Wake up and live. It's a fast world out there.
Tabouli is the best salad, but still, you don't win friends with salad
Power never turns power down, ever, unless institutionally demanded.
In my experience, it's usually up to the actor how a character is portrayed.
Civics is not only how to run the country before it's your turn to run the country; it is, in fact, the study of power, practical political power. And you must start that process at an age level when kids' brains are still open and malleable.
Let's give some substance to patriotism. It may take a generation.