As it should. You should only be proud of something that you've accomplished.
Being born on this side of an arbitrary border is not an accomplishment.
As it should. You should only be proud of something that you've accomplished.
Being born on this side of an arbitrary border is not an accomplishment.
No, it isn't, but it should be. America is a shithole. Objectively we are WAY down the list of world countries in important factors like education and quality of life. The way to fix a problem is to admit that there is a problem, but as soon as someone tries to bring up what's wrong with America (and it's a long list) that patriotism gene kicks in and the right wingers start screaming "USA! USA! USA!"
We used to be the greatest country on Earth, now we're not. And patriotism is one of the factors that keeps us from asking "how did we go so horribly wrong and how do we get it back?"
There are many types of accomplishment personal, paternal, group and, national. It has become fashionable to discourage, disparage and, ignore national accomplishment. We've now had two generations who have no idea what national accomplishment looks like. Perhaps my father's generation sacrificed too much.
Yes it is. And I think you guys are mixing up patriotism and fanaticism.
There will always be hard decisions and by avoiding them you GUARANTEE you won't like the results. Some were "pretty fucking horrible" almost as bad as the alternative.The problem is people are looking at it from rose tinted false historical glasses. A lot of those national accomplishments were pretty fucking horrible.
There will always be hard decisions and by avoiding them you GUARANTEE you won't like the results. Some were "pretty fucking horrible" almost as bad as the alternative.
I thought we were talking about accomplishments rather than greed, power seeking or, corporate behavior?Those are just lies people use to try and placate their guilt. If slavery is a hard decision then sorry but you're just plain fucked. Likewise, literal genocide. American history is literally brimming with awful shit that in no way is justified compared to the alternative. And it continues today.
Like religion I think it is bastardized and used as an excuse to be an awful human being.
And that attitude and corporate greed are exactly what caused it. Everyone wants the positive aspects of National pride but, no one wants to pay the price.Looking at the demographics, the US is going to be just another poor, corrupt latin america shithole in another 30-40 years, so I plan on getting while the gettings good. Why should I feel any loyalty to a country that thinks so little of itself that it committed cultural suicide?
x1000. Patriotism also keeps you from being objective - getting all teary eyed over a damn flag just means you lack a full perspective and forget that America, as a nation, has done some pretty shitty things too. It's ok to criticize your country, we wouldn't have equal rights if people didn't criticize the status quo. Be proud in what you accomplished, not something you didn't have anything to do with!
And that attitude and corporate greed are exactly what caused it. Everyone wants the positive aspects of National pride but, no one wants to pay the price.