"My country, right or wrong" is a thing no patriot would ever think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying "My mother, drunk or sober."
G.K. Chesterton
I will always say "My mother drunk or sober", but I will never say it to her.
Patriotism is an interesting problem. Capitalism is a functioning system of wealth creation that simply needs democracy, the rule of law and a bit of common sense to work well. It also helps to have competing markets to really get going. This is why I think nation states, apart from any ethnic parochialism, work well. They ensure a common competitive ground and protective structure for the pursuit of wealth.
Of course pursuing wealth is not the same as pursuing happiness. Happiness is helped by a sense of community and culture, {although this also creates a lot of unhappiness}. This again suggests that countries, and national identities, are a positive institution designed to protect us from poverty and simultaneously enrich our soul.
Being proud of a country helps foster happiness rather than cynicism, less crime, less pollution, less corruption and better sports teams.
So why do countries and patriotism cause so much war, aggression, and hatred. Is it because patriotism leads to nationalism and then to racism. I don’t think it's that simple. But I must say I prefer the British sense of national cynicism to the more American sense of national pride. Partly because it helps progress.
My policy is you should never let people know just how much you need them. It's not good for you and it's not good for them. Same goes with a country. By all means defend it from any attacks but don’t go buying it flowers for no reason, writing it soppy poetry and telling it how much better it is than all the other countries. Pretty soon it will take advantage of your pathetic neediness.
I think Americans find it hard to change anything about their country because they feel the need to demonstrably love it so much. Just like no one wants to tell their lover they really need to lose a bit of weight.
But remember America; the best parts of the constitution are the amendments. So please US, for your own sake, pass universal healthcare legislation.
And don’t be angry at Obama, the truth is, someone had to tell you to lose a few pounds.
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Nice article. But don't make the mistake of thinking that Americans don't criticise America. Some of the most devastating criticisms of America I have ever heard have come from Americans.
ReplyDeleteNot so long ago one woman told me she was ashamed to be American. I did not make the mistake of saying anything anti-American back to her. I knew that people may criticise their own country but they don't like it when others do it.
We are all the same, I think. Here is a quote from a book by Chinua Achebe:
"The short bald-headed customs officer was very friendly. He began by asking Obi whether he had had a happy stay in England. Did he go to a university in England? He must have found the weather very cold.
'I didn't mind the weather very much in the end' said Obi who had learnt that an Englishman might grumble about his weather but did not expect a foreigner to join in."
So how do you react when foreigners complain about the English weather?
Point well made and taken {great quote btw, I love Achebe too}.
ReplyDeleteIn defence of {our admittedly awful} English weather I would only say it may be bad but there is very little of it; we have rain, cloud and sun and that's it, no tornadoes, no hurricanes, no massive floods, no earthquakes, no volcanoes, if we have more than three inches of snow it takes up the news on every channel for weeks.
Bill Bryson once said living in England is like living inside Tupperware. I assume he meant it's always grey and uneventful.... and you have a good chance of being stuffed full of sandwiches and dragged out on a camping trip.
D.B.