Patriotism - what do you think about it ?

Mollygo

Namsnanny I thought patriotism is when you feel proud of your country and it isn’t compulsory.
What you mention about the Chinese version is scary and not patriotism.

From the Chinese perspective conforming is showing patriotism.
The methods I mentioned are just an incentive to nudge in the right direction.
But your right, not at all pleasant.

Jackiest

I have missed something but I can not think of any situation where patriotism is morally necessary

When the Ashes are on!

Anniebach

We don’t have a problem with flying our flag in Wales

Or singing the National Anthem ???????

No Anniebach but you don’t get the rants about the rights and wrongs of the flag and the National Anthem that we do in England.

maddyone

I dislike the way England is always criticised by the English. The Scots and the the Welsh are proud of themselves and their countries. The Irish are proud of their country and of being Irish. Why are the English so critical of their county?

What sort of English 'criticism of their country' are you thinking of maddyone?

I don't see any reason why I shouldn't criticise aspects of the country I happened to be born in if I don't like them. Otherwise we're on the Chinese route...

I'm very fond of my country of birth but I'm afraid that 'my country right or wrong' isn't for me.

Mollygo yes your right, I know there are disagreements about the anthem but didn’t know there was about the flag .

I think of the Union Jack as the English flag

I am a very patriotic, I am proud of my country and the union. Many criticise our country's past yet forget many other countries have a past just as dark as ours. The majority in this union are fair and welcoming and many people from overseas are desperate to make their home in one of our countries, so we can't be that awful. I will fly my flags, i will sing our national anthem and i will continue to love our diverse nation.

Calistemon

Anniebach

We don’t have a problem with flying our flag in Wales

Or singing the National Anthem ???????

Of course, the Welsh National Anthem is the best one, even better than Advance Australia Fair.

I'm not patriotic, I'm just a human in a planet full of them

Then you don’t watch the Six Nations VioletSky ?

The comments made by Amber are frankly insulting. . Why live in a country you have no loyalty to. I am proud to be British, we welcome strangers, have free speech, unless your a raving unhinged individual preaching hate and we have had a fare share of those in the past, , in other countries you would be in prison. We should celebrate St George’s Day and fly the flag, why would anyone living here object to that. True we have faults, nothing and no one is without, but everyone is free to work to educate and change things. I do think Patriotism is necessary.

No sports for me really but is that patriotism?

VioletSky

I'm not patriotic, I'm just a human in a planet full of them

But fortunate to be born somewhere that is relatively benign both politically and climate-wise.

Allsorts you are speaking of England as I speak of Wales, is that being British ?

We should celebrate St George’s Day and fly the flag, why would anyone living here object to that.
??????? I wouldn't fly that in Wales!

Are we talking about the UK as a whole or England only?
In which case St George might be relevant but otherwise not.

X post Anniebach

See, patriotism seems a bit divisive to me

No Violet Sky we are four countries , British means of any of
the four countries

I just go with British as nationality

United Kingdom

Patriotism divides Britain just as it divides the world into countries that fight each other. We all need to work together.

I think English people think of themselves as British, whereas Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish think of themselves as from their own nation, maybe something to do with retaining our own identity.

dragonfly46

I envy people who live in countries they are proud of eg the US, the Netherlands.
All we Brits do is run our country down.

I’m curious what you think there is to be “proud of” in the US right now?

Their brand of patriotism terrifies me

This afternoon I watched the film "South Pacific" which I first saw about sixty years ago.

I was quite struck by the song "You've got to be carefully taught" expressing the notion that none of us are born prejudiced against other nationalities but are taught in childhood.

When the original Broadway musical was staged in 1949, this caused some politicians in the Southern states of the USA to accuse it of being communist inspired.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You%27ve_Got_to_Be_Carefully_Taught

Oh, how I loved that film when it came out, varian.
Of course, there were two parallel stories of racial prejudice, one ending happily, one not.

I remember most of the songs and that one was very poignant.