Are you proud of your nationality?

[jeffrito]

Are you proud of your nationality?

 

Do you feel special different or special compared to people from different nations?

 

On a more granular level, do you think your county, state or city is special?

 

If so why?

 

Animals don't recognise borders of nations.

 

Why should we?

 

EDIT - added "of nations".

Edited April 23, 2012 by jeffrito

[Protector]

I don't care for some old dude in a lab coat that calls me an animal, I don't even call myself human

I don't care for stuff that's not made by me, I'll make it happen and then be proud

Let it be destroying a country and calling it my own

[Jetsun]

I have some pride in being English but not in a competitive way, I think difference and individuality is good and should be celebrated, I much prefer it when I go abroad that people are confident in their own culture and value it rather than apologise for it. You can have pride but in a mature way where you value its positives without the need to be in competition with anyone else or see it as superior, I value my own nationality but I don't see it as any better than the French or German or anyone else (except the Aussies because they are just a down grade version of us )

[三江源]

On a granary level I feel not un-aimiable towards english humour and use of language, irony and obliquity.

[dwai]

Are you proud of your nationality?

 

Do you feel special different or special compared to people from different nations?

 

On a more granular level, do you think your county, state or city is special?

 

If so why?

 

Animals don't recognise borders.

 

Why should we?

I am grateful to have been born in a culture and tradition as rich and diverse as in India. I am also grateful for being born in the family that i was born in, learnt so much from my elders. Am i proud? Perhaps..glad? Definitely!

[eye_of_the_storm]

Animals do recognize borders by Natural Order

 

Take the ocean for example, deep sea fish, middle and shallows... only few have the capacity for all... tropical or arctic

 

Lions keep territory as does coral (awesome documentary in relation to coral reefs)

 

Plants too have an Order/ natural distribution + local environmental adaptation etc

 

^ Diversity, Nature loves it

 

Birds of the same feather flock together? why do we see this?

 

Butterflies / All insects

 

Everything and everyone is special and unique! we should maintain these things

 

I love the variety of different peoples, nations etc identity and expression

 

^ this can only be maintained by respecting others and their culture, heritage values... which do come from the land...

 

For an example my ancestors come from Ireland... I have a deep longing to go back there? what is with that?

Edited April 23, 2012 by White Wolf Running On Air

[Sunya]

I do not feel anything or think about my ethnicity, nationality, religion. The particular religion I was born into, well the members consider the religion to be an ethnicity, so even if you do not believe in the religion, "you're always one of us." I greatly dislike this thinking. It's very tribal. I just don't understand it. I also do not feel any pride in being American. I'm sure I would be just as happy and free being Swiss, Canadian, or Portuguese.

[Apech]

On a granary level I feel not un-aimiable towards english humour and use of language, irony and obliquity.

 

Obliquity ... spiffo, well done!

[eye_of_the_storm]

I would like to address too how the acceptance of one culture can destroy another...

 

I believe multiculturalism... if this is what you are getting at? to be a blessing and a curse.

 

Eg: Christmas is celebrated by most European cultures today... In my country now such things are being considered as offensive to other (new)cultures therefore my culture must not celebrate Christmas...

 

On the plus side I can have sushi for lunch and Indian for dinner YUM!

 

In relation to my above post ^^

Edited April 23, 2012 by White Wolf Running On Air

[jeffrito]

Animals do recognize borders by Natural Order

 

Take the ocean for example, deep sea fish, middle and shallows... only few have the capacity for all... tropical or arctic

 

Lions keep territory as does coral (awesome documentary in relation to coral reefs)

 

Plants too have an Order/ natural distribution + local environmental adaptation etc

 

^ Diversity, Nature loves it

 

Birds of the same feather flock together? why do we see this?

 

Butterflies / All insects

 

Everything and everyone is special and unique! we should maintain these things

 

I love the variety of different peoples, nations etc identity and expression

 

^ this can only be maintained by respecting others and their culture, heritage values... which do come from the land...

 

For an example my ancestors come from Ireland... I have a deep longing to go back there? what is with that?

 

You're talking about habitat which is different to a border.

[jeffrito]

Are you so sure?

 

Does the field mouse "recognize the border" of the housecat?

 

Does the calf "recognize the border" of the sheepdog?

 

Does the zebra "recognize the border" of the lioness?

 

Of course I'm referring to the borders of nations.

 

The question is about nationality.

[Elliot]

I live on Earth, nuff said!

[jeffrito]

I have some pride in being English but not in a competitive way, I think difference and individuality is good and should be celebrated, I much prefer it when I go abroad that people are confident in their own culture and value it rather than apologise for it. You can have pride but in a mature way where you value its positives without the need to be in competition with anyone else or see it as superior, I value my own nationality but I don't see it as any better than the French or German or anyone else (except the Aussies because they are just a down grade version of us )

 

But how do you define Englishness?

 

Is it tattoos and football hooligans?

 

Public school educated comedians and filmstars?

 

The bloody British Empire?

 

My point is that there isn't one Englishness, just as there isn't one Americanness. They're different things to different people and often these images are created by politics of the past and reaffirmed by the media.

 

Look at the history of the USA and how it is portrayed - The land of the free, the world's greatest democracy. Viewed through a different pair of eyes it's a nation responsible for the geocode and suppression of its indigenous population.

 

We might look at similar situations in Canada and British colonies.

 

It's only our government's cultural hegemony that stops us from viewing the world this way.

 

I'm worried that having pride in our nation leads to separation. I'm not saying we should be ashamed, more that we need to let our ideas of nationhood fall into the distance.

[baiqi]

I am french. Not proud to be one, nor am I ashamed. I am just happy to be one:)

[jeffrito]

I live on Earth, nuff said!

 

I really like this attitude.

 

I think if we could let go of our nationality and our religious and political beliefs then we'd get along a lot better.

[jeffrito]

I am french. Not proud to be one, nor am I ashamed. I am just happy to be one:)

 

I think that's a great way of looking at it.

[lifeforce]

But how do you define Englishness?

 

We all ride on red double-decker buses around Big Ben and drink tea out of fine china teacups with our little finger standing upright. We play tennis and polo and eat strawberries.

We all wear black bowler hats, carry briefcases and umbrellas, read the financial times and commute to London daily on the train.

 

NOT !

[C T]

Guahibo Indian

 

 

Once I met a man

Sun-shriveled, short and stooped

In the jungles,

Deep jungles of Colombia

So remote...

It took two days walking,

Just to reach the nearest road.

 

This simple, brown-skinned man

Had no birth certificate.

He didn't even know how old he was.

We figured -- maybe 60

From the generations of children,

Grandchildren and great grandchildren

He had fathered.

 

Me, so naive and proud

Boasted in front of him...

This man who sat on a bench

In front of a hut with its palm-thatched roof

And dirt floor -

"I've travelled 25 countries", I bragged.

He, in all sincerity, looked at me and asked so simply,

So profoundly,

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

 

(Betty Blair)

 

 

[C T]

We all ride on red double-decker buses around Big Ben and drink tea out of fine china teacups with our little finger standing upright. We play tennis and polo and eat strawberries.

We all wear black bowler hats, carry briefcases and umbrellas, read the financial times and commute to London daily on the train.

 

NOT !

You forgot to mention eating rollmops, and fish & chips packed in Wall St Journal newspapers!

[Aetherous]

I'm proud to be Finnish, Norwegian, and German. Or as I like to say, "The other white meat".

[eye_of_the_storm]

Guahibo Indian

 

 

Once I met a man

Sun-shriveled, short and stooped

In the jungles,

Deep jungles of Colombia

So remote...

It took two days walking,

Just to reach the nearest road.

 

This simple, brown-skinned man

Had no birth certificate.

He didn't even know how old he was.

We figured -- maybe 60

From the generations of children,

Grandchildren and great grandchildren

He had fathered.

 

Me, so naive and proud

Boasted in front of him...

This man who sat on a bench

In front of a hut with its palm-thatched roof

And dirt floor -

"I've travelled 25 countries", I bragged.

He, in all sincerity, looked at me and asked so simply,

So profoundly,

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

 

(Betty Blair)

 

 

 

Well did you? haha

 

If you did not travel would you be the same person? ... whats the point of traveling?

 

Jeffrito would like a world with no distinction where everyone becomes one greyness...

 

What is the point of all this? why so much trouble? why the complexity of life? the colours? the accents etc

 

There is no difference? really? you can't not see a difference? how would a painter paint? if he could make no distinctions?

 

How do you know what you are eating? smelling? touching? Is an apple the same as an orange? they are both fruits, but different fruits with different flavour, smell, colour, shape..etc

[eye_of_the_storm]

how would you make sense of this sentence if you could make no distinctions?

[jeffrito]

 

 

 

Jeffrito would like a world with no distinction where everyone becomes one greyness...

 

 

 

Would I?

 

Why are you putting words in my mouth?

[eye_of_the_storm]

Would I?

 

Why are you putting words in my mouth?

 

Are you proud of your nationality?

 

Do you feel special different or special compared to people from different nations?

 

On a more granular level, do you think your county, state or city is special?

 

If so why?

 

Animals don't recognise borders of nations.

 

Why should we?

 

??? its what your wording and other responses indicate - I apologize if I have misunderstood you

[Jetsun]

But how do you define Englishness?

 

Is it tattoos and football hooligans?

 

Public school educated comedians and filmstars?

 

The bloody British Empire?

 

My point is that there isn't one Englishness, just as there isn't one Americanness. They're different things to different people and often these images are created by politics of the past and reaffirmed by the media.

 

Look at the history of the USA and how it is portrayed - The land of the free, the world's greatest democracy. Viewed through a different pair of eyes it's a nation responsible for the geocode and suppression of its indigenous population.

 

We might look at similar situations in Canada and British colonies.

 

It's only our government's cultural hegemony that stops us from viewing the world this way.

 

I'm worried that having pride in our nation leads to separation. I'm not saying we should be ashamed, more that we need to let our ideas of nationhood fall into the distance.

 

Englishness just like every single thing when you break it down far enough doesn't exist, so it is hard to define exactly as this one thing, especially as things vary a lot from region to region and like everything else it is always changing. But I guess it can be defined by certain psychology which is influenced by all sorts of things from the entire history of the country and the landscape itself; the mentality of a people is very much influenced by its weather, its plants and animals, its food and drink, beer, it's religious history.

 

Recently I have been feeling closer to my country by connecting to the land, by going on Pilgrimages to all the amazing ancient sacred sites many of which are Celtic and Pagan and earlier where you can still connect to the spirit of the place. If you believe in Shamanism we have spirits unique to our land, at one point White Horses were carved all over our hills which some believe is out mother spirit.

 

 

People seem to be ashamed of having pride in England these days because nationalism has been hijacked by the far right and hooligans, today is our national day St George's day and you hardly hear anything about it, people tend to celebrate St Patrick's day more which is strange, but I think there are many things here which are worth appreciating.