Sorry I am so late in commenting on a VERY excellant article. It raises questions that I have not thought about for many years. It also provided answers, or the path to an answer, to the questions.
Here, in the United states, we are kind of taught from birth to "Love your Country" and only submit to it's leadership. Thankfully I had very early on "free thinking" parents. They showed me "Love your Country" but "think for yourself". Hence, I guess my "Patriotism" was late in developing.
Keep up the good work, NEVER give up the good fight, be careful!
Mitch