What do you think about patriotism?

[noname223]

In my country patriotism has a very bad reputation. Many people comapre it with nationalism. There is a saying. Patriotism is loving your country but nationalism is hating every other country and feeling superior over them. Some in my country say patriotism can lead to nationalism. Many think it is very dangerous because of our history. Germany has a very unhealthy and neurotic relation to patriotism in my point of view.

I am neither a fan nor hater of patritotism. I am probably sceptical about it. But in my country some people really hate patriotism a little bit too much.
During the football world championship there are many German flags. The media is full of criticism about it. Some compare it to the blind nationalism during the Nazi dictatorship which is quite insane.

The current vice-chancellor wrote the following in a book. "When he thinks about patriotism all he can think of is puking". I looked it up in order not to spread fake news. I also think he once said he sees it critical to say I love Germany. But I could not find this quote.

A German intellectual once described German patriotism as the love for the German constitution which is an interesting approach in my point of view.

In some countries the people are not critical enough towards blind patriotism. But Germany on the other hand has some issues in the opposite direction.

 

[nofutureghost]

just a non-sense shit why would I love my country? still have to wake early go to the fucking university, work as a dog to get some shitty money to buy shitty things to keep my shitty body alive, fuck patriotism I don't get anything by loving a country I don't even ask to born in (sorry I'm having a bad day)

 

[Zegers]

Respect the beliefs of each individual. I am not interested in politics.

 

[Julgran]

In my country patriotism has a very bad reputation. Many people comapre it with nationalism. There is a saying. Patriotism is loving your country but nationalism is hating every other country and feeling superior over them. Some in my country say patriotism can lead to nationalism. Many think it is very dangerous because of our history. Germany has a very unhealthy and neurotic relation to patriotism in my point of view.

I am neither a fan nor hater of patritotism. I am probably sceptical about it. But in my country some people really hate patriotism a little bit too much.
During the football world championship there are many German flags. The media is full of criticism about it. Some compare it to the blind nationalism during the Nazi dictatorship which is quite insane.

The current vice-chancellor wrote the following in a book. "When he thinks about patriotism all he can think of is puking". I looked it up in order not to spread fake news. I also think he once said he sees it critical to say I love Germany. But I could not find this quote.

A German intellectual once described German patriotism as the love for the German constitution which is an interesting approach in my point of view.

In some countries the people are not critical enough towards blind patriotism. But Germany on the other hand has some issues in the opposite direction.

I see no wrong in being patriotic - especially in situations when one's nation is under attack from outside. For example, I wouldn't condemn the Ukrainiand or Taiwanese if they feel some kind of patriotism in these difficult times. As for any one country, I would agree with Dwight D. Eisenhower in preventing any foreign entanglements.

Unfortunately, the only patriotic sentiment that I see nowadays is coming from the USA, even though it goes so far as to form into pure jingoism. With some kind of humor, I can refer to an extract from the Team America movie, which I think epitomizes the American jingoism - meaning the USA's perceived perception of always being the best and the brightest - in a funny, but true, way:

 

[Celerity]

I think loyalty to one's country is generally a good thing, but obviously history shows that it can be manipulated to very terrible ends (e.g. Nazism).

In the US, I believe we could do with more genuine patriotism. In the South, you see stars and stripes everywhere, but you also see tons of Confederate flags. Both flags have become mere fetish objects and identity politics identifiers than credible indicators of belief (much like the Christian cross, IMO). Could we do what we did in WWII with rations, a draft, and large portions of the economy converted into a war machine? Hell no. No one would be willing to make the personal sacrifices required.

Patriotism does not require a person to overlook their country's flaws but should instead be a motivator to improve it. I was dismayed to be downvoted into oblivion on Reddit because I suggested that we should still celebrate the 4th of July with this in mind. Most of the people who replied had a lot of shit to talk but no solutions, not even half-baked theories.

 

[828anohi]

I feel like patriotism and nationalism are all based off of good intentions from good people who want to help the world around them improve. However they are limited in their scope of kindness. unlike pan-humanism which extends this sort of shared identity across the species, patriotism can not see through the arbitrary separation of nations. why only love germans or americans when you can love everyone? This lack of scope is then exploited by those who put patriotism into a xenophobic/authoritarian narrative, leading to the negative connotations of patriotism and nationalism.

 

[veryhappyhuman]

I never understood just the logical basis of it. Your birth was a lottery, you could've just as easily ended up in Somalia as you could've in Switzerland. There's no special connection imo. If your country is doing well, great, feel happy about it. If not, move somewhere else. But to feel so deeply attached to a country (which is an artificial construct anyway, but that's another topic) just because you happened to be born in some corner of it? Doesnt make sense to me. In fact if I was an immigrant I'd feel patriotic towards my host country, at least I actually put in work to get there rather than being randomly assigned to it.

Besides, why arbitrarily have patriotism at the country level? Why not at the continent level? Or maybe all the way down to just street level? Humans are weird I tell ya.

 

[Pluto]

All countries are good, except for Australia & New Zealand.

 

[Rapière]

There is not much left to be patriotic about in my country, only remnanrs of the past.

World War 1 was Germany's last struggle against western individualism, egalitarianism and consumerism, which have sewpt our culture away over the past hundred years.

 

[Tiberius85]

Patriotism in our modern times we live is a useless concept, especially in our western world.

I understand where patriotism comes from and people feel attracted to it, on a fundamental level - it's based on a purely human instinct of belonging. Belonging to a group of supposedly like-minded. That's build on trust, mutual understanding, same culture, rules, norms - it offers security. That means better chance of survival. Strengths of the group as defence versus adversaries/outside dangers.

Today in globalised world where the flow of people is mixing everything with everyone that drives constant cultural exchange/evolving cultural norms there isn't any true meaning to patriotism any more.

 

[sserafim]

I honestly don't see the point in patriotism. You were just born into some random country; it's not like you had any choice over it. It was all luck of the draw

just a non-sense shit why would I love my country? still have to wake early go to the fucking university, work as a dog to get some shitty money to buy shitty things to keep my shitty body alive, fuck patriotism I don't get anything by loving a country I don't even ask to born in (sorry I'm having a bad day)

Same

 

[DarkRange55]

Iʼm patriotic in the since that Iʼm very much... I find myself really relating to the principles of our Founding Father's. And I think that this nation (US) has always had kind of a libertarian streak in it. Itʼs kind of almost like a subconscious bio-rhythm. That is always kind of beneath the surface but I think that we definitely have that in us and thats what I like and thatʼs why I would consider myself a patriot.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

I like it well enough but I'm not worthy of practicing it.