Pixies Place Forums - View Single Post

I guess as I posed the question it's only fair that I answer too.

I am not at all patriotic. To me, being patriotic means having pride in being a citizen of a particular nation, something I don't see as a meritorious achievement. I am Australian because that's where my parents decided by default I should hatch. To me, it also means feeling kinship with people because they too are citizens of the country you are. And maybe there's something I don't understand that everyone else does, but I don't see how that makes sense. While it's true that I might have had many of the same experiences as someone who has lived in the same country as me and this might be some sort of basis for feeling empathy more easily, I don't see this as any real reason to feel some special connection. I can understand being proud of the state of a country if you had some role in shaping it, that's pride in your own achievement. But pride in something you had no control over, I think that's potentially dangerous.

That's not to say your definition of patriotism has to be the same as mine, which is why I asked it in the way I did. I don't mean to offend, but to open dialogue, and as Lil alluded to with her link, it's something pertinent to current events. So thankyou for everyone who has responded, and thankyou for everyone else who will respond