The Stars and Bars represent an amazing opportunity. I'm very patriotic to the ideals that have formed that opportunity.

However, it's certainly not the only country to afford those opportunities, and there are many more countries that have done a far better job of doing so. Currently the words "freedom, liberty, opportunity, and sovereignty" get thrown around by individuals with all the power and money to make sure they can continue to have all the power and the money. So many everyday individuals have been brainwashed by the crap they're fed on the TV and talk radio that they truly believe the economic and social issues they face (working too many hours, not having enough money to care for their kids, not being able to save for retirement) are the cause of minority special interest groups, or those opposed to their views. Those in power have also done an amazing job of tying their values to Christian values (when they are almost completely unChristian), convincing their constituents that their values are American values because they're Christian values (the two were never joined at the hip, that's one of the major points of this nation), and that anyone opposed to their views isn't a true patriot.

tl;dr
The idea of what this country should and could be is great. What a certain group of very powerful and very rich assholes has convinced a large section of the population those values are has set us back at least 50 years and have ruined a lot of lives.