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What does Patriotism Mean to You?

Posted by techfun • 7/01/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: blog help, patriotism, Quotations

I'm working on a blog post and wanted to get some help from people from different political walks of life.

What does patriotism mean to you in UNDER 50 words?

After your statement, please include a brief description of how you would summarize your own political beliefs, in your own words. Feel free to avoid catch-alls like liberal or conservative if you feel labels like those do not accurately describe you.

If I use your quote and you’d like a link to your blog please be sure to include your blog’s URL and how you’d like it linked - via the name of the blog, or your name, or whatever.

If you'd rather not put it here, you can leave it as a comment on blog.techfun.org/patriotism-question - that page will prompt you for a password. The password is 'patriotism'.

Thanks!

User Comments

7/01/08

gingerbeer25

A very apropos question as today is Canada day. I don't feel at all patriotic as I feel that it supports border which only exist to perpetuate differences between people. There are no borders from space. I prefer to think of humanity as a whole rather than identifying with a small section of land is belonging to me because of an accident of birth. This is my Canada Post. www.womanist-musings.com/2008/07/happy-canada-day.html

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7/01/08

gmoney

Patriotism as defined by Answers.com is Love of and devotion to one's country.

I often wonder if I can love a country or be overly devoted to it. What makes my country better than your country. Why should I love death, destruction, racism, hatred and ignorance. Do I love the people of my country YES, do I love the potential of my country... yes, does my country love me....... as long as I pay my taxes.

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7/01/08

cooper

Greater minds than mine have said it for me.

“A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.”

“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.”

Edward Abbey and Mark Twain saying the same thing, and I think defines patriotism well, for me at least.

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1. 7/01/08
  
  gmoney
  
  Damn you is smart Cooper!!!!
2. 7/01/08
  
  cooper
  
  The smartest people know how to find and use information from those much smarter and wiser than themselves.
7/01/08

carlgalloway

When I look at patriots and the way they act, usually the first thing that enters my mind is run, get away from them, they're upto no good. It's a fine line between being proud of a sports team, or the culture of your area to becoming a patriotic bigot who thinks their country is better than others. Once that fine line is crossed a lot of bad things start happening, that's my view. I am an internationalist, I have a passport because I must, not because it means anything to me.

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7/01/08

Wisco

I just wrote a post about that this morning.

griperblade.blogspot.com/2008/07/true-patriots-wear-uncle-sam-costumes.html

It's a lot longer than 50 words, though. I guess if I had to boil it down, it's about engagement, not flags. It's about building a better nation and not just pretending the one you have is already perfect.

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7/01/08

Norski
These quotes are a pretty good start for expressing my views. (I haven't verified each, but believe they're accurate.)

By my count, there are 45 words here, excluding the authors' names.
- "Men love their country, not because it is great, but because it is their own."
  Seneca
- "They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety."
  Benjamin Franklin
- "That's the difference between governments and individuals. Governments don't care, individuals do."
  Mark Twain
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1. 7/01/08
  
  Wisco
  
  "My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right"
  -Sen. Carl Schurz
2. 7/01/08
  
  satijournal
  - "My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right"
    -Sen. Carl Schurz
  Who defines what's right?
3. 7/01/08
  
  Wisco
  
  Who defines what's right?
  
  That's the beauty of democracy...
4. 7/02/08
  
  Norski
  
  Wisco,
  
  I rather like that one.
  
  I've heard the quote, but not who it was attributed to (Sen. Carl Schurz).
5. 7/02/08
  
  satijournal
  
  Who defines what's right?
  
  That's the beauty of democracy...
  
  I think here in the U.S., the Constitution defines what's right and what's wrong. With a democracy, elections can be stolen and the public can be manipulated, but our stable and static Constitution is what has made this country great and has allowed our democracy to survive.
6. 7/02/08
  
  Wisco
  
  I think here in the U.S., the Constitution defines what's right and what's wrong. With a democracy, elections can be stolen and the public can be manipulated, but our stable and static Constitution is what has made this country great and has allowed our democracy to survive.
  
  Hard to disagree with that...
7/01/08

Anok

To me patriotism is an overgrown form of being proud of your tribe, the happiness it brings, and the accomplishments of said tribe. Unfortunately, we have more nationalists than patriots, in my opinion who are "patriotic" because they are supposed to be, or so they are told.

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1. 7/01/08
  
  JacobDiv
  
  To me patriotism is an overgrown form of being proud of your tribe
  
  That's a good one.
  
  A show on NPR today focused on how spirituality is hard wired into our nervous system, having started as simpler forms of gratification and reasoning. Seems to be very much along the lines of this comment, of an overgrown primitive thing.
  www.onpointradio.org/shows/2008/07/20080701_b_main.asp
7/01/08

acousticguitarist

it means the desire to work for the wellbeing of those in your community in an effort to make a wholesome society for future generation, and to respect the sovereignty and lifestyles of others in different cultures globally

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7/02/08

techfun

Thanks everyone who spoke up.

I think I should clarify what I am asking here. The quotes are great, but I am looking for a more personal, in your own words, definition of what patriotism means to you personally. I specifically want to discard other people's definition of patriotism specifically because since 9/11 its turned into almost a marketing 'brand' thing and lost its significance.

Letting politicians or the mainstream media define patriotism for us seems lazy and dangerous to me since it allows the use of proxy outward symbols like a flag lapel pin to take on far more significance than it deserves.

Patriotism - based on the comments here - has a negative connotation for many people here. If that describes you, please let me know what you think patriotism SHOULD mean in a perfect world.

What I am really hoping to see more of is the kind of statement that acousticguitar made just above.

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1. 7/02/08
  
  Anok
  
  I understand my comment came off as negative - let me rephrase it - National Patriotism is an extension of pride in one's tribe, the accomplishments, ties, and compassion that a tribe possesses as well as the ability of the tribe to work collaboratively to create harmony and well being for every member.
  
  Patriotism becomes Nationalism only when the accomplishments of the tribe are negative, yet the people in it support it anyway.
  
  Hope that's better
2. 7/02/08
  
  techfun
  
  MUCH better Anok. Thanks. Defining it by its difference from nationalism is an excellent angle.
3. 7/02/08
  
  Anok
  
  No prob
7/02/08

kdawg68

It means praise the lord and pass the ammunition - especially when screaming banshee-ninjas are descending upon your final mealie-bag redoubt, spear points gleaming.

In all honesty I think it's a combination of the things already stated. I think Anok touches on a good point - tribal identity manifested into national or state identity.

We see microcosms of this here in the States, and I'm sure this exists elsewhere as well. Here we divide up among east/west coasters - midwesterners, etc. Even more so, many identify with the state in which they were born or have lived. This isn't a universal truth amongst Americans - but I find it's doubly true for those that come from areas that are frequently the butt of jokes.

An example would be my fierce pride at being from Alabama - even though I was only born and lived there for perhaps 3 years of my life. You carry that with you forever. If it comes up conversationally, people make assumption about who you and your family are. "Oh, Alabama, I've heard comedians joke about how awful you uneducated, toothless, racist, rednecks are." That kind of thing - so you end up being identified with the mystic dirt of home no matter how far you travel from it.

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7/02/08

morgantj

I see patriotism as yet another narrow view that divides nations and people from one another, creates superiority complexes, contributes to discrimination, and creates a pride that can often lead to wars. What I think patriotism should consist of is a planetary wide love and respect for all land and people.

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1. 7/02/08
  
  techfun
  
  Morgan - I can see feeling that way when you take an external definition of patriotism, but what SHOULD it mean? I assume you don't feel that all nations should be seen with apathy by its citizens and allowed to decompose into chaos. Or maybe you do?
2. 7/02/08
  
  morgantj
  
  I didn't take an external definition. I wrote that right here and now without an external reference, only my experience. The first sentence explains what I think is the current "patriotism." and the second sentence explains what I think it SHOULD mean.
3. 7/02/08
  
  techfun
  
  Ok, I misunderstood since the second sentence by definition can't be patriotism - only the absence of it.
4. 7/02/08
  
  morgantj
  
  You said to write what we think it SHOULD mean, to write a new definition. So there is no "'by definition' can't be patriotism" because I have just rewritten the definition for it as I think it should be as you asked. My new definition doesn't have to be subject to the old definition, it is strictly based on what I think it should mean.
5. 7/02/08
  
  techfun
  
  Ok Morgan, thanks for trying. I appreciate the effort.
7/02/08

kataztrophy

It means some people are willing to discredit others who don't wish to hump American soil. I've heard some pretty ignorant things from overly patriotic folk. The word itself has taken on a negative meaning to me.

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7/02/08

calais50

I love America but I also love the world. Some might call me unpatriotic for considering myself a world citizen instead of a citizen of one particular country. I don't think I'm unpatriotic. I just think that sometimes people focus too much on artificial land boundaries, and it tears people apart.

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7/02/08

satijournal

I like this one posted by Norski
"Men love their country, not because it is great, but because it is their own."
Seneca

This one says the same thing:
Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home;
~ John Howard Payne

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7/02/08

satijournal

I did a bit of a parody on patriotism and national pride in my thread about my scared dog where I was "bragging" to a Brit that we "kicked your ass!" Obviously, I wasn't around back in the 1700s to kick anybody's ass, nor were any of my ancestors. They were in Eastern Europe until the early 1900s.

Patriotism is a lot like sports and supporting the home team. If the Broncos beat the Raiders in a game, there's a lot of "we kicked their ass" the next day, when in reality, we had nothing to do with it, other than paying the salaries of the players with our tax dollars and ticket fees.

I don't know that I'm at all patriotic, but this country is my home and I'd like it to be a good place to live. Is that patriotism?

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