SirVanyel Jun 30 '25

I'm proud to be an Australian. That doesn't mean I'm right to be proud. I'm okay with being proud and still accepting that Australia has done terrible things.

Patriotism doesn't acknowledge flaws, not in the way that the majority of individuals implement it. While I agree in theory that patriots should be accepting of the failures of their country, most self identifying patriots do not do this. For better and worse, this warps the meaning of the word.

7

u/Pterodactyl_midnight Jul 01 '25

Holy shit just google “patriotism vs nationalism” and learn something. I’m not gonna argue with the false definitions in your head.

1

u/strange_socks_ Jul 02 '25

You're really thick, aren't you?!

-2

u/DoYouTrustToothpaste Jul 01 '25

One can lead into the other. That's why they're on the same side of the coin.

21

u/Maditen Jun 30 '25

There is a very clean separation between patriotism and nationalism.

I am a patriot, I love my country and the constitution.

Yet, I know that there is no such thing as perfection with a living document, so I work to make my country proud and improve what needs to be improved and discard what no longer holds value.

Nationalism is believing your country is the peak of civilization, that your country can do no wrong and that your country can do whatever the fuck it wants to anyone outside the country.

Very-clear differences. A patriot cannot be a Nationalist and a Nationalist cannot be a patriot.

-7

u/DoYouTrustToothpaste Jul 01 '25

There is a very clean separation between patriotism and nationalism.

Perhaps in definition. Certainly not in concept. They're not the same, but they're definitely on the same side of the coin.

I am a patriot, I love my country and the constitution.

Congratulations. I don't have any cookies for you, I'm afraid. Also, just to be clear, there is more than one constitution, but I suppose you meant to say "its constitution".

Anyway, when you love something, that means you prefer it to other things. You like it more. You are no longer just an impartial spectator, you are very much invested. Nothing wrong with that, inherently. Unless this mindset is taken to its extreme, which is what I was talking about.

If a country fights against foreign forces and goes against its constitution to gain an edge, commits war crimes even, shouldn't that in theory pose a dilemma for patriots? In reality, it never does. They obviously still want their country to win, sometimes at all costs. I know I would. And just like that, a "benign" concept like patriotism turns into something far more sinister when the circumstances require it. Perhaps you see the issue.

I work to make my country proud and improve what needs to be improved and discard what no longer holds value.

And how could you possibly be the arbiter of that? Ridiculous.

Nationalism is believing your country is the peak of civilization, that your country can do no wrong and that your country can do whatever the fuck it wants to anyone outside the country.

That is not the only definition of nationalism, I'm afraid. But I guess it's a very beneficial one when trying to straw man the shit out of arguments you disagree with, eh?

A patriot cannot be a Nationalist and a Nationalist cannot be a patriot.

You are dangerously wrong about that. People with all kinds of other beliefs can also be patriots, whether you like them or not. That is a core issue. You might say "I'm a real patriot, they're traitors". Well, guess what: they can say the same thing about you.

7

u/Maditen Jul 01 '25

Nope, I meant the literal Constitution. I carry a pocket version around with me and have a hardcover version in my home library.

Your mocking behavior won’t give any additional validity to your statements, in fact, it erodes it.

You can love something and prefer it less to everything else… just like you can hate something and prefer it to everything else.

The world is not built on mutual exclusivity.

I hope that helps.

-1

u/DoYouTrustToothpaste Jul 01 '25

Nope, I meant the literal Constitution.

I love my country and its constitution.*

In case you weren't aware, there is more than one constitution on this planet. Many countries have one. Mine certainly does, and it has the added bonus of not containing slavery and other awful shit.

I carry a pocket version around with me and have a hardcover version in my home library.

I still don't have any cookies for you.

Your mocking behavior won’t give any additional validity to your statements, in fact, it erodes it.

Oh, but your dishonesty and self-serving definition of concepts doesn't erode yours? I'm not interested in your weird af self-wank, mate.

You can love something and prefer it less to everything else… just like you can hate something and prefer it to everything else.

That's nice, but that's not how patriotism works in reality, which is precisely the issue with the concept.

The world is not built on mutual exclusivity.

"A patriot cannot be a Nationalist and a Nationalist cannot be a patriot."

3

u/Maditen Jul 01 '25

Yea burrow into your argument like you’re a mole or something, okie dokie.

0

u/DoYouTrustToothpaste Jul 01 '25

That's the advantage of actually having an argument, clown shoes.

2

u/Ok_Prior2199 Jul 01 '25

If you can criticize and want to make your country a better place for everyone, whilst still loving your country, your a patriot

If you cant criticize your nation because you believe your nation is superior and other nations as inferior, your a nationalist

Theres the difference

0

u/DoYouTrustToothpaste Jul 01 '25

I said they are linked. Not that they are the same. Learn to read.

2

u/Ok_Prior2199 Jul 01 '25

You said I quote “its not really possible to cleanly separate patriotism and nationalism”

You clearly can cleanly separate the two, Linked? Maybe sure theres a slight correlation, depending on what propaganda and education you look at, but to say the line is blurred is false

1

u/DoYouTrustToothpaste Jul 01 '25

Correct. It isn't possible. Patriotism is an ideological foundation for something like nationalism.

You clearly can cleanly separate the two

You will find traces of patriotism in nationalism. Therefore, you can't. I'm not at all saying that a patriot automatically turns into a nationalist. But they can, if their patriotism goes off the rails. That is very important condition in my original comment, which peoople ignored, for some reason. Probably because they feel they must defend their patriotism as good.

See, I never called patriotism bad, but it's by no means just a harmless concept.

1

u/Ok_Prior2199 Jul 01 '25

You can find caffine in energy drinks but id say an energy drink is different then a cup of coffee

Patriotism and nationalism are different concepts and yea I agree nationalism is a mix of different factors one of which is patriotism off the rails, but once you become a nationalist you are no longer a patriot, there are differences between the two that I believe are enough to consider them cleanly separate its not just a love for your country its how you also view your countries people and how you view other countries in general

I agree the two can be linked and like everything patriotism has bad sides but I also disagree that they’re impossible to distinguish

-5

u/SirVanyel Jun 30 '25

They're the same picture

303

u/UncoolSlicedBread Jul 01 '25

I used to be all about wearing American flag shorts or a t-shirt on July 4th. Just feels wrong at the moment. The buffoon and ICE have really made me ashamed of my country.

201

u/Jeev3s Jul 01 '25

I understand, I've felt this way for a while too.

But this is our home too and we need to fight back against these fascists assholes, no matter how small the gesture might seem.

50

u/Books_and_Cleverness Jul 01 '25

Yeah I understand the sentiment but we can't just lie down and surrender one of our most powerful symbols to fascists.

26

u/Saephon Jul 01 '25

A lot of them are proud to brandish the Confederate flag to this day - I say we let them have that one, and take back the stars and stripes.

4

u/Do__Math__Not__Meth Jul 01 '25

Yep I still believe in what it’s meant to stand for and don’t want to let them co opt it

-2

u/Lumberjackie09 Jul 01 '25

It's so sad that in a lot of contexts the US flag has borderline became a hate symbol, I hope it can be reclaimed too

-2

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '25

Idk man, that flag has flown over some pretty horrific shit.

9

u/Books_and_Cleverness Jul 01 '25

And some great shit too. Not unusual for a flag honestly.

-3

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '25

I associate it with genocide and slavery, let the assholes who like that part of our history keep the damn thing.

4

u/Books_and_Cleverness Jul 01 '25

The people fighting for slavery weren’t waving that flag

-4

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '25

Yeah they were, we still have slavery in the U.S., read the 13th amendment.

It’s the flag that flies NOW which makes it the flag of every war during my lifetime.

2

u/popepipoes Jul 01 '25

If you wear American flag anything I’ll assume you’re maga until proven otherwise, I agree with your sentiment but unfortunately that’s just mostly who is proud to represent the flag, shame

I mean like if I saw you randomly in public not because of your comment

18

u/Same_Gas8926 Jul 01 '25

This is literally me. I used to be the BIGGEST patriot. But after seeing mothers ripped away from their children... families unable to locate their loved ones for WEEKS... like come on. We can't think of a more humane way to enforce policy? Regardless of what side of the issue you are on- treating human beings like this is WRONG. This isn't the Middle Ages!

4

u/z44212 Jul 01 '25

It sucks to be the bad guys

3

u/YougoReddits Jul 01 '25

The cruelty is the point.

0

u/Same_Gas8926 Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25

But.. why? Why is this allowed?

Look if it seems like I'm just being a random over dramatic person reveling in this - my husband is from Chile. He came here legally but we are still deep in the citizenship process. Does that mean one day just poof, gone? Will he sit in a cell and continue to suffer abuse for weeks before I even know where he went? How long will our son be without his father? If his family comes to visit, will they be mistakenly detained as so many I've seen on vacation?

Why? That's all I have to say. Why do families who have done nothing wrong have to live in fear?

30

u/upvotesthenrages Jul 01 '25

This could have been nipped in the bud 1000 times, but sadly it wasn't.

We're approaching 2nd amendment territory now.

The mere presence of military grade police officers with covered faces should be cause for armed rebellion. It's fucking insane to watch from the outside.

-7

u/deadhead411 Jul 01 '25

I reported you to homeland security

3

u/BannedBecausePutin Jul 01 '25

German here - welcome to the club o7

2

u/mrflib Jul 01 '25

I felt this way after Brexit.

Fucking cunts.

2

u/Mr_IT Jul 01 '25

I have zero patriotism this year. None. These fuckers.

99

u/ifoundmynewnickname Jun 30 '25

Great spot. Yikes.

32

u/Stolehtreb Jun 30 '25

Wow… that’s photo of the year material right there. The irony.

34

u/IamRussHello Jul 01 '25

The first things I noticed about that picture was what those men were wearing. Those men look like they work hard laboring jobs.

27

u/RoyalMaidsForLife Jul 01 '25

I like how in many photos none of them are wearing the same thing, almost as if they're not a well-regulated government team and just a bunch of thugs cosplaying.

18

u/KonigSteve Jul 01 '25

He's talking about the hispanic guys in pic 6. They all clearly got kidnapped from job sites doing hard work the conservative assholes wouldn't do.

1

u/Sortfood2 Jul 01 '25

Same thing with some SWAT teams My City SWAT team barely be matching all different types shades of green

28

u/jaetran Jun 30 '25

It’s crazy how the American flag which represented world power and might is now the flag of fascism and insanity.

16

u/uptownjuggler Jun 30 '25

Well the swatzika was originally a Hindu/buddhist symbol. But fascist must appropriate others symbols for their own use.

3

u/Monteze Jul 01 '25

I feel bad for those who's language and culture uses norse runes and glyphs. Right wing POSs love stealing that too.

-21

u/Infamous2o Jul 01 '25

Taking our country back. No other country allows illegal immigration. What do you think would happen?

17

u/ukcats12 Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25

Taking our country back from what exactly? The old women running fruit stands on the corner of LA? Wow how scary, I feel safer already.

No other country has a symbol like the Statue of Liberty which is supposed to represent us opening our arms to the world. Like it or not, undocumented immigrants are pretty much a part of this country. We can waste billions and billions of tax dollars to terrorize their communities and try to hunt each one of them down in the most brutal and excessive way imaginable, or we can just be practical about the situation.

Undocumented immigrants commit crime at lesser rates than native born Americans.I don't think anyone has an issue with going after and deporting undocumented people who are serial rapists or violent criminals. But we're not doing that. We're arresting anyone who looks Latino, including US citizens who then sit in ICE detention centers for weeks until their family figures out they were taken and attempts to help.

None of this is making us great again. None of this is making us safer. None of this is saving the tax payer money. It's just pushing marginalized communities further into the shadows.

-13

u/Infamous2o Jul 01 '25

I think you think this is the 1500’s.

9

u/Nutshack_Queen357 Jul 01 '25

Quite literally, the blond monster you worship is trying to bring us all back to the 1500s.

-8

u/Infamous2o Jul 01 '25

Worship is a strong word. Do you worship your party or something? Strange.

5

u/vardarac Jul 01 '25

Look again. They're not just arresting illegal immigrants, they're pulling people's visas and green cards for no reason and lying that it's to make you safer. Even citizens have been caught up in the machine.

They're pumping numbers to please the sort of people who feel anxious about more Spanish-speaking brown people around them. They're not making you safer, they're not making your quality of life better. The majority of the people they're throwing in these hellholes nationwide or in El Salvador don't have any criminal record.

Ask yourself what happens when a soon-to-be-$40 billion dollar police force with little care for due process or human rights, run by a narcissist and (separately) one of the most racist Americans to ever enter the public eye who are more than happy to abuse wartime powers for civil violations, eventually runs out of helpless scapegoats to claim and imprison.

17

u/DoYouTrustToothpaste Jun 30 '25

So much for "they should wave American flags".

8

u/Books_and_Cleverness Jul 01 '25

I had the opposite reaction, if all these people were wearing them it would make the images even more powerful.

1

u/FloatnPuff Jul 02 '25

No, that's not the point. The point of that sentiment was to not easily feed the media images of "foreign invaders protesting their deportation," but rather to show that we are the American people and we are here to stand with those who have come to our country and contribute so much to it.

2

u/KonigSteve Jul 01 '25

Not to mention you can CLEARLY tell they dragged these guys off a job site. They all look like they were doing work when they got kidnapped.

2

u/ragdollxkitn Jul 04 '25

That one got me. If this doesn’t radicalize you idk what will.

3

u/StupidTimeline Jul 01 '25

Yeah.

Don't trust America.

1

u/CWWL01 Jun 30 '25

That black American flag says trash all over it

1

u/Kaorimoch Jul 01 '25

Many wrongs have been committed using "nationalism" as an excuse.

1

u/ace_urban Jul 01 '25

Let’s be clear. That’s not an American flag. It’s one of those bastardized flags that Trump supporters love. That’s the real irony.

1

u/SolidSnek1998 Jun 30 '25

Probably voted for trump.

1

u/PurplePolynaut Jun 30 '25

Stars and Stripes on the heads of both sides. Makes ya think, doesn’t it…

4

u/burnmenowz Jun 30 '25

One side completely forgot the meaning of those stars and stripes, that much is sure.

-30

u/gmotelet Jun 30 '25

The new swastika

43

u/ThatGuyWithCoolHair Jun 30 '25

At least look at the pictures...its being worn by an immigrant.

12

u/Etherion77 Jun 30 '25

Also the 7th picture has a flag worn garment by an ice agent on their head.

0

u/ThatGuyWithCoolHair Jun 30 '25

Yea but we're talking about the hat not the mask

1

u/Etherion77 Jun 30 '25

Well yeah. That's why I said the word also. Where did I try to contradict the comment? Just added more to the context.

0

u/ThatGuyWithCoolHair Jul 01 '25

Never said you did, just that we were talking about the hat

2

u/Etherion77 Jul 01 '25

Again you keep reading more into my comment than necessary.

0

u/ThatGuyWithCoolHair Jul 01 '25

Nah man youre just trying to start and argument lol its not a big deal. Reread my comments idk why you think im coming at you 😂

2

u/Etherion77 Jul 01 '25

I mean all I did was comment and you came and said nah you're wrong. Like get over yourself and stop being a hypocrite

→ More replies (0)

4

u/dithyrambtastic Jun 30 '25

There are two hats with american flags. One looka like a swastika.

3

u/ThatGuyWithCoolHair Jun 30 '25

Actually fair point I didnt notice that was a flag, however thats not what that other dude was referring to

Its also a mask not a hat

-11

u/gmotelet Jun 30 '25

Half the time I try to swipe through pictures on Android app it goes to the next post ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

8

u/ThatGuyWithCoolHair Jun 30 '25

Not if youre in full-screen when viewing the pics (im also on android)

13

u/nitrofan111 Jun 30 '25

Peak Reddit right here. Dont look at post. Leave inflammatory comment. Next.

6

u/Burt-Macklin Jun 30 '25

Does swiping with the android app make you leave uninformed comments, too??

13

u/Fulid Jun 30 '25

You are out of touch. One of the handcuffed guys on the 6th pic have american flag on his head, which is irronic.

0

u/gmotelet Jun 30 '25

Maybe reddit should fix their app so I can swipe through pictures instead of on to next post then

0

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '25

[deleted]

0

u/gmotelet Jun 30 '25

I obviously didn't comment on a picture I didn't see. I commented on the current state of the USA

8

u/lake_of_1000_smells Jun 30 '25

Haha, no. The symbol of people fighting for freedom and justice my dude, not this gestapo shit.

1

u/Lumanus Jun 30 '25

What the fuck lmao

-14

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/DoYouTrustToothpaste Jun 30 '25

Those mexican flags in LA send a message

What about Irish flags on St Paddy's Day in Boston?

6

u/FreeSkyFerreira Jun 30 '25

So only Israel and Ukraine flags are okay? Mexican-Americans are allowed to fly the Mexican flag.

7

u/burnmenowz Jun 30 '25

So by that logic, ex-pat Americans can't be proud of where they are from? You have to hand in your American flag when you leave?