why are people so patriotic?

[Visual Brian]

Shilberu Erikku

Visual Brian

Shilberu Erikku

Visual Brian

The United States is an amazing country. I may not own a U.S. flag myself, but I live here and there is no country on earth that compares to the United States. Not to offend! (;

It's funny this comes up now because just yesterday I was riding home from school in the bus and I was looking outside my window admiring the country. I've criticized patriots and U.S. fanatics before, but I came to an epiphany yesterday! What don't Americans see when they look outside there windows. They don't see bombs going off. They don't see dictators. They don't see "resistance" to so said dictators. All you see is peace. People drive to and from places not even worrying about being attacked by whatever evil forces lurk around the corner (though I do admit, it does happen sometimes). Practically a walking distance away from my city is Cuidad Juarez, Mexico. About eight people die every day over there due to all the drug cartels. There's one substitute teacher who frequents my school who's of Hispanic descent that always tells everyone, "Don't go to Juarez! Don't go to Juarez! I want to see you again, ok?" right when class ends. We're so close to the most dangerous city in the world, we're practically touching! You can see Juarez clearly if you go downtown. Then we were ranked the safest city in America not too long ago. Hardly any murders over here on this side.

Here in America, I'm safe from all the violence in Juarez. I eat not worrying about hunger and if there's more food for tomorrow. I'm sheltered and pampered with a free education. My dad works as a police sergeant and owns a house. Compared to almost every country in the world, that's RICH. In many places people are lucky to have a bed to sleep on. I'm college bound and will have the opportunity to pursue doing something I love. Then I can earn even more money and become "rich" like my dad as well. I'm protected by the law and can walk to church every Sunday safely without being persecuted. I can be gay and be accepted and even have a boyfriend if I like.

We have streets. Sidewalks. Various trees. Large houses. Malls. Amusement parks. Parks. Grocery Stores. Fast food restaurants. Soup kitchens. Government-provided housing. America is a great country. GREAT. It's not perfect, but no country is. People who say otherwise, or dislike the United States, need to stop taking these things for granted. If you don't like having all these things, go to some third-world country and see how you like it there. Someone will be MORE than glad to take your place living here. neutral

And nationalism was the cause of our wars?
WWI - Germans were attacking our ships, we had to defend our citizens.
WW2 - Japan kind of attacked Pearl Harbor?
Vietnam - We were trying to stop Communism - human rights
Iraq - overthrew a dictator and searched for possible WMDs that could've killed millions of Americans. + human rights

Maybe you should be a teeny bit more thankful that we get to be having this exact discussion right now. O:

Does that make the US any better than Canada, france, South Korea, or Scotland?

Correction about WW1- The Lisutania wasn't actually a passenger ship, but a ship that was used to smuggle weapons to our allies. The REAL reason for us entering the war was paranoia over the Zimmerman telegram.

Lisutania wasn't the only ship. neutral
Yes, yes, driven by nationalism! You kind of contradicted yourself there. (:

Not exactly for the reasons I stated, but we are still better off then them. We're richer and have much more power and influential force. We're not better by much, but still.

but back to the original topic -
how can you not be patriotic when, out of the 195 countries of the world, you can list four other countries to compete with the U.S. I'm sure you can list more. Maybe 10. Even 20. But there's 190 other countries in the world. Most of which are WAY worse than the U.S. Any citizen from the U.S., Canada, South Korea, etc. has big reasons to be patriotic.

I guess I just have no sense of locational pride sweatdrop

xD

Well you don't have to be PROUD. Just grateful. Realize how fortunate we are to be here. That's patriotism in my opinion. o:  

[Taeryyn]

Shilberu Erikku

Taeryyn

Shilberu Erikku

At least those countries actually have a culture.

Why do you feel that your country doesn't have a culture?

becuase there isn't any. If you go to France, Japan, or South Korea, you see culture, but when you take a look at the US, you don't see ANY culture.

I would say it is harder to pin down what exactly American culture is (much in the same way I find it hard to describe Canadian culture), but I don't think that means it doesn't exist.  

[Symptom_of_Society]

The United States of America has become independent from Britain, created (overall) equality for man and woman, helped defeat Japan and Germany in WWII, has and currently provides prosperity and abundance to her citizens, AND aliens, and has the highest quallity of life. Cmon, you HAVE to be SOMEWHAT proud. crying

Shilberu Erikku

The Neko CatGirl

aren't you proud of your country and all it has accomplished?

I'm not sure. neutral

 

[Shilberu Erikku]

Visual Brian

Shilberu Erikku

Visual Brian

Shilberu Erikku

Visual Brian

The United States is an amazing country. I may not own a U.S. flag myself, but I live here and there is no country on earth that compares to the United States. Not to offend! (;

It's funny this comes up now because just yesterday I was riding home from school in the bus and I was looking outside my window admiring the country. I've criticized patriots and U.S. fanatics before, but I came to an epiphany yesterday! What don't Americans see when they look outside there windows. They don't see bombs going off. They don't see dictators. They don't see "resistance" to so said dictators. All you see is peace. People drive to and from places not even worrying about being attacked by whatever evil forces lurk around the corner (though I do admit, it does happen sometimes). Practically a walking distance away from my city is Cuidad Juarez, Mexico. About eight people die every day over there due to all the drug cartels. There's one substitute teacher who frequents my school who's of Hispanic descent that always tells everyone, "Don't go to Juarez! Don't go to Juarez! I want to see you again, ok?" right when class ends. We're so close to the most dangerous city in the world, we're practically touching! You can see Juarez clearly if you go downtown. Then we were ranked the safest city in America not too long ago. Hardly any murders over here on this side.

Here in America, I'm safe from all the violence in Juarez. I eat not worrying about hunger and if there's more food for tomorrow. I'm sheltered and pampered with a free education. My dad works as a police sergeant and owns a house. Compared to almost every country in the world, that's RICH. In many places people are lucky to have a bed to sleep on. I'm college bound and will have the opportunity to pursue doing something I love. Then I can earn even more money and become "rich" like my dad as well. I'm protected by the law and can walk to church every Sunday safely without being persecuted. I can be gay and be accepted and even have a boyfriend if I like.

We have streets. Sidewalks. Various trees. Large houses. Malls. Amusement parks. Parks. Grocery Stores. Fast food restaurants. Soup kitchens. Government-provided housing. America is a great country. GREAT. It's not perfect, but no country is. People who say otherwise, or dislike the United States, need to stop taking these things for granted. If you don't like having all these things, go to some third-world country and see how you like it there. Someone will be MORE than glad to take your place living here. neutral

And nationalism was the cause of our wars?
WWI - Germans were attacking our ships, we had to defend our citizens.
WW2 - Japan kind of attacked Pearl Harbor?
Vietnam - We were trying to stop Communism - human rights
Iraq - overthrew a dictator and searched for possible WMDs that could've killed millions of Americans. + human rights

Maybe you should be a teeny bit more thankful that we get to be having this exact discussion right now. O:

Does that make the US any better than Canada, france, South Korea, or Scotland?

Correction about WW1- The Lisutania wasn't actually a passenger ship, but a ship that was used to smuggle weapons to our allies. The REAL reason for us entering the war was paranoia over the Zimmerman telegram.

Lisutania wasn't the only ship. neutral
Yes, yes, driven by nationalism! You kind of contradicted yourself there. (:

Not exactly for the reasons I stated, but we are still better off then them. We're richer and have much more power and influential force. We're not better by much, but still.

but back to the original topic -
how can you not be patriotic when, out of the 195 countries of the world, you can list four other countries to compete with the U.S. I'm sure you can list more. Maybe 10. Even 20. But there's 190 other countries in the world. Most of which are WAY worse than the U.S. Any citizen from the U.S., Canada, South Korea, etc. has big reasons to be patriotic.

I guess I just have no sense of locational pride sweatdrop

xD

Well you don't have to be PROUD. Just grateful. Realize how fortunate we are to be here. That's patriotism in my opinion. o:

I kinda understand it now. I was walking to starbucks, and on the way I just observed the surroundings and remembered various places in that route from my youth. That lightened me up a bit.  

[Shilberu Erikku]

The Neko CatGirl

The United States of America has become independent from Britain, created (overall) equality for man and woman, helped defeat Japan and Germany in WWII, has and currently provides prosperity and abundance to her citizens, AND aliens, and has the highest quallity of life. Cmon, you HAVE to be SOMEWHAT proud. crying

Shilberu Erikku

The Neko CatGirl

aren't you proud of your country and all it has accomplished?

I'm not sure. neutral

I am proud of our accomplishments and identity as a nation, but not the ground beneath our feet, if that makes any sense.  

[Esiris]

Matasoga

Your personal experience is just as inadmissible into this argument as mine.

I didn't provide my experiences as proof I was right- I mentioned them to show your line of reasoning was flawed.  

[Shilberu Erikku]

Esiris

Matasoga

Your personal experience is just as inadmissible into this argument as mine.

I didn't provide my experiences as proof I was right- I mentioned them to show your line of reasoning was flawed.

Isn't that the same thing?  

[Esiris]

Shilberu Erikku

Isn't that the same thing?

Not always-
"All cars are blue, I know because my car is blue."
"This line of thought doesn't make sense- just because your car is blue doesn't make all cars blue. Mine happens to be cream, so clearly saying that all cars are blue because your car is doesn't make sense." Is different from saying "No! All cars are cream because my car is cream!"  

[Sarah_L_Awesome]

i'm a Canuck, i'm proud of all Canada has accomplished and though i would never live anywhere else, i don't believe it's superior. just that it is beautiful and accomplished. i will tell you anytime that Canada, like everywhere else, has it's faults. in my opinion all the nations have some work to do.  

[Atrum_Anima]

Shilberu Erikku

Taeryyn

Shilberu Erikku

At least those countries actually have a culture.

Why do you feel that your country doesn't have a culture?

becuase there isn't any. If you go to France, Japan, or South Korea, you see culture, but when you take a look at the US, you don't see ANY culture.

I completely disagree. Yeah, maybe if you look into your backyard you won't see a ton of culture, but each city in the U.S. has its own unique culture. Chicago is different from New York, which is different from Pittsburgh, which is different from San Francisco, which is different from Orlando, which is different from Oklahoma City, which is different from Louisville (etc.).
If you tried telling someone from New Orleans, San Antonio, or Detroit that they have no culture, you might just get punched in the face.

Like I said before, I used to see your side of it, but got over it. One reason I got over it was because I explored the little towns near the closest city to me and found so much culture there. You'll never see any of it if you're not open to it.  

[Shilberu Erikku]

Atrum_Anima

Shilberu Erikku

Taeryyn

Shilberu Erikku

At least those countries actually have a culture.

Why do you feel that your country doesn't have a culture?

becuase there isn't any. If you go to France, Japan, or South Korea, you see culture, but when you take a look at the US, you don't see ANY culture.

I completely disagree. Yeah, maybe if you look into your backyard you won't see a ton of culture, but each city in the U.S. has its own unique culture. Chicago is different from New York, which is different from Pittsburgh, which is different from San Francisco, which is different from Orlando, which is different from Oklahoma City, which is different from Louisville (etc.).
If you tried telling someone from New Orleans, San Antonio, or Detroit that they have no culture, you might just get punched in the face.

Like I said before, I used to see your side of it, but got over it. One reason I got over it was because I explored the little towns near the closest city to me and found so much culture there. You'll never see any of it if you're not open to it.

It's not that I'm not open to it, it's just that it isn't obvious. I'm a real culture enthusiaist, and when I hear "culture" Japan and Korea come to mind so.........  

[Atrum_Anima]

Shilberu Erikku

Atrum_Anima

Shilberu Erikku

Taeryyn

Shilberu Erikku

At least those countries actually have a culture.

Why do you feel that your country doesn't have a culture?

becuase there isn't any. If you go to France, Japan, or South Korea, you see culture, but when you take a look at the US, you don't see ANY culture.

I completely disagree. Yeah, maybe if you look into your backyard you won't see a ton of culture, but each city in the U.S. has its own unique culture. Chicago is different from New York, which is different from Pittsburgh, which is different from San Francisco, which is different from Orlando, which is different from Oklahoma City, which is different from Louisville (etc.).
If you tried telling someone from New Orleans, San Antonio, or Detroit that they have no culture, you might just get punched in the face.

Like I said before, I used to see your side of it, but got over it. One reason I got over it was because I explored the little towns near the closest city to me and found so much culture there. You'll never see any of it if you're not open to it.

It's not that I'm not open to it, it's just that it isn't obvious. I'm a real culture enthusiaist, and when I hear "culture" Japan and Korea come to mind so.........

So, in other words, you're not patriotic or oversee U.S. culture because the U.S. isn't similar to Japan or Korea?  

[Symptom_of_Society]

well, that isn't really what patriotism is about.

Shilberu Erikku

The Neko CatGirl

The United States of America has become independent from Britain, created (overall) equality for man and woman, helped defeat Japan and Germany in WWII, has and currently provides prosperity and abundance to her citizens, AND aliens, and has the highest quallity of life. Cmon, you HAVE to be SOMEWHAT proud. crying

Shilberu Erikku

The Neko CatGirl

aren't you proud of your country and all it has accomplished?

I'm not sure. neutral

I am proud of our accomplishments and identity as a nation, but not the ground beneath our feet, if that makes any sense.

 

[Shilberu Erikku]

Atrum_Anima

Shilberu Erikku

Atrum_Anima

Shilberu Erikku

Taeryyn

Shilberu Erikku

At least those countries actually have a culture.

Why do you feel that your country doesn't have a culture?

becuase there isn't any. If you go to France, Japan, or South Korea, you see culture, but when you take a look at the US, you don't see ANY culture.

I completely disagree. Yeah, maybe if you look into your backyard you won't see a ton of culture, but each city in the U.S. has its own unique culture. Chicago is different from New York, which is different from Pittsburgh, which is different from San Francisco, which is different from Orlando, which is different from Oklahoma City, which is different from Louisville (etc.).
If you tried telling someone from New Orleans, San Antonio, or Detroit that they have no culture, you might just get punched in the face.

Like I said before, I used to see your side of it, but got over it. One reason I got over it was because I explored the little towns near the closest city to me and found so much culture there. You'll never see any of it if you're not open to it.

It's not that I'm not open to it, it's just that it isn't obvious. I'm a real culture enthusiaist, and when I hear "culture" Japan and Korea come to mind so.........

So, in other words, you're not patriotic or oversee U.S. culture because the U.S. isn't similar to Japan or Korea?

No, I'm just saying that the US doesn't have ay obvious culture, if there's any culture at all. I can't think of a single example.  

[She Promised You Cookies]

Shilberu Erikku

Atrum_Anima

Shilberu Erikku

Atrum_Anima

Shilberu Erikku

becuase there isn't any. If you go to France, Japan, or South Korea, you see culture, but when you take a look at the US, you don't see ANY culture.

I completely disagree. Yeah, maybe if you look into your backyard you won't see a ton of culture, but each city in the U.S. has its own unique culture. Chicago is different from New York, which is different from Pittsburgh, which is different from San Francisco, which is different from Orlando, which is different from Oklahoma City, which is different from Louisville (etc.).
If you tried telling someone from New Orleans, San Antonio, or Detroit that they have no culture, you might just get punched in the face.

Like I said before, I used to see your side of it, but got over it. One reason I got over it was because I explored the little towns near the closest city to me and found so much culture there. You'll never see any of it if you're not open to it.

It's not that I'm not open to it, it's just that it isn't obvious. I'm a real culture enthusiaist, and when I hear "culture" Japan and Korea come to mind so.........

So, in other words, you're not patriotic or oversee U.S. culture because the U.S. isn't similar to Japan or Korea?

No, I'm just saying that the US doesn't have ay obvious culture, if there's any culture at all. I can't think of a single example.

Speaking as an Australian, I like to think that the US does have some form of culture. In fact, it's more or less like the origin of most of the world's "culture" today, as nearly everything comes from America. There's a lot of different things, but I always tend to think of movies and music. Most of that comes from America. And the fact that there's an established stereotype (gun-toting hamburger guzzlers who desire to take over the world) says to me there is some form of culture which the stereotype may loosely be based on. Eg Australians are crocodile wrestling blokes who invite their mates to their shack for a barbie and feed witchety grubs to kangaroos.

Wow, I rambled on for a bit.