Have you ever felt ashamed to be a citizen of your country?

A month ago, I met a lady from a certain country (name not mentioned for obvious reasons) and she told me that she was ashamed to be a citizen of that country. She did not like the policies every other government that comes to power does for her country and also at an international level. She feels that the bureaucracy isn't sincere to the people. She feels that the relations her country has with other countries aren't appreciable. She told me that she hated her country and that she is ashamed to be a citizen of it. I could only smile. I could not appreciate her thoughts. But.... I've never been to that country. She certainly has first-hand knowledge of the situation in her country. I remained tight-lipped.

This incident was what prompted me to start this thread. Am I ashamed to be a citizen of the country I belong to? My country isn't perfect. It has got its flaws just like any other country does. But that doesn't make me feel ashamed to be a citizen of my country. In fact, I feel proud. Have you ever felt the way the lady did?

 

being proud of a nationality is as stupid as being proud of having average sized feet or brown hair. It didn't occur as a result of something you done, So you have no business being proud of it.

 

I never felt ashamed of my country.
However, I sometime do not agree with the Govt. of my Country.

I'm proud of having the opportunities my Country provided me that made me what I'm now. In that sense, not only I'm proud of it, but also grateful.

 

That has got to be one of the worst posts I've ever seen here at DP. Utter nonsense.

 

In what way? Or do you just like to poke your head around the corner, say something in wrong before cowardly scuttling back to whatever hole it is you come out of?

Explain how someone can be proud of a nationality. but first, Do make sure you look up what pride is and make sure you understand the definition, We wouldn't want you looking like an uneducated moron or anything.

 

Wierd person lol , I really appreciate and feel proud of being a citizen of my country , MALAYSIA , MALAYSIA , and once more MALAYSIA!

 

You know that pride is a felling of personal achievement, Right?
So what did you personally achieve to make you proud of being Malaysian?

You can't just say words with complete disregard for their meaning.

 

I dislike my country. Can't say i hate it, because that's too extreme. I see no future for myself here, nor for my family. Hopefully, i'll get the fuck out of here in a few years.

 

Not exactly,
the term 'Pride' is used in many sense, Apart from personal achievement, it can also be used as 'satisfaction with your (or another's) achievements', as "he takes pride in his son's success".

Pride also means - 'the state or feeling of being proud'.
Or - 'something that causes a person or persons to be proud'.

It's a feeling, One can feel pride for anything.. Fathers feel pride for their sons. Sons feel pride for their father.

Thus a nationalist can feel pride for his/her nation's achievement, that is, a collective achievement of country's all citizens.

 

Bear with me on this I have a real good answer.

If you really want to take this question by the fundamentals then you have to go right back to our primeaval existance and why those creatures did better when they were equipped with an 'awareness' of there being a consensus of opinion about them. They were aware of this strange disembodied opinion, which while not reflective of that of any single individual it could be found to be held to a greater or lesser extent by the majority of the group of people that knew of them.

Today being a pariah and falling out of popular opinion is not the death sentence that is was back in those days where you relied greatly on the protection and acceptance of your social group for your very survival. Man is not like a tiger that can survive easily as a single entity.

However we have not lost our social anxieties and it is these that compel us more than anything else to ensure that our identity is formed with some deference to what we sense is the social superstructure that we are presently and most strongly aligned with or which is the strongest social structure that we live under.
For most of we believe and are taught that this is our nation, especially where any sense of there being a more 'powerful' or overriding social structure does not exist.
It does however exist for some people if they are members of an ardent religious group with a v. indomitable local presence, or perhaps a young person who feels completely indoctrinated by a local gang.

So you see these are the deep-set survival-tied and very murky topics that you hit upon when you raise the seemingly neutral topic of nationalism and identity.

Identity is like the real source of our emtions something we possess but understand very little.

Something I will say is that I feel that nationalism is often used like a quick off the shelf solution to a bothersome problem.
People will grab the 'nationality' box off the shelf as a quick answer to the universal fundamental question 'who are you?', and of course it, like every other generic prepackaged product, is only as effective as any other non-personal and mass produced answer.

 

Excellent point! While I love Canada and wouldn't want to live anywhere I can't say that I've done anything in particular to shape it. It's not so much pride that I feel as it is gratitude.

Assuming you have no hold on the English language or you are in a position that you've made great and positive changes to your country, you're right!

Where are you from? I'm guessing the U.S. but something makes me think that you're European?

 

Funny, I would have guessed Canaduh!

I'm proud of my country. Never felt ashamed to be a citizen in the least bit. My self-esteem has never been so low as to let hateful people that do nothing but attack my country dictate how I think.

Sadly, there are many weak minded people who go with the popularity contest of the day. Four year patriotism. Once the president changes, and the party they want is in place, they suddenly start defending their country again.

As for those that say no one should take pride in their country, this is fine example of self-centeredness. This type of person places himself above everything else and would never serve anything grander than himself. Probably the result of childhood abuse

 

Great points.

I would take it a step further though. Being proud, and being active are not necessarily the same thing. It is the responsibility of every citizen to uphold democracy and to defend the things that make us American. Not a government, or an individual. Not a policy or a party. The very things that make us who we are. Free. Prosperous. Strong.

 

I dont have pride or shame for my country because I personally did nothing to get the country were it is today. Maybe when my actions effect national policy I'll feel emotional towards my country but probally not.

 

You coward! Get back in your hole!

I stand by that claim. It must be a real bummer living in a place where you are brainwashed to believe you can't be proud of your home land. Once again... utter nonsense.

To even further my belief, I'm proud that I'm proud of my country. And I'm even proud that I'm proud that I'm proud of it. Don't like it? Pound sand.

 

IS THE WORLD, PROUD TO HAVE YOU AS A SON, WHO LEFT A MARK ON THE WORLD?

ps: concept of country is just silly WESTERN ideology.

 

Silly or not, we're still proud of it.

 

Except when it comes to Israel

 

I didn't say you can't believe it, I said it makes no sense. As far as i know it's still perfectly legal to be a moron who's incapable of grasping simple concepts, So knock yourself out.

I guess we shouldn't expect anything more than chest thumping from flag waving nationalists.

Your nationality is nothing other than a result of your parents having sex at a specific place, That is the point, What's there to feel pride about that? I have much grander things to be proud of than the location of my birth, It's a shame that's all you got.

 

I was delivered by a stork. The stork had multiple citizenships.

Afaik, my parents have never had sex. And I don't want to hear differently.