“Proud to be an American” is a manufactured, measured out, and heavily marketed slogan, not actual pride. Hell, every nation does this. It’s only one method of control among many, though.

Secondly, it’s wiser to not cite dictionary sources unless your argument is syntactical; socioeconomic strata are very unlikely to be accounted for in whatever abridged morsel those references offer — to say nothing of the psychological variance inherent in such a topic. Furthermore, vernacular morphology is real.

Keep looking for answers, though. (This is less an “Unpopular Opinion”, and simply a seedling of a thought needing some attentive guidance.