Steven B. Smith’s book, Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes, highlights how the concept of patriotism has fallen on hard times. What was once a value that united Americans has now become so politicized by both the left and the right that it threatens to rip apart the social fabric. On the right, patriotism has become synonymous with nationalism and an “us versus them” worldview, while on the left, patriotism is seen as an impediment to acknowledging important ethnic, religious, or racial identities and a threat to cosmopolitan globalism. Adam and Professor Smith unpack how patriotism is something democratic societies cannot afford to do without.

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