Are you proud of your country?

[Paul11]

The all get into it for the same reasons. They want to hustle to make money and tyey are the type of person who is drawn to the "romantic" view of the life of crime. Many are not supid. But most of them are and they end up paying "tax" to the smart dudes on top who are successfull. The stupid dudes are the ones on the street that are seen by the public. They are really urban terrorists who cause people to live in fear.

[nedaime]

sure

I'm proud of my country because ( million reasons )

[Hyakushi]

I'm proud of my country, I won't be running around with a giant foam finger saying "America is #1" though but there are plenty of things we do that would get us killed in other countrys.

[Zimek]

I'm very proud of Poland's history - but what's happening today makes me feel a little bit ashamed.

Don't want to talk about thing that "our" president have done... I'm just waiting for the end of his cadency (that's about 2 years...).

Just to clear for you our situation... 70% of citizens DO NOT trust President...

[Cowabunga]

No. I'm actually ashamed of it.

I don't believe in national pride, we should be proud of our own personal achievements, not our countries. People say they are proud of their country but not their government, excuse me, but the government are the ones who make the country what it is, therefore if you hate the government you also dislike the country.
I don't understand why people feel pround of their contry's history, I mean, what do they have to do with what happened centuries ago? And I also feel concerned when people say that they feel proud of certain parts of history when their country colonized others, I'm portuguese and many portuguese feel poud of the fact that Portugal colonized, enslaved and murdered people in Africa, Asia and South America; that's just disgusting.
Nationalism raises racism, xenophobia and leads to war.

I consider myself a citizen of the world.

[Zimek]

But while thinking about yourself as a citizen of the world, you cannot forget about where do you derive from. =)

And I must disagree with you Cowabunga, because what's makes country what it is, is not a government, but people.
Choosing the concrete administration not always shows what people are. My example is the best to show you this. Almost 3 years ago when my people were choosing the president, we all thought he is the best candidate, who will represent our country and believes well and with honour. But it all changed when party connected with him forfeit the office.
Now he is disturbing new governments work (even when people has the same opinion as the administration) and has other opinion with a goverment in almost every case (which makes us - as a nation look really unseriously).

As I said earlier - 70% of my people don't trust president.

[Cowabunga]

Hi Zimek.

Yes, sometimes that's true, like in Poland's case, I know you guys currently have a bad government. But every country has its own people, I've never met a Polish person before so I don't know about your country's people, but I'm getting a bit tired of the portuguese people. I'm 18 and most people around my age in my country only care about smoking weed and getting drunk. Also, it's disgusting that many portuguese still defend Salazar the fascist dictator, although the dictatorship ended in 1974 many old people and even younger people defend it. Salazar isolated the country from the rest of the world during three generations and while the rest of Europe started to develop its industry, Portugal continued being a farming country, people were forced in school to attend religious classes, a boy couldn't approach a girl on the street, schools were segregrated (boys and girls) the first time people had classes together with the opposite sex was in college, and only about 3/4% were able to go to college, half of the population was iliterate, there was poverty everywhere, the police had the right to violently beat WITNESSES(!), African countries (Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea, S. Tome and Principe) were still colonies.

It's pathetic and disgusting that many portuguese miss that period saying they had a better life. How can someone prefer dictatorship over freedom?
Portuguese also complain that one of the biggest problems of the country is that people are losing their national pride. That's a lie, according to a survey I read in a newspaper (Year 2007) Portugal was the most patriotic country in Europe while Sweden was the least, I think it's safe to say that Sweden is much better than Portugal overrall. In that survey 51% said they would support Portugal in a war whether Portugal was on the right or the wrong side, that means if Portugal did something like Germany once did, more than half of the portuguese would still support their country, that's disgusting! Portuguese think national pride = ultra nationalism, they are proud that once Portugal colonized territories in South America, Africa and Asia and think that portuguese were "cool" an never murdered a single native, they think that the Spaniards were the only murderers, History school textbooks actually try to brainwash us that way.

Other problem was in Euro 2008, people skipped their jobs and school to watch the national team play, and put flgs on their windows, used them as picnic towels, they don't know, but actually using the flag that way is a bit disrespectful, LOL!

Sorry for the long rant.

[SephirothVVC]

Originally Posted by Aota

Oh my gosh, yes! Dude, yuujirou, we need to hang out sometime! xD It's so boring here in Houston! >_<

Zagato289, try growing up here, and traveling all around Texas for a majority of your life as "vacation", and then, please, tell me not to hate it. xD

New york sucks a lot too

[Scout]

I'm greatly proud of my native country, as I like my motherland very much. RUSSIA is one of the greatest countries in the world. Of course, it's not a perfect one, but there is no a place in this world without it's drawbacks. for the last century russia has come through a very difficult period, and in the memory of it's cityzens these years will always remain as black ones. I mean the USSR period. But now the country and its people bebirth from the ruins. The youth like it's country and we do everything possible for it's faster recovery!

But my love for my motherland does not humiliate my love to the whole world, Japanese including. The world is so wonderful that i can't but appreciate it!

[Arikado]

I am very proud of my country. Taiwan has always been a great country. It suffered quite a bit in the past, but it held on and is still holding strong. China will never take Taiwan...I'll see to that personally >.< The thing I love most about Taiwan is its ability to balance the new and the old. There are very many traditions that are still commonly practiced, yet the country has also wholesomely taken in technology and innovation (kind of like Japan I guess). Taipei, being one of the more advanced cities in the world, is a great example of Taiwan's technological achievements. And who can forget health care? Taiwan has one of the best medical systems in the world. Free health care anyone?

Go Taiwan! XD