Defining yourself

Originally posted by Digi
I'm not sure I could list these with any certainty, but it's a cool thought experiment.

Nationality means next to nothing to me, beyond a general gratitude that I live in a civilized, industrialized, modern nation. USA as opposed to several other countries does nothing for me, though. Same with gender. Like, I'm happy to be a man, but it's not a source of identity, per se. Same with being straight.

I guess the common thread among all of these is that, too often, identity through one of them includes an aversion to anything that is "other." The most patriotic people tend to be the most xenophobic. The most stereotypically heterosexual, or those who take the most pride in it, tend to be discriminatory toward LGBT. Those who identify strongly with a particular ethnicity tend to be very insular in their experiences and views. Not always, of course. But more so than those who don't identify as strongly with those things.

Much as it may seem odd to many who know me on these forums, my atheism isn't a strong identifier either. Unless we count the compassionate humanism that's a part of most secular worldviews as atheism. They aren't the same thing, and atheism is just a non-belief that, at this point, has very little influence in my daily life. It would be like saying the fact that I don't attend sporting events is how I identify myself. Sports fanatics can identify through sports a lot of times, but very few who aren't sports fans identify as "not a sports fan." It's just off their radar.

So, of your list, only intelligence and humor got me semi-hard. I'd have to think for a while to form an actual list, since most of that is much further down a hypothetical list.

What I mean by that is that inclusive patriotism would be taking pride in, say, the accomplishments of the United States and approaching American problems with a kind of community/we're all in this together mindset. Exclusive patriotism is unfortunately the more common strain, and this is unfortunately what even well meaning people often take to be patriotism, in a completely positive light. It boils down to a form of American exceptionalism that applies to foreigners/foreign countries and also to anyone in America who doesn't share your same values.

Originally posted by Omega Vision
This is something I've been trying to articulate with regards to nationalism/patriotism. There can be good or at least benign forms of patriotism and nationalism, but only if they're inclusive rather than exclusive.

What I mean by that is that inclusive patriotism would be taking pride in, say, the accomplishments of the United States and approaching American problems with a kind of community/we're all in this together mindset. Exclusive patriotism is unfortunately the more common strain, and this is unfortunately what even well meaning people often take to be patriotism, in a completely positive light. It boils down to a form of American exceptionalism that applies to foreigners/foreign countries and also to anyone in America who doesn't share your same values.

I like the distinction between inclusion and exclusive. That's a good way to think about it.

Yeah it really is. Nicely put.