Peace is Patriotic

I did not design this sticker. I'm not even sure what it means. I'm only selling it because I know it is popular. 

To me, patriotism and peace seem like strange bedfellows. The meaning of the word "patriotism" has gotten tangled up over the years with notions of militarism. Today patriotism is not so much about loving your country as it is about defending your country and supporting its military misadventures.

But I suppose what this sticker is really trying to say is that it is possible to love your country and to desire peace. I can agree with that. 

On the other hand, I often wonder about our system of nation-states, and what the world might be like if it were not artificially divided into separate countries. Would the world be a more peaceful place? In a world where we were not citizens of countries but brothers and sisters of the world, would we still find reasons to kill each other on the massive scale we have seen in the last century?    

Dan R. Frazier