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I'm not here to judge you if you're patriotic or not.
I just would like to know why you are so, and how do you see this value.
Myself I am proud of my country. We may not be the most powerful country in the world, from far, but we have a great cultural past and we are still culturally influent in the area. We are said to be the most braves of all the Gauls, Charlemagne and Charles Quint were born here, a guy from here led the first crusade, we make a lot of beers, waffles and chocolates and we invented the smurfs.
But no, I don't consider myself patriotic.
Indeed, I also recognize my country's failures. And I think patriotism may lead people to get manipulated by their politicians: in my country, the north is wealthier than the south. So, the politicians from the north always take the same argument: "let's split up Belgium, we don't need the south, they are just useless jobless people who steal the money we get by working hard", and they play with patriotism to lead to nationalism: "we are proud to be flemish, we are one of the wealthiest people in the world, we have always worked hard, we are proud of our work, of our glorious past..." >>> "we don't need those slazy people, let's split up and make our own independant state".
Of course, more and more flemish who are honestly patriot (it's not wrong) listen to this propaganda and become more and more nationalist (it's wrong) and reject the south.
But the politicians are not honnest. They don't really care about the north or the south, they just want to get more votes and power. And populism (nationalism, racism...) is a good way to do so.
That's my critique about patriotism: it may lead people to be more easily manipulated.
When I meet Americans, some relentlessly repeat they are "proud" of their country, and always use the words "pride" "honor" "freedom" and "liberties"...I'm not used to it and I tend to believe they are just nationalists. Is it true?
"Patriotism, it's to believe that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." George Bernard Shaw
I just would like to know why you are so, and how do you see this value.
Myself I am proud of my country. We may not be the most powerful country in the world, from far, but we have a great cultural past and we are still culturally influent in the area. We are said to be the most braves of all the Gauls, Charlemagne and Charles Quint were born here, a guy from here led the first crusade, we make a lot of beers, waffles and chocolates and we invented the smurfs.
But no, I don't consider myself patriotic.
Indeed, I also recognize my country's failures. And I think patriotism may lead people to get manipulated by their politicians: in my country, the north is wealthier than the south. So, the politicians from the north always take the same argument: "let's split up Belgium, we don't need the south, they are just useless jobless people who steal the money we get by working hard", and they play with patriotism to lead to nationalism: "we are proud to be flemish, we are one of the wealthiest people in the world, we have always worked hard, we are proud of our work, of our glorious past..." >>> "we don't need those slazy people, let's split up and make our own independant state".
Of course, more and more flemish who are honestly patriot (it's not wrong) listen to this propaganda and become more and more nationalist (it's wrong) and reject the south.
But the politicians are not honnest. They don't really care about the north or the south, they just want to get more votes and power. And populism (nationalism, racism...) is a good way to do so.
That's my critique about patriotism: it may lead people to be more easily manipulated.
When I meet Americans, some relentlessly repeat they are "proud" of their country, and always use the words "pride" "honor" "freedom" and "liberties"...I'm not used to it and I tend to believe they are just nationalists. Is it true?
"Patriotism, it's to believe that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." George Bernard Shaw
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