Just 300-600 years ago there was no patriots because there were no "nation" states; there were kingdoms, etc. Everybody was required to love king, not a "motherland". Modern ruling beaurocracies cannot demand people to love them, thus they require/train people to love the abstract motherland. Patriotism chants are required to dumb/..../shut people up and prepare/send them to a slaughter. World would be a better place without patriotism. Yes, Americans are super patriotic; sometimes, they are agressively "tape recorder" patriotic; i.e. no reasoning to justify one's point just cyclic repetition of something "patriotic" and denouncing enemies. American propaganda is #1, wash most brains clean like a good detergent; Soviets do not stand even close to that. And, as everybody knows, God blesses only USA. I would call American patriotism "christian" nationalism. Most of Europians got over the American version of patriotic nationalism after slaughter of WWI, and WWII.
Samuel Johnson, an Englishman, thought patriotism was the last resort of a scoundrel. Ambrose Bierce, an American, thought patriotism was the first resort of a scoundrel.
"Yes, Americans are super patriotic; sometimes, they are agressively "tape recorder" patriotic; i.e. no reasoning to justify one's point just cyclic repetition of something "patriotic" and denouncing enemies." so right, i want to ask all the patriotic americans what communists actually support
A huge dosage of idiodicy was more like it. All these flag waving feebs running around ready to gun down any towelhead in site. Everybody knows that the biggest terrorist on the planet is America. I live in America, and it sucks. And it's the best country on Earth. So what does that say about Earth? Earth sucks. Is there anybody that's a patriot of Earth? People don't join the military to fight for America. They join for economic reasons. They join because the military was marketed to them as an easy way out. Then they get brainwashed. Suckers. Perhaps they'll die.
I'm patriotic of earth. America is hardly the best country on earth, maybe in the pleistocene it would have ranked, but its all diseased with human "progress" now and has lost much of it's fauna.
I live in America and I think that the people of lesser intelligence are patriotic to the point of stupidity. They are just gun toating, flag waving Yahoos, or Red neck idiots, or whatever else you want to call them. Not to mension the fearless leader who happens to be the joke of the planet earth. I'm seeking a way out of here ASAP.
"America is hardly the best country on earth, maybe in the pleistocene it would have ranked, but its all diseased with human "progress" now and has lost much of it's fauna." dont be so harsh, america was great right up until the mayflower
I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him. ~Abraham Lincoln America is a tune. It must be sung together. ~Gerald Stanley Lee, Crowds We can't all be Washingtons, but we can all be patriots. ~Charles F. Browne What is the essence of America? Finding and maintaining that perfect, delicate balance between freedom "to" and freedom "from." ~Marilyn vos Savant, in Parade [P]atriotism... is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime. ~Adlai Stevenson A man's country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle. ~George William Curtis When an American says that he loves his country, he means not only that he loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in the sun, the wide and rising plains, the great mountains, and the sea. He means that he loves an inner air, an inner light in which freedom lives and in which a man can draw the breath of self-respect. ~Adlai Stevenson Love your country. Your country is the land where your parents sleep, where is spoken that language in which the chosen of your heart, blushing, whispered the first word of love; it is the home that God has given you that by striving to perfect yourselves therein you may prepare to ascend to him. ~Giuseppe Mazzini There are those, I know, who will say that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is the American dream. ~Archibald MacLeish National honor is national property of the highest value. ~James Monroe, first inaugural address, 4 March 1817 How often we fail to realize our good fortune in living in a country where happiness is more than a lack of tragedy. ~Paul Sweeney May the sun in his course visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our own country! ~Daniel Webster This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. ~Elmer Davis The stern hand of fate has scourged us to an elevation where we can see the great everlasting things that matter for a nation; the great peaks of honour we had forgotten - duty and patriotism, clad in glittering white; the great pinnacle of sacrifice pointing like a rugged finger to heaven. ~David Lloyd George Yet America is a poem in our eyes; its ample geography dazzles the imagination, and it will not wait long for metres. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Poet," Essays, Second Series, 1844 If our country is worth dying for in time of war let us resolve that it is truly worth living for in time of peace. ~Hamilton Fish
Im from England. I have often wondered why I have a sense of patriotism. I put it down to the fact that my Grandad whom I loved very much and had much respect for, was willing to die in a war so that this land may remain free for his descendants. If it was important to him, it should be doubly important for his descendants. peace c20
On the other hand, 1000..... 2000 years ago, your ancestors were not willing to die as much (or they were incapable of winning) in multiple wars against external enemies. And THAT IS WHY you are who you are. Whom you should thank more, your grandpa or those nameless ancestors who were not able to keep their land free? The same would have been if Hitler had won. New kind of "patriotism" to be proud of/die for would have been born some time after conquest. Nothing more, nothing less. People are damn full of their "uniqueness".
Same sort of nearly meaningless, cheasy BS could be found in the quotes of German, Russian, French, .... "patriots" full of themselves.
dixonmassey It is only through our uniqueness that we may appreciate the different qualities that each of us possess. Being patriotic about your country is just a macro-uniqueness. Let us all appreciate eachothers differences then on a patriotic scale! Lean not to your own understanding!
I'd fought for myself/my family/. Because being conquered by someone is not honey. It's simple survival. I would not call some inspirational, meaningless BS to my help. I would have a clear idea, that If my side loses, my descendants will be shaped different way, diluted with foreign genes. BUT that would be the only way they will be aware about. They would be proud of both conquerer's and conquered's genes. They will not be able to imagine themselves otherwise. Therefore, speaking about some kind of multigenerational patriotism is just a BS. I would buy 3 generational patriotism (or survivalism), because repercussions of a conquest will be "directly" felt for 40-60 years max.
Ok your right. Being patriotic is a terrible thing. We should all be like you instead. Then we would all be free. Now that I have accepted your way dixonmassey, where do we go from here? I'm waiting!
"Macrouniqueness" feelings have caused much more evil than good worldwide. I do not see how the same feelings will suddenly generate more good than evil. Human uniqueness is #1. Nation serves to a human, not a human serves to a nation (and abstract patriotism).We do not need nations to be humans. I do know that resources are limited and people are greedy. Therefore, it's more efficient to guard "honey" together (as a nation) than appart to avoid big blood bath. World has too many differences to play with one Earth nation for time being. Thus, I accept nations as lesser evil. One shall not be proud of evil even if it's a lesser one.
