Are you patriotic?

[Az]

Originally posted by Whaleboy

how very 'cool'. The same goes for love, knowledge, and every beautiful feeling you know.

One can do both. Indeed, because I am not nationalistic or patriotic, I am more inclined to care for others beyond that fallacious distinction.

nah, bull. Since we mostly live in our countries, the surrounding we can care for are usually people from our cultures, and societies.

The more people you simpathize with, and care for, the better. Ideally, it's better for that group to be the whole of humanity. But to care for 'your people' is better than not to really care for anyone. 'the nation' is nothing more than the people that are it's members.

If humans will once truly unite, on the basis of progress, and prosperity, I'll be a human nationalist.

[Sava]

I love America and the freedoms it has, but it has a past riddled with conflict, oppression, persecution, and genocide. The Founding Fathers, by today's standards, weren't by any means champions of liberty and human rights for all. But regardless, their fight for independence paved the way for the society that I live in today and the peace and freedom I enjoy.

The American way of life isn't perfect, but Americans have tried as hard as they can to create a fair society. We still have a long way to go, but I believe positive progressive change is inevitable as we weed out the abuses of capitalism and find a proper balance between social good and market driven economics.

I feel great joy when at a sporting event and the national anthem is played. I have a personal pride for the nation I was born in and that's why I get so passionate when I see it's great name and power corrupted.

Freedom, prosperity, social empathy and compassion, equality, and justice are the ideals that I am proud of and that I will fight for. As long as America stands for this, I shall be a patriot.

Each person has their own personal relationship with their country and their own definition of what it means to be a patriot. I still maintain, the most deplorable insult is to accuse someone of being unpatriotic because of a difference in political views or opinions on policy. A true patriot doesn't form such divides and conflicts. A true patriot stands united behind the ideals of freedom and democracy and strives to work out such differences in a civil way.

[Starchild]

You're going to have to make me pick a country before I can be patriotic about it.

Canada's a great place to live. I love Toronto. I'm glad of the fact that I got the chance to live in a country that believes in such things as democracy, human rights, and society. I picked up a lot from living in Canada but I'm not Canadian. Nix patriotism on that one.

I'm not the biggest fan of America in the world but I've got to acknowledge that I do owe it for shaping certain qualities I have. Strip away the chest-thumping bravado and go back to core beliefs. Back to the Founding Fathers were aiming for before human imperfections got in the way. An instinctive trust of democracy and distaste of tyranny, the idea that the People are the only mandate an authority figure should be able to call upon, and the idea that sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands to change things for the better. Yet I'm not American, so no patriotism here.

I thoroughly enjoy my life in the UK and can see myself settling down and living here. I was born here. I'm a British citizen (not a subject!). Yet do I love it? I love it's eccentricities, it's slightly mad way of doing things. I love it's cities and large parts of it's culture. Would I happily march off to die for it? No. Do I think it's the best place in the world? Nope. It's a nice place to live and I feel at home here but that's not patriotism.

Wherever I am, I seperate the good from the bad and love the good. I try to learn and improve in each new setting, each country, and bring past lessons to bear to improve them in turn. People I care about are scattered across the world and so I care about the world.

I am the cat who walks by himself and all places are alike to me.

[Drogue]

I'm not in the sense that i still question my rulers, don't think anyone is better just because their British, and will probably end up living in a different nation. However I do want the England team to win in sports, and I do feel pride whenever I see something British doing well in another country. I'm partly patriotic, but not blinded by it.

[Az]

However I do want the England team to win in sports, and I do feel pride whenever I see something British doing well in another country.

Fascist pig.

[Odin]

Originally posted by Sandman
The thing which annoys me about patriotism is the fact that it is basically conditioned into people, like Pavlov's dogs.

That feeling you get when you see your flag and the national anthem. It's nothing magical. It's just your brain pumping a load of feel-good chemicals into your blood. Like it has been trained to do. Like a damned salivating dog.

Exacto!!!

[Az]

Odin, read my response to this. this is hardly an argument.

The bad things in nationalism are:
- it is used to divert attention from other things, and manipulated by the elites.
- Some forms of it claim that other people are inherently inferior.

[Dis]

I don't have much more to add but one thing.

You may not believe in things like countries and cultures, but there are bad people who do. And they are willing to sacrifice their life to take yours.

Now I suppose if we were idealistic and had no "western" culture the terrorists wouldn't be so adamant about destroying the western culture. The terrorists would stop their evil ways and lead productive lives.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Whaleboy
A country may be a pretty, alluring fallacy that we have all been brought up to love and serve [cough] diss [/cough], but it is a fallacy nonetheless

You mean countries don't exist?

[Kuciwalker]

For once, I agree with UR.

[MrFun]

Originally posted by Starchild
You're going to have to make me pick a country before I can be patriotic about it.

My how society changes -- now we window shop for a country we want to be patriotic towards.

[Jon Miller]

yes

but I don't always agree with my governement

Jon Miler

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by Azazel

how very 'cool'. The same goes for love, knowledge, and every beautiful feeling you know.

What, no one's replied to this yet? Love, knowledge, and 'other feelings' (since when was knowledge an emotion?) are not pavlovian.

[Cruddy]

Originally posted by Pekka
I very poor student. I love America. I want come America. Help. Send money. I very poor.

Tell 'em you've got oil. They'll be over by the boatload. Saves you travelling anywhere.

It is WELL NIGH IMPOSSIBLE to be British and patriotic. It's like being a virgin and pregnant - one state cancels out the other.

Add to this my Welsh, Scottish, Irish, English and Inuit genes, and you can see why being patriotic towards a part of the Union Jack is similarly impossible.

I look up to the ideals of the country, but I just can't ignore some of the evils we have begat on the world.