What exactly IS patriotism? I've never been able to relate to a specific country, simply because I feel as though countries are only places to live. Some have better policies than others in certain areas, but essentially, random probability determines what country we're born to, so we pledge allegiance to an accident of birth! What are your (pl.) thoughts on the matter?
I agree. Patriotism is for people who do not know anything nor care about the world but their own country.
"Americans think it’s bad to be sexist or racist, but they somehow think it’s fine to be nationalist. Our country, right or wrong, is the same thing as our sex or our skin color, right or wrong. What we thought in the sixties was that anything ending with an “ist” was wrong. We were all brothers sharing in this great big beautiful planet..." Michael Dare
Patriotism is fuelled by the fear of being alone. People feel they belong to something...like a little club, if they can say "i am a...", and give themselves a label, and be able to point out other people who are "like them". Its like supporting a football team...and people become so engrossed the the supporting that they actually begin to believe that they ARE something different to people from other countries, and we get this whole "our piece of land is better than your piece of land" crap goin on. The problem is people dont realise how dangerous this kind of mentality can be...splitting people into groups, saying "were better than you", goes completely against what is healthy and natural for our growth- discovering and embracing humanity as a whole. There are also problems when you get people like me, who dont appear to fall into any catagory. I dont have a nationality...I decided that when i was very young. I plan to live in many different countries throughout my lifetime, and sing the praises of every one of them. Love-Maxi.Xx
Great - you ARE a miracle Maxi - I agree. I love the whole earth and would love to celebrate all of it. There is no such thing as a border. It is just a construction, an idea. The sky in one country is the same as in another. So is a mountain, a tree, a bird. We are planetary beings. There are no excuses any more to separate and segregate ourselves into little boxes. Nothing really separates us anyway. We are all One.
Aw thankou and you be a Goddess... Its so so reassuring to know that there are people out there who havent been sucked into this sensless attitude and are still thinking for themselves. And youre more right than anyone would ever know or believe...we are all one, even if it does sound way too teen-newage for most people to even consider. There was a poem i once read that described my feelings about peoples connections in the world perfectly, but im not quite sure how to get it up on here:-S (not so good with computers!) Anyway ill work on it and thanx again Love-Maxi.Xx Ps-Lovin your sig pic its truly beautiful
Thats just the definition of this warped mental state. Nothing really to agree or disagree with there. -Maxi.Xx
well, to a small degree, patriotism means you're willing to work for the improvement of your home and the people in it. i love my home, it's full of variety and gorgeousness. i liken my feelings for my country to my feelings for my home: i want to keep it clean, protected, improve it whenever possible, make it welcoming to my guests. travelling the world is wonderful, provided you do what you can to improve where you find yourself. just like when you're spending an extended time with a family in their home, you're not just going to live there, muck it up, then take off. that's just rude. so some of us are the travellers, some of us are the hosts. extremism of any sort is just a sickness, i think. zealotry never did the world any favors.
I don't get why so many people are against patriotism and nationalism, having pride in your county or culture is a good thing, its when it gets out of control that it's bad.
exactly. when you care about something, you take care of it. caring about your country to the exclusion of everywhere else is bad, but that's not really patriotism. that's xenophobia or something like that.
its funny. We tell minorities that its ok to be proud of who you are, your culture, and where you come from..then we turn around and attack the majority for taking pride in the same thing. Patriotism doesn't mean you believe you're better than someone from say china. It means beind proud of what your country has done and contributed to the world. If i say god bless america that does not mean i'm saying "go fuck yourself" to the rest of the world. Ultimately, i'm saying "America is the best (FOR ME)."
I just don't understand how people can say things like "God bless America", when a great deal of people are patriotic simply because they were born there. Many people who are born in a country are biased, and are TAUGHT to like the country without questioning it. The question is, do you like your country because you favour its policies and people to those of any other country, or because it's the done thing? If it is because of the country's policies, have you checked out other countries? It always annoys me when people say that where they live is the best place to live, when they've never been elsewhere. I'm with whoever said this on this matter: "I don't have a nationality". I think nationality is a complication. Did you ever hear of that Argentinian who decided that he was sick of bureaucracy and made his own passport that said he was from "the oceans", and went sailing? Given that, who thinks it's screwed up to make children say a pledge to a flag when they don't know what they're doing? I didn't actually consider the words to the Pledge of Allegiance until I was about thirteen, by which time they had been teaching it for a good 8 years to other students in my class. I think it's brainwashing. Children who are forced to say the Pledge of Allegiance are being forced to make a PROMISE that they cannot possibly conceive, for Gertrude's sake! Who agrees.
What makes a place "your" country, then? I was born in Wales, but my family moved away from the place while i was still a tiny child. I now live in England. Next year i will live in France. Which country is "my" country?
Thatd be me who said i didnt have a nationality and, i agree. And i might decide im from the oceans one day Thats a really good point about children. Why restrict them by giving them a label, saying to them "youre from here so you do and think this and this, and think this about people living in the neighbouring country"? A child should know that it has been blessed with the gift of the whole world to explore and inhabit, that it is a member of something unimaginably huge and undivided, called humanity. Children should be encouraged to be free, to explore, to know that the people in china and the people in south america are all just people, and are just like them. Really wish i could get that poem up. But yeah, i for one agree with you completely Love-Maxi.Xx
