Patriotism

I am very, very patriotic.

 

Well that was my point: Pride in where you're from and doing the right thing are often intertwined. I'm proud of where I'm from because it helped shaped me. If I do the right thing and make the world, America, Texas, and Austin better places, then maybe I can take partial credit for the successes and quality of life associated. That's not to say I wouldn't do the right thing if I didn't have local pride, though, because it's incredibly gratifying anyway. In my experience, those who are proud of where they're from do more to help make it a better a place and are less jaded in general, and there is such a thing as a healthy amount of patriotism.

 

I consider myself moderately patriotic. I don't blindly believe everything that the government says but I am grateful that I was born in America. America isn't perfect but I can think of a lot of countries that I would never want to be in. I have it pretty good in the USA

 

I chose "Moderately" on the poll. I am proud of my country and what we stand for. Patriotism, at least overt patriotism, is almost non-existent in Canada. We're quite reserved that way. The only time we really wave our flag is on July 1st (Canada Day) or if one of our hockey teams is in the Stanley Cup finals against an American team lmao.

As for the limits of my patriotism, I will not support my country if it makes decisions I don't agree with. I am not blindly patriotic and I'm certainly not a nationalist. I think that it's healthy for people to be at least a little skeptical of their governments always. In fact, I think it's part of our duty as citizens of democracy to make sure that we hold our elected officials properly accountable to us. After all, we put them into and take them out of power.

 

I'm glad to live in America, however, I'm not proud to be an American. The reason is, being an American is not an accomplishment, I was just born here out of some impossible luck and coincidence. I'm very happy to live in this country, and it amazes me when I think about all of the things that are readily available to me.... Public education, food, internet, infrastructure, strong government laws that help protect me from being harmed, etc... I think people from developed countries have a tendency to either not give their own countries enough credit, or have some undeserved sense of superiority for it.

I would be just as glad to live in UK as I would America, and I think we all need to be little more grateful for living in first-world nations where things like death from starvation is extremely rare (even if one lived in some of the worst areas of the country). There's a difference between having pride in one's nation and having pride in one's self for being from a particular nation.

And I'd say that having an identity based on national origin is a healthy thing, it's a natural human reaction and it helps us make sense of ourselves and the world around us. Even if you were one of the most unpatriotic people, you would still say "I'm British", "I'm Indian", "I'm American", "I'm Japanese", etc... if people asked you. This is a case of need for moderation, however. The identity can help one make sense of the world, but it shouldn't define one entirely. If one actually looks into cultures, they tend to be similar the closer they are to each other (based on location). So if you think about it in an abstract way, the differences in culture don't seem as dramatic.

One needs to remember that government serves a purpose, based on a social contract where the people agrees to be governed so that they may have protections. A world where everyone has complete freedom is a world where no one has freedom. Allow me to explain. Imagine if there was no government, no laws. What is to prevent someone from breaking into your house and murdering you? In this world, you wouldn't have the basic freedom we all enjoy (and often take for granted in our mostly safe countries, no offense to people who live in unsafe areas), the right to live.

 

When I think of Patriotism I think of Nationalism, and Nationalism has caused far too many problems.

 

Very patriotic. And I can be patriotic without being an ass or without agreeing with every action of my government.
I love the US and I love that it is a country made up of people from all over the world. I understand that my parents and grandparents left their home countries to come to this country, so that I will have opportunities they did not. I wouldnt go fight a war in another country to defend americas ideals, but if a country invaded or attacked the us, I would defend my city and country. People love to hate on america, but they also eat up our culture and style. Its not perfect, and I believe strongly in working to make it better, but fuck yeah, America.

 

Hadn't found the your post, just taking from Hex's response - and I'm just arguing for the sake of arguing since I don't like to take any side in the argument but the "all sides are equally valid or all sides are equally invalid" side (barring laws of physics) -


Anyways, I would actually say I'm am much more so the equal genetic descendant of people whom spent thousands of years in Norway and Poland than I am an "American." (Dad's a Norwegian family, mother's a Polish one). As far as I can tell from our records, anyways. The fact that we've lived in America doesn't yet remove the fact that we spent so many years adapting in Norway and Poland, in my mind. Not until my family spends a couple thousand years in a specific area again...


Long story short, my being an "American citizen" per being born on "American soil" versus being the "descendant of people who lived for millennia in Norway and Poland" is a matter of semantics. It's my choice what to call myself, in the end.

 

Yes, indeed. I was simply making a point about how people typically form national identities, not trying to make a sweeping generalization such as that. Identities are often assigned to people by others/society, not the person's personal choice, so I can see your point.

 

I love my country. When it's on in sports, I have no interest at all, but in general I'll support it. Despite its economy and whatnot, its education, health service and human rights are really something to be proud of!

 

Same here

 

Do you even speak the language or hold any of the cultural vavlues of the nation of peoples that you claim to be? I am just saying that if you refer to yourself as Swedish around Swedish people when you are clearly American, they may laugh at you..

 

This. I don't really understand why Americans (in this case, people in the US) like referring to themselves as Irish or German or Italian or anything. It's kind of funny, sometimes people are all like "Are you Irish?" upon hearing my last name (which is actually Scottish, if we're going to be all specific) ... and it's like, um, no. I'm American. I like apple pie, not haggis. I don't really see how where my great grandfather was born influenced me as a person, at all.

 

qft

 

I love my country but that doesn't mean I don't like other countries.
However, Austria will always be my home no matter what.

 

I'm not patriotic at all but you shouldn't go around saying that in this country, they don't like it.:rolle:

 

Here in America is seems we keep being TOLD we're the greatest nation on Earth, instead of being SHOWN we're are.

I seems like being against all the "right" things instead of being FOR anything is more patriotic in the eyes of the people these days; and, if you aren't against the "right" things then you're terrorist, communist, a traitor, and blah blah blah...it's a High School game to see who gets to sit at the cool kids table.

 

who came up with patriotism the king or his slaves?