Sooo, why do you love your country? Or don't you?

@tsarstepan,

Love? Well that seems a bit out there since I was born here. I suppose I clearly like it enough that I haven't made any attempt to get up and leave but that may just be laziness.

Or to be fair, laziness combined with enough like and an understanding that even if it isn't perfect it isn't the horror that some places are.

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@msolga,

Aidan has got the idea about Brits. When I worked with some outfit in MAnchester, "proper" was a common term in conversation.
"How bout "better" or "Neater", those are American terms. Also, a fairly modern nation that trailed the world in hygiene is not something Id wanna admit.

Australians, are like Amwericans (Im sure that pisses em off) cause they really suffer from a national inferiotity complex. Any nation that will roll a beer barrel across a burning desert to make a point is my kind of people.
So I guess I love Australia like I do the US. Like Olga, "loving" a country dosnt mean you have to act like these Westboro douche bags Of course, it means that you try to become aware of blemishes and speak openly of them in order to affect change. Being some kind of Of "my country above all others" or "us v them" is not my idea of constructive patriotism.

I love Canada, especially the maritimes , (But not the people of the French speaking areas), they too are obsessed about their farts too much. They are the ons that have the rods up their asses. Every time I was in some Francophilic area, Id be lectured by some douche bag about his fuckin culture. (Of which at the time , I usually gave a teeny rats ass about, I was usually hungry or thirsty).
Many times Id just excuse myself and walk away. Yjis includes the entire "Nord SHore" area of New Brunswick where they take that culture stuff as more of an exclusionary thing that even their celebrations are not very friendly.

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i'm certainly fond of my country,and enjoy living here

i don't get rabid patriotism or nationalism, i live here because i was born here and have had no reason to go elsewhere at any point in my life

if i had to choose a country to live in other than this one, simply for the country itself (no thought to government, economy, etc.) i'd pick the British Isles (Fair Isle particularly, a nice isolated community of less than 100 people) or Australia

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@tsarstepan,

Quote:

Sooo, why do you love your country? Or don't you?

I love America for the curtailments & strangulations
of its crippled, and amputated domestic jurisdictions,
particularly as manifested in the Bill of Rights.

By the act of crippling the domestic jurisdiction of government,
we have enlarged and aggrandize our own personal freedom,
which outranks any other consideration in making life worthwhile.

We shoud write on every $$ bill
that the domestic jurisdiction of government and PERSONAL FREEDOM are INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL.

When he was inaugurated, John Kennedy, the election thief,
demanded that we ASK NOT WHAT I CAN DO FOR U.
ASK WHAT U CAN DO FOR ME; I propose that we turn that around the other way.

Every American shoud endeavor to mine as much happiness
beauty and joy from his environment into his own personal life
as he posslibly CAN. Sound reasoning requires it.

David

1 Reply

@farmerman,

You are very discerning in the choice of countries you hold affection for, farmer.
I approve. Wink

That's interesting, you believe Australians & Americans have inferiority complexes.
Let me think about that for a bit!

Yes, I hate mindless patriotism, too.
It seems to always lead to trouble!

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@tsarstepan,

tsarstepan wrote:

A great philosopher asked recently, Why? Oh wait, that was only a secondary follow-up question.

He asked, "So you hate democracy? Why do you hate America?"

Then came the above mentioned follow-up question.

What great philosopher would ask such a presumptuous and loaded question?

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@aidan,

aidan wrote:

I love my country - my home country- because of the level of individuality and variation of custom and attitude that is not only accepted but expected.

For instance, in England there is only one 'proper' way to make a cup of tea. And if you're in a room with English people, they will all agree, and in fact, INSIST that there is only one 'PROPER' way to make a cup of tea....they love the word 'PROPER'.
The other day I was making a cup of tea and someone said, 'Oh wait - you didn't allow the kettle to boil long enough and then let it sit long enough and you put the milk in the cup before you poured in the water, and, and, and....' in other words getting all crazy upset that I was about to drink something that though I might like it, and it was my cup of tea - wasn't a PROPERLY made cup of tea.

And I'm like, 'How the hell are you gonna tell me how I have to make and drink MY tea?!'

They replied, 'But it's not a PROPER cup of tea- bloody colonists - always have to do things their own way.'

And I replied, 'Bloody Imperialists - always think there's only one way to do things and that's THEIR way.'

I've come to hate the word PROPER. If you think about it, in America, we don't use that word that much and when we do, it's almost an insult - as in 'She's so prim and proper.'

I like that we celebrate and allow innovation. I also like Cajun and Creole (food, music, culture) the Blues (music) and our scenery.
I love living in England in a lot of ways - but I THANK GOD I was born and raised in America. As far as I'm concerned anyone can make his or her tea any way he or she likes it and it's none of my business or concern. I think that's an American instilled attitude, and I LOVE that.

That English accent is very annoying.
I can't take it for more than a few minutes.

I hope that u r teaching them how to speak properly,
and while u have a captive audience, u might teach them fonetic spelling.

David

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@tsarstepan,

tsarstepan wrote:

A great philosopher asked recently, Why? Oh wait, that was only a secondary follow-up question.

He asked, "So you hate democracy? Why do you hate America?"

Then came the above mentioned follow-up question. I glad this isn't a joke because I'm lame at telling them. Anywho, why do you that's if you do, love the country you presently reside in?

If you don't love the country where you presently hold a permanent address, then why not?

Love it?

Why on earth would you love a country....it's a collection of disparate bits.

I'm pretty happy with some things, very disappointed in others, and indifferent to a whole lot more.

The land itself gets to me...especially the desert and stuff....and I am irrevocably shaped by the place...probably mainly in ways I only notice when I am overseas.

But I am not into loving random bits between imaginary lines.

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@ossobuco,

ossobuco wrote:

I see that I am the only one who even talks about loving country.

So it goes.

Teeming masses of people talk about loving their country. Often for no good reason that I can see except that it's a sort of strongly propagandized tropism.

Overall I think it does more harm than good.....but it's certainly common and a pretty amazing thing for a basically tribally evolved bunch of hyper-monkeys to do. (That is that we can generalise the territorial tropism over very long distances.)

I am sure it has some majorly good points....especially if your love is tempered with healthy scepticism, or the desire to make it loveable.

Loving landscape....especially familiar or somehow very moving new bits... I get big time. The Australian Aboriginal attitude to country (which is your local area) and what I gather of the attitude of many American indigenous people I get, to whatever extent such as I can, and admire. If what I get is what is.

Some landscape does something I don't understand to me.

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@dlowan,

Quote:

Overall I think it does more harm than good.....but it's certainly common and a pretty amazing thing for a basically tribally evolved bunch of hyper-monkeys to do. (That is that we can generalise the territorial tropism over very long distances.)

I love how clearly you explain this. But I would quibble with the word "amazing".

Isn't love of country exactly what you would expect from a tribally evolved bunch of hyper-monkeys?

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@tsarstepan,

tsarstepan wrote:

A great philosopher asked recently, Why? Oh wait, that was only a secondary follow-up question.

He asked, "So you hate democracy? Why do you hate America?"

Let us note that America was NEVER supposed to become a democracy.
THAT 'd require a radically different constitution (or none at all)
and we 'd all be VOTING about everything all the time.

David

1 Reply

@OmSigDAVID,

Quote:

When he was inaugurated, John Kennedy, the election thief,
demanded that we ASK NOT WHAT I CAN DO FOR U.
ASK WHAT U CAN DO FOR ME; I propose that we turn that around the other way.

or as DAve would have it.
"Ask not for nuthin from this country.... loe unto you if your house is burning or someone is molesting yer kids cause I will be over there playing with myself and figuring our how I can cash in on this mayhem"

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@msolga,

msolga wrote:

You are very discerning in the choice of countries you hold affection for, farmer.
I approve.
That's interesting, you believe Australians & Americans have inferiority complexes.
Let me think about that for a bit!

Yes, I hate mindless patriotism, too.
It seems to always lead to trouble!

I was born in Germany in the early 1950's. My generation had an inferiority complex about Germany's very recent and very ugly past.

While it is vital to remember the lessons of history, eventually my generation of Germans was able to let go of the guilt. If you look at the early films of Werner Herzog and Wim Wenders, they are loaded with German guilt. The more recent films of both directors don't have that (for example, Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire).

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@OmSigDAVID,

That twasn't my quote David. I'm well aware that we are a democratic-republic style state.

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@aidan,

You are so correct about that (smiles). That innovation/play is one of my favorite things about us. Not that we are sole possessors of that, but that it is one of our strengths,

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@msolga,

Agree with you too, Msolga, re the opportunities I've known in the US, and not being a 'love it or leave it' type.

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@tsarstepan,

that was setanta, to me.
heres the topic.
http://able2know.org/topic/174161-1

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@tsarstepan,

and i must argue on the great philosopher part...
have you heard some of the things he said about the phi forum?

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@hamilton,

Yes.
Grins.
I don't remember his posts exactly, but that I tended to agree, with some strong exceptions for some phil forum members.

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@dlowan,

Well, what I am talking about is connection to place. As anyone who has read my posts on politics knows, I'm not all plummy about my government's behavior. I still have the odd hopes that we in the US will evolve more in the directions I would wish - but I won't be around to see that. I'm more afraid I will be around to see what I consider 'worse' stuff, sooner than later.

Still, I'm connected. But as I went on and on about, I'm attached elsewhere too. (Sounds like I'm talking real estate talk, about semi-attached, whatever that means.)

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Sooo, why do you love your country? Or don't you?

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