Mccain's essay was very exaggerating to me and managed to extend my concept of patriotism, thus leaving the concept more complete and efficient. Before reading the essay, I believed that patriotism is related exclusively to the feeling of love for the country, within that feeling it was not correct to criticize and not support certain elements, but just to love the country unconditionally. MacCain's essay showed me that criticism of the country is part of patriotism, because it is through criticism that we recognize the defects that our society has and that need to be changed. This is able to motivate us to fight for a better country. Striving for improvement represents love for the country and that represents patrotism.