Are you proud of your country???

originally posted by: Christosterone

originally posted by: grainofsand
a reply to: Christosterone

I'm neither proud or ashamed of the UK.
It is a political entity of government over the people who live on a collection of islands.
I only feel pride or shame for my individual, personal actions or words.
I've never done blind nationalism.

My "nationalism", to use your term, is never blind.
You would be heartened to study the country under whose flag you live…

Britain has a magnificent history and forged one of the greatest civilizations our species ever mustered...

The entire world, in one way or another, has been mightily affected by British sensibilities…

It pains me to hear someone from Britain so ignorant of its historical importance…
And "importance" is a word that may not be sufficient to describe Britain's impact on this good earth...

-Chris

Hear hear old chap!

I'm proud of Britain's accomplishments.

We get bashed for our Imperialism, but I'm proud even of our colonial era. I think, in the grand scheme of things, compared to literally any other empire the history of the world has ever seen, you would feel lucky to be a subject of the British Empire.

To clarify, noone wants to be anyone's subject, but if you have to be, why not an empire that will build you infrastructure and provide education and fair governance.

In the nicest possible way, I have to say, many countries have struggled since gaining their independence from us, the old colonies that have succeeded have been the ones that remained in the commonwealth ie. Aus and Canada.

Good old US of A being the exception.

I love my country. I always have and I always will. But I have been less proud of it than I would like to be on a few occasions.

Those moments when I feel less proud are usually tied directly to our politicians. We have a wonderful document that says things like, "no one shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process." Then we allow highway interdiction to happen every day. These things that are glaringly in opposition to our Constitution are usually what make me the least proud. Its getting to the point that our Constitution is little more than meaningless scribbling on a paper napkin.

The thing that has me least proud, if not downright ashamed, is our current snowflake sjw generation. We spoiled these kids giving them everything they wanted, never spanked them, never said no to them, gave them trophies for things they suck at, taught them to be entitled brats with no respect for anyone, and somehow let people convince them that being white is wrong and the US is a criminal state that should be brought to its knees.

Am I proud? Not at the moment. But I still love my country and I will always try to help it reach its fullest potential.

On a side note: High five for Texas - love ya'll. I have a lot of family there.

a reply to: Dem0nc1eaner

Why are you personally proud?
What contribution did you make to Britain's history that you can feel pride for?

originally posted by: grainofsand
a reply to: Christosterone

I'm not ignorant of what Britain has done, don't be so ridiculous.
I just said I feel neither pride or shame.
I had nothing to do with events in history so I only feel pride or shame for my personal actions or words.
Be proud of other people's actions if you like, but don't mistake my lack of pride for ignorance of history.

The bold, my friend, is what goes over hardcore nationalist heads.
Someone laying pride claim to accomplishments they didn't do smacks of an empty existence full of regrets. They had nothing to do with any events of the distant past, and likely nothing to do with modern ones, either. That would be akin to those of us with, say, Viking ancestry, trying to claim ego glory for their travels and influence.
Bro, you had didn't s# to do with it, it was how many generations before your time? How far an education & career was that scientific breakthrough out of your league? You didn't map a route to the Pacific yourself, you didn't establish trade with a culture, you didn't invent something game-changing, you didn't negotiate anything profound.

I can't take pride in something I didn't accomplish. It's dishonest and undue. Just because a nationality is shared doesn't mean it's mine to ride the coattails of.

a reply to: Perfectenemy

And at the other end of the scale you have nothing personally to feel shame for regarding a couple of world wars.
You weren't around at the time, you didn't carry out any war crimes, it had # all to do with you, or the majority of Germans alive today.

no because i self identify

a reply to: Christosterone

Would die for it, would kill for it, would live for it.

My country is my people, not the buildings, documents, or positions of authority in it.

As a true American I dont worship mortal men and I think we are all in this together.

a reply to: tadaman

a reply to: Christosterone

Really interesting OP. I am an American and am gloriously proud of this country and the ideals it stands for. Any country can be nit-picked as they are all run by fallible humans. We can live the lives we choose, we can worship whatever god we want or not god at all, we can speak our minds, we can disagree with our neighbor and still have him over for the game on Sunday. This is a remarkable country founded by men of vision and populated by all the peoples of the world who were willing to strive and risk it all for a better life. We are a nation of frontiers men and women who will beat the # out of each other when there's nothing else to do but will band together and rain hell upon anyone who tries to interfere with our chaotic and free way of life. Sure there's plenty wrong with us, and we discuss it ad nauseum. However, if you're not from here, we don't need your opinion or how our country can be run until you clean up your own backyard.

a reply to: Nyiah

Absolute agreement
I'm wondering if the issue is just a collective misinterpretation of the definition of 'pride'
How can people be proud of something they contributed nothing towards.

Well, I know it's not politically correct, but as a US citizen I'm really not proud of the war on terror. I think we using too many bombs killing too many innocent people for the sake of profit. Call me old fashion but I think people should get capital punishment after they commit a crime. And not proud of all the money we spend on the military that did absolutely nothing to protect us on 9/11. And I'm not proud of the 2008 banking crisis. I thought Greenspan should have done what he testified he should have done. And I'm not proud by how many people file bankruptcy or lose their homes because of the high cost of healthcare. And I am not proud by how many children live in poverty. And I'm not proud by how many people die each year because of poverty.

But I am proud of Texas because people who are from Texas are proud people.

originally posted by: grainofsand
a reply to: Perfectenemy

And at the other end of the scale you have nothing personally to feel shame for regarding a couple of world wars.
You weren't around at the time, you didn't carry out any war crimes, it had # all to do with you, or the majority of Germans alive today.

Yeah i came to that conclusion a while ago and i'm done with that but let's face it the stigma is going to remain forever. Don't get me wrong but the jews still like to play the victim card. They are the ones who are not interested in puttting the past behind us.

a reply to: Perfectenemy

I'm proud of the Treaty of Tripoli:

Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen (Muslims); and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan (Mohammedan) nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

en.wikipedia.org...

"From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli"

a reply to: Christosterone

I enjoy the association between my current existence and my place of Birth.

it feels a bit off to be prideful about it though.

I didn't actually have any say in where I was born. It waa a toss up between New Jersey and The UK

Do I enjoy telling people the good things about where I am from? Yeah.

Do I sometimes feel some of my country's actions have been shameful? Also yes.


As for kinship with other former colonies, absolutely. Though thats more to do with a shared outlook.

originally posted by: grainofsand
a reply to: Dem0nc1eaner

Why are you personally proud?
What contribution did you make to Britain's history that you can feel pride for?

pride
noun

1.
a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of one's close associates, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.

I think there is room here for both of our definitions mate!

I can be proud of my own accomplishments.

I can also be proud of my ancestors and countrymen's accomplishments.

a reply to: Perfectenemy

Well as a Brit I say the shame is not yours, even if your grandfather was a brutal SS guard or something, the shame would be his alone, not yours or your family's.
YOU had # all to do with it, and equally the pride or shame of your nation is not yours to claim if we're talking about the actions of others.

a reply to: SprocketUK

I'm not a big fan of monarchy. You guys can keep that one.

originally posted by: grainofsand
a reply to: Nyiah

Absolute agreement

I'm wondering if the issue is just a collective misinterpretation of the definition of 'pride'
How can people be proud of something they contributed nothing towards.

I've wondered the same about the definition. Most of the definitions only refer to pride as relating to oneself & accomplishments. The exception being referring to a communal sense, which I'd always considered to be referring to communal property, tangible stuff. For example, being proud of your awesomesauce local public park or beach, or a stunning state preserve. Splitting the atom isn't a communal thing. It's nifty that someone was able to crack the puzzle and do it in a scientific accomplishment sense, but no friendly neighborhood club exists for doing that in our free time, so it's not a tangible communal property item, IMO.

Definition of pride in English:

pride
noun
mass noun

1A feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of one's close associates, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.
‘the faces of the children's parents glowed with pride’
‘he takes great pride in his appearance’

1.1 A person or thing which arouses a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction.
‘the pride of the village is the swimming pool’
1.2literary The best state of something; the prime.
‘in the pride of youth’

2Consciousness of one's own dignity.
‘he swallowed his pride and asked for help’

2.1 The quality of having an excessively high opinion of oneself or one's importance.
‘the worst sin in a ruler was pride’

And, the icing on the etymology cake --

Origin

Late Old English prȳde ‘excessive self-esteem’, variant of prȳtu, prȳte, from prūd (see proud).

en.oxforddictionaries.com...

originally posted by: dfnj2015
a reply to: SprocketUK

I'm not a big fan of monarchy. You guys can keep that one.

funny thing about monarchies, us plebs don't get a say.

a reply to: grainofsand

I agree. We have no more claim to fame because of an illustrious ancestor than we do shame from a cursed one.

We are OUR world, our time. We are the observers of reality and the players in the act.

Everyone else can cheer or jeer from the bench for all I care.