Are you proud of your country?Its in times like these that far-right and far-left groups harvest more followers, often with very similar promises. So its not uncommon to hear a fiery call for "natioal unity" or "national feeling". All of the sudden everyone is proud of being from whatever nation they happen to come from. But what does that mean, "I am proud of being Portuguese" or British, German, American, Chinese?
I'm proud of my achievements, my work, the friendships I've built, the places I was lucky enough to visit. But how can I be proud of being born in Portugal? Or a Catholic?*
Without a shadow of a doubt I do love my country. Its where I grew up, where my language is spoken, where my cultural references stem from. I will do anything to make Portugal a better place to live but I can not be proud of something I have no responsibility for. I will not yell in a conversation just to prove that my country is better than yours nor will I be proud of the mistakes my ancestors did in the past.
Another common challenge extremist groups throw at us is the "need to preserve our culture against foreign influence". In translated English this means "I hate the fact I have to deal with all these emigrants and their complicated habits, religion, culture, etc". But inst a country's culture constantly changing? Wasnt Edwardian England so much more different than Georgian England? Our culture is not being destroyed, is being enriched. So instead of being an ignorant prick, stop saluting a flag and try to learn more about this world. Its too small to be divided in backyards!
*which by the way, I am not! I was lucky enought to be brought as a free thinker.
Devious Comments
I too want to be a citizen of the world. No more borders, no more greed or wars.
Most people who moan about immigrants forget their own countrymen who have gone to live in another place.
We have much to learn from one another and much to share.
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RozX
Don't let pretensions and negativity restrict your creativity.
Oh goodness, I am so glad others feel this way.
Ignorance is indeed becoming commonplace in this world. People are absorbing all the hatred and lies of the world.
Why can no one see that we are all humans?
We do not need to be separated by fences, marking territories like a dog.
It's our differences in heritage and culture that make us beautiful and unique!
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Sometimes the smallest things make the biggest difference.
What will you do to make a difference?
Concordo com o que escreveste mas convem lembrar, e nao estou a supôr que te esqueceste, que muitas vezes nem é preciso o patriotismo estérico para adubar a semente do racismo. Muitas vezes podemos passar esse nivel à frente, directamente do rastilho da crise economica e do desemprego para os confrontos sociais.
Escreveste grandes verdades mas infelizmente são uma gota de lucidez num oceano de ignorância.
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"...e ainda aqueles amores esfriados a pulsar baixinho..."
I know that there are those all over the planet who are just like you or I. But my country is my country and is where my heart lies. We have our history to be proud of, our shared experiences and shared psyche.
Every nation has these things, every nation has its own ways and its own mentality. And when we remove these things in order to achieve a greater sense of "humanity" we create a very bland place. We take customs and trade them in for nothingness. We turn the Earth into a revolving ball of mud.
But at the same time it is so easy for national pride to degenerate into petty intolerance. Look at our government in England. Letting in almost everyone, opening the floodgates to career criminals and small-minded extremists. But when the Gurkhas want to stay they suddenly claim that they want to keep immigration numbers down.
Hell, look at the BNP. Look at what those fools did to our flag. Our nation stood up to tyranny and the evils of racism and religious hatred. And these jackbooted thugs use patriotic rhetoric to warp good and justified nationalism into something no sane man wants to be a part of.
Whether it be our confused government, our far-right imbeciles or the over-sensitive officials who pander to one faith whilst ignoring all other outlooks, this country is in a mess. And the only way out is to combine our love of our homeland for an inclusive outlook that rejects dogmatism and hypocrisy.
Simply put, we must not disregard our history or our culture but must not be afraid to embrace other values too. When we stop growing, we fossilise. And that is the downfall of any society.
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P
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P
I too have a great deal of love for my home country, our maneirisms, our "psyche", etc. But this is not incompatible with a greater sense of union with our fellow humans.
We can metaphorize this discussion by scaling it down. See, I'm a southern Portuguese. "Thats silly", you might think, "Portugal is so small, whats the difference from being southern or the northern". True, but if I ignore that there is a whole world out there, I can see that we, the southerners, have a very specific identity. But I would be a fool not to understand that we are all Portuguese. For the same reason, all the Portuguese are European, and all European are... well, humans.
If you want, its like those Russian Matrioshkas. There are layers of identity that fit inside each other but, in the end, we all come from the same spot. We are all living in a ever more globalized world, where workers move from nation to nation following wherever there are more jobs. The side effect of this is a mixture of cultures and there is nothing wrong about that.
It feels to me that the British still live under the stigma of the brutal and oppresive Empire they raised. Its almost like you guys feel the need to be "politically correct" all the time, which is often not needed.
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P
But, about the nationalism... I'm proud to be from Texas, I'm fond of the culture I grew up in (to an extent) and the mannerisms and whatnot of my people, but that doesn't mean I'm xenophobic and bigoted towards outsiders. I really like the comment above me. I mean, if I hate a foreign culture, it's because it sucks; not because it's foreign. I mean, I can't help but think, "What a fucked-up culture you come from" when I see a woman in a burka. I can't respect (and don't) injustice stemming from religion. I don't know, man. I like to consider myself pretty open-minded, but I can't tolerate intolerance. Fuck, I mean, I don't associate with racists or sexists. I can't. I don't want to be around people with such small minds. I guess that makes me small-minded.
In summary, we all have our philosophies and views, but it all boils down to what we do. I can preach tolerance, but if I don't tolerate, then none of it means anything.
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Slaytanic Wehrmacht über alles!
It also freaks me out to see some muslim women completely covered, walking 3 steps behind their husbands. But these are extremists of a much wider culture.
I happen to be friends and work with several muslim people and, honestly, this demonization of islamic culture happening right now (in so many ways fueled by the previous american government) is just a pile of bollocks. Of course you get the odd religious fanatic that thinks its ok to opress woman and homosexuals. But how can we Westerns criticize when we allow the Vatican to profess similar ideas?
Its quite easy to associate a character flaw with a whole nation but its more correct to look at each person individualy.
Its the same generalization of culture that makes so many europeans to be "anti-americans".
I'm sick of all this.
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P
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