I'm not a patriot. To be quite honest, I'm quite anti-patriotism. I will tell you why. I'm not a patriot, because being a patriot means being proud of my country. Countries are in fact little more than dotted lines people made up long ago. Non-existent lines on the ground like this, have brought more strife and sadness to people than happiness: wars for territory, rejection at immigration or refuge, native cultures divided, independance wars... there is so much going on because of the phenomenon of countries. I'm not proud of my country, because being proud for me requires a certain achievement. Lines on maps are not able to achieve anything, let alone anything to be proud of. And when someone (of course in a certain country) does something to be proud of, I'm proud of that person and not of its country. After all, is the achievement any better or worse if the person's from there or there? NO! I'm not a patriot because in my opinion patriotism might warrant a step in the direction of nationalism. Things like "this is my country, I love it and I'm proud of it, and you have no ties with it like I do, you just come here for money, so fuck off!". It's really a small step to make. Of course most people won't go that far, but you gotta watch out you don't start thinking this way. It happens quite gradually and unnoticedly. I don't feel any different when I hear the national anthem, because anthems are songs and nothing more but songs, and don't deserve any more respect than any of the other songs I listen to. I don't stand up when I hear My Dying Bride either, do I? My hope for the future is that some day, this earth will not have any borders anymore, and the people will not NEED countries (and thus also no governments, armies, etcetera) anymore (I do acknowledge that at the moment we would be quite incapable to live without them), and everybody will be free to go where they want to go. I said what I wanted to say. Flame me if you feel you have to. Bart
I beg to differ. I define patriot as 'one who defends his country from its government' you may be more of a patriot than you think
No I agree. I am too, very un-patriotic in the same sense. I never have nor will ever salute the flag or stand for the national anthem. I am for the whole earth and the earth's people, not for a country alone
I know a country consists of more than a dotted line. The point I tried to make was, how can you be proud of where you are born when you didn't even choose to be born there? How can you connect the achievements of individual persons with the glory of your country, when both you and them could have been born somewhere completely different, had the figurative dice been rolled any differently?
Very well said. I was stating the same thing to some people at work the other day. The best response that I got from them was the shaking of their heads.
because the constitution is one hell of a start towards a decent form of government. why would he leave, he can vote, lobby, get things changed.
Wow that's some very logical thinking. I don't think that he should have to leave just because of his opinion. That is an absurd statement. Are you saying that anyone who has a problem with this country should just leave? I would shutter to think what this country would be like if all the people that had some type of complaint about it left, and all the people who were completely happy stuck around. If he left it wouldn't solve his problem anyways. There are nations with boundaries that exist throughout the world. How would leaving this country to go to any other country solve his problem? He is just merely stating that you shouldn't be proud of something that you have no control over. I can understand why someone would be proud of achievement. It makes no sense to be proud of something that just occured by chance. You shouldn't be proud because you of your race, if you won the lottery, or if you are from a particular area. Those type of things occur by chance. They did not occur because of some type of effort on your own part. I'm proud because I'm white I'm proud because I'm 5'11" tall I'm proud because I have brown hair I'm proud because I live in the United States It doesn't make sense to say any of those things. The last one only seems to make more sense because you've been taught that kind of crap since the moment you were born. Happy or content maybe, but not pride.
Over the years, I've grown to dislike patriotism. Especially, since I've come to view myself as a citizen of the world.