American Pride

[Dana]

Why is it that when someone questions their countries activities it's automatically a distaste for ones country to those patriotic?

 

[sierrabravo]

i didn't post that towards you, i was just ranting about people that don't like our country.

 

[Dana]

oh okay

 

[sierrabravo]

oh okay

i have a tendency to drag my rants on sometimes :willy_nilly:

 

[Margene]

As was said earlier, you need to decide for yourself why you should be proud. You can listen to the opinions of others, such as myself, but really, you have to discover a reason, or no reason, on your own.

 

[Peter Parka]

Why is it that when someone questions their countries activities it's automatically a distaste for ones country to those patriotic?

:nod:

 

[Goat Whisperer]

There are a lot of other people that have freedom....we aren't the only country


I don't know what to think anymore. I'm proud of our troops, b/c they're doing something i could never do or want my son to do. So I give them 2 thumbs and 2 big toes up for that.

But...if I had to, I would have no problem leaving the usa and living somewhere else.

:surrender

True, but I am pretty sure we were basically the first to give freedom as a full and total right, correct?

 

[Peter Parka]

True, but I am pretty sure we were basically the first to give freedom as a full and total right, correct?

No one is completely free and the USA dosen't have a monopoly on the word anyway. One of the newest countries in the world dosen't have a change of a claim on inventing freedom.

 

[ssl]

I am definitely not proud to be an "American".

And I live in South Carolina.














































































I am eternally grateful.

 

[JanieDough]

For all of you who posted b.c. you are free missed the point - we could be free in other countries as well. What makes the US so special?

Being proud about your country doesn't come down to because people said you have to for these reasons.

You shouldn't want to be proud in the same retrospect.

If you are proud, you know why.

If you aren't, maybe you're in the wrong country.

IJS

I am not trying to be proud based on what people said I should be proud of. And just because I am not necessarily proud doesn't mean I am ashamed.

This is just a question I was pondering when I was watching the local fireworks show. I mean really - what thoughts are supposed to be going through my head and the heads of those around me as to why we are celebrating July 4th other than we can get drunk and Bar B Q.??

Maybe if you are lacking perspective or simply take what you have for granted then it might be tough to come up with some things to be proud of. I don't know how old you are, but I do know that a large portion of my son's generation (he's in his mid 20's) grew up with a pretty cushy existence, yet his generation seemed to be one of the loudest whiners. A false sense of entitlement. It is all about perspective, the opportunities you have as compared to the rest of the world. I am firmly convinced that when you take the entire world population, the ones who live "the good life" are in the minority and in many cases they just don't realize how good they have it.

And I don't mean to come across as a braggart, nor would I imply that the U.S. is better than other advanced nations because of late when you look at the greed in this country, and where that greed has taken us as a whole, it is not something to be proud of. But we are not a lost cause. If you look at the U.S. Constitution, in writing, despite recent attempts to erode them, we still have the highest standards in the world for a system of government, protection of privacy, and promotion civil liberties set up with the intent of giving the average citizen a good shot at finding happiness. But it is not handed out on a silver platter, (unless of course your parents are rich, which is the exception). For most it takes effort, a lot of effort to reap the reward- no pain, no gain.

No I am on the cusp of Gen X'ers and the milleniums or whatever they are called. I don't take it for granted, I am grateful I don't life in Saudi Arabia or somewhere that doesn't give women equal rights, BUT the US isn't the only country who has equal rights for women.

But thanks for saying what you said about our higher standard, that's a good reason to be proud I guess.

I am proud of our system of Government, despite it's many inherent flaws.

I am proud that at their core, most people in most other nations around the world strive to emulate us in many ways. I wish more of us understood that a strong responsibility comes with that. Sadly, few do.

I am proud that our nation is often willing (and too often the ONLY willing) to do whatever it takes to make things better for people around the world. The cost for this is high, and often comes down to our own people being somewhat neglected. But I embrace the role that we will BE THERE, if needed.

I am NOT proud of our culture. I am often embarrased at the lack of intelligence, ambition, work ethic, moral code and compassion from a huge percentage of our people. We don't fully respect our history. I am ashamed that garbage like American Idol, cheap food chain restaurants, Wal-Mart and Britney Spears are our biggest icons. I'm angry that American capitalism has transformed from a way to reward the talented and ambitious into a way to fuck every one of our neighbors over for money using every loophole imaginable. I hate the designated hitter rule.

Can I be proud and ambivolent at the same time?

See I am kind of proud of our culture - not the parts you mentioned, but like our melting pot and our rap, etc. Jazz came from the US - and that's a pretty good reason to be proud to be an American.


And thanks Moonie for that link - that is kind of in the backgroudn of my thinking. Like it is harder for my generation to appreciate and have faith in our government when we did shit like invade Iraq for Weapons of Mass Destruction against the whole world's wishes and we didn't find anything.

Stuff like that and stuff that Tangerine said about Walmart and capitalism and consumerism, etc. makes me doubt if I AM indeed proud to be an American.

 

[Dakota Jim]

You haven't paid enough to gain pride. Think about it.

 

[Peter Parka]

I think pride in your country should be more personal than the pride a lot of people bleat on about. My pride comes from wanting to, however small, give people a positive view of my country by the way I act. It annoys me when my fellow country men and women will moan and act like arseholes toward foreigners working, living or visiting my country and then get all butt hurt when these people slag off our country. When I meet foreigners over here, I try to give them respect and be helpful so they will have a good impression of my country.

 

[JanieDough]

yeah I kind of want to move to France.

 

[Peter Parka]

To follow on from my point, I think the words of J.F.K. apply in this thread.

"Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country"

 

[ssl]

To follow on from my point, I think the words of J.F.K. apply in this thread.

"Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country"

A shame most politicians forget such a quote.

However, I take this as the country being jealous. Similar to the Judea-Christian God, who wants us to do stuff based on what we can do for him (if this God can be 'mapped' to a male-istic format, ... cannot think of the right words here..).

Better yet, I would stay:

"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for yourself and others in your country."

 

[Goat Whisperer]

For all of you who posted b.c. you are free missed the point - we could be free in other countries as well. What makes the US so special?

Becuase I am from the USA.

I am not proud to be an American because I am free, I am proud to be an American because of the people in the past who died to make me, and other future generations free. A canadian girl can say the same thing about Canada, but she can't say it about America, just like I can say "I'm proud to be an America, becuase people died to give the life I have to me, the freedoms I experience, and to make the world, and my country a better place." while she can say the same thing abut Canada, but I can't say it about Canada, and she can't say it about America.

And there are still many countries and people that are not free, and I appreciate that I am not one of them.

 

[dt3]

Like it is harder for my generation to appreciate and have faith in our government when we did shit like invade Iraq for Weapons of Mass Destruction against the whole world's wishes and we didn't find anything.

That's a total cop out. Every generation has had their faith in government shaken for one reason or another.

The last generation had Vietnam. The one before that had the Great Depression. The one before that had the USS Maine. The one before that had the Civil War. The one before that had the "corrupt bargain" that tainted the 1824 presidential election.

And the list could go on and on. Yet, despite all this, people still manage to have faith in our country. To point to any one single event and say "I'm not proud because of this" is utter crap. Patriotism should include the totality of our country's actions, past and present.

And on the whole, there is no doubt in my mind that the majority of the time, our country does the right thing. It's motives and it's methods may be questionable through the prism of 20/20 hindsight, but that doesn't detract from my pride in this country.

 

[kelvin070]

I notice lots of you guys value freedom and thats the main reason for patriotism. Most countries don't have that much freedom like in USA. I think the underlying reason for patriotism is this: "This is my country and I will stand up for my country"

 

[MoonOwl]

I have faith in my Country. I do not have faith in our leaders. I have faith in our Constitution. Our leaders appear to treat it as toilet paper these days as it gets in the way of their 'goals' and 'profits'.

I am not proud we are now the United States of Torture. My tax dollars go to fund things directly in violation of our Constitution. I'm not proud of that.

The question is would our Founding Fathers be proud of where we now stand 233 years later? Listen carefully as that sound you're hearing in the distance is them rolling in their collective graves at warp speed.

 

[Tangerine]

I have faith in my Country. I do not have faith in our leaders. I have faith in our Constitution. Our leaders appear to treat it as toilet paper these days as it gets in the way of their 'goals' and 'profits'.

I am not proud we are now the United States of Torture. My tax dollars go to fund things directly in violation of our Constitution. I'm not proud of that.

The question is would our Founding Fathers be proud of where we now stand 233 years later? Listen carefully as that sound you're hearing in the distance is them rolling in their collective graves at warp speed.

Exactly which of your Constitutional freedoms are you no longer enjoying? I hear almost every day how this politician or that one has "trampled on the Constitution" blah blah blah. Yet no one has ever been able to give me one single example of how their own personal life in the USA has been affected in a negative way.

One example, please.

(And please, for the love of God, do not mentional Guantanamo Bay. No one there is an American citizen, and the US Constitution does not have anything to do with non-Americans.)