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

Actually you got that a bit wrong, it should read: Your nationality is nothing other than a result of your parents being at a specific place 9 months after having sex.

 

I have. I do feel ashamed of it often. The dirty roads filled with feces and debris, starving naked people on the streets, smog & pollution, poverty....I could keep going on

And not to mention the extent of corruption. On august 15th I was talking to a cop while waiting in line to get a table at a restaurant (overpopulation!), and I asked him what the penalty for driving without a valid driver's license was. His reply was that he did not know exactly, but he takes as much money as he can depending on who's driving and what car it is.

I am ashamed about some things about India, but I wouldn't go so far as to say I hate it.

 

While I see your point, I think you're going a little overboard. I love Canada for what it is, but I most definitely place my family and myself above any sense of patriotism. I would never join the military and I would actively avoid a draft if such a thing happened - my life is more important to me then lines drawn on a map or another man's war.

What are you talking about "brainwashed", that's a ridiculous thing to say. Canada, for what it's worth, is very patriotic in general. Our July 1st celebrations are as big as your's on July 4th, we joke and laugh about the humorous stereotypes, we all love hockey, etc. You threw that line out there like it meant something

As far as your second paragraph, I don't begrudge you your pride in your country; to each his own. I'm proud that your proud. And I have no idea what "pound sand" means.

 

I love the US, but sometimes I'm ashamed at what my country does. I've never been ashamed to live here, but sometimes our government just makes me put my head down . For the most part though, its a great place to be, and a good country.

 

I've never been ashamed to be a citizen of my country, and while I have questioned some of the views of the government at times, I will stick with and love my country for as long as I'm living there.

 

Great explanation.

 

Nop. Israel. I'd be glad to have the opportunity to move to the US.

 

Have you lived in Israel your entire life?

 

Neutral for me.

Sometimes I feel so proud and happy, other times I feel like its a put-down.

I'm a dual citizen btw, Canadian and Indian.

 

Next time you see a big pile of sand, go over and punch or pound on it. You will then get the idea

ZOMG A FACKING JOO! And his breath smells like palestinian babies!

EDIT: Are you in the military? I have a friend in the Israeli intelligence, maybe you know him =\

 

Iv'e felt ashamed over other countries that stick their big nose in everything
But my own naah, only thing that sucks here is the taxes

 

How can you feel ashamed of someone elses country? That's like someone committing murder or rape, and you feeling ashamed of what the person did.

 

Of course, certain decisions may seem pig-headed... but is that sufficient cause to feel shame? I doubt anybody posting here had much to do w. targeting civilians, ignoring the Geneva convention, or anything of consequence.

"Freedom fries" comes close...

 

LOL! Easily one of the most humorous events in American history Reduced from a war machine to an impotent schoolyard bully - it's classic!

 

I actually dont know a single person who ever went along with the freedom fries thing. That was kind of embarrassing come to think of it. What was the other one? Freedom toast?

 

Trust me, it existed. I'm a chef, my cooking is French, and when we owned our bistro in the Northern U.S., we got it all the time. You smile and die while people - and there were many - refused to order their "Thon au Poivre," (tuna, treated like a pepper steak), steak frites, or "Poussin à la Grandmère" (roast young chicken, "grandmother's style") without saying "Freedom Fries." One of the most idiotic groupthink things to spawn itself in modern history.

"Thon au Poivre" with "Freedom Fries."



To the subject of this thread (at least, to the debate over "nationalism" v. "individualism"), I think it is impossible to rid oneself entirely of collective feeling. It is intrinsically human, at least if Jung and Co. had anything right in their work. To proclaim one is utterly individualistic, without any communal sensation of any kind, is to hazard only repression, in my mind, not to proclaim the truth. Entirely my opinion only, of course, and I admit I may be utterly wrong.

I am deeply proud of much of American history and what we have accomplished as a people; As much as I may bitch about certain aspects of daily life in America (mostly, a consumerist society gone insane for more, more, more), I love my fellow citizens. I am also ashamed of some things my country has done - and when I am ashamed, it is mostly a shame of disappointment, because it perverts the promise that America represented at its founding.

On balance, I believe we are a vital, good and optimistic people. If also young.

 

Do you guys ever watch prime time television? Some of those shows make me embarrassed for my fellow americans.

 

Pretty much, i was only 2 years old when my family came here from the USSR.

Nop, not in the military.

 

I am not a patriot neither I hate.. I like what I am.. and I am a multiple citizen person.

 

I'm not sure what I have a harder time believing. That you have a friend, or that he works in intelligence.