Thing is though, here in the states, it's different somehow... you're "supposed" to be patriotic and "love your country". After 9/11 it was like this competition to see who could fly the most American flags on their cars, their houses, wherever they could stick one. How many of those people actually understood the situation and CARED that all those people had died? Hard to say.
French people are usually quite proud of their country, but not very patriotic...there has been a loss of confidence in France over the last years.
(In France nationalism is a word a bit more negative than in English, cos it's always expressed against something (the others))
So I would say (using the words in the French way, for I ignore if there is a subtle difference with English) that patriotism is sometimes quite a good thing and that nationalism should be avoided 'cos it always come to extremes ends (hatred, exclusion, ...)
I'm quite proud of being French for I really like this country and some of the values it represents, even though I know that we're a over-confident political dwarf in the international scene, that we are nothing against America, that the country has some problems that aren't likely to be solved in the short term...
PS: And yes, Darth Revan, we have a maternity/paternity leaves, 35-hour work weeks and some cheese ain't bad at all !!! 😄
😉
So GP you have 7 hours work day down there, we have.
In Norway we have 37.5 hours work weeks, maternity leave for a month for the man/father, and 11months for the mother.
If you chose to not thake the 1 month,that month is transferred
to the mother so she get 12 months of paid maternity leave.
Besides that the man have a right to take 14 days off when the kid is born, the man choses for himself when he wants to take the other 4 weeks. It has to be within a year after the birth of the child though.
Some nationalism is good, in Norway we have this gonna vs not gonna join the EU struggle. The not gonna side is always arguing about loss of national values if we chose to join.
Pride in ones country? What for? Especially if YOU didn’t do anything, then why take pride in something you didn’t bring about? Nationalism has been the root of many evils, such as fascism and nazism.
quote:
A surge of nationalism in Russia, a kind of demented patriotism run amok, has led to a new wave of xenophobia, intolerance and violence, especially among young people. One senior government minister, blaming overheated campaign rhetoric, said Russian youth had become "ethnically phobic."
Who said that? That is nonsense.
Patriotism is even worse. I live in Denmark, and am pretty happy to live here. That doesn’t mean I toss myself at the flag with unquestioning loyalty, nor bow in the dust before the queen or prime-minister.
Don’t identify yourself too much with your NATION. That’ll just lead to trouble. I’m personally 100 % against George W. Bush and his politics, but that doesn’t mean I say “I hate America” or “America does this or that or…” The average American has NO say in Bush’s politics. As little as I have a say in Danish politics. It’s just rhetoric to claim, that because I’m against Bush I am then automatically against ALL Americans. What nonsense.
Saying stuff like “Germany did…” Or “Russia started” is misleading. It’s more to the point to say “I’m very much against the politics of the current American government”, “The Bush administration decided to wage war on Iraq”, “The German government did…” and “The Russian government started…”
The rest of us are just people. Blind faith in anything borders on fanaticism.
Don’t identify yourself too much with your NATIONof course I will and it wont lead to trouble. If you are a fanatic yes, but hey in this enlightened time I cant see why we aint gonna identify ourself with our nation.
Originally posted by Darth RevanI cared, yes.......for about 4 months. After that, I started thinking: "Why don't you people let go of your freaking flags and go kick the ass of those responsible!" Little did I know it would turn into a wild goose chase for something that never existed (WoMD), instead of looking for someone who confessed, nay, BOASTED that he did it himself. Are we going after Osama? No. We're 'rebuilding' a country that doesn't really need our help anymore while hundreds of soldiers from around the world die. That's a pitious waste, if you ask me.
Thing is though, here in the states, it's different somehow... you're "supposed" to be patriotic and "love your country". After 9/11 it was like this competition to see who could fly the most American flags on their cars, their houses, wherever they could stick one. How many of those people actually understood the situation and CARED that all those people had died? Hard to say.
Originally posted by The OmegaNo, I have a problem with my nation too. For the most part, Americans are blind, helpless, all too willing to fall into the controlling arms of the government. They're also hyper religious bible-thumping bastards who are ready to restrict people's rights at the drop of a hat if they don't agree with the generally accepted philosophy of the nation. "Separation of church and state" my ass. "All people are created equal" my ASS
Don’t identify yourself too much with your NATION. That’ll just lead to trouble. I’m personally 100 % against George W. Bush and his politics, but that doesn’t mean I say “I hate America” or “America does this or that or…” The average American has NO say in Bush’s politics. As little as I have a say in Danish politics. It’s just rhetoric to claim, that because I’m against Bush I am then automatically against ALL Americans. What nonsense.