Patriotism is overrated

[SangasCoverDrive]

I don't get why patriotism is so overrated. In most cases, people don't choose the nationality they have so why do people have to keep on proving their patriotism or loyalty to the country?

 

[Giannis]

Most emotions are overrated

 

[SangasCoverDrive]

Most emotions are overrated

Patriotism is one of the worst though. Why should someone be proud of their nation? What has it given to them? It's always an institution or individual which makes you proud, whether it is a sports team or an Olympian or Nobel Peace winner.

 

[Giannis]

Patriotism is one of the worst though. Why should someone be proud of their nation? What has it given to them? It's always an institution or individual which makes you proud, whether it is a sports team or an Olympian or Nobel Peace winner.

Patriotism is a strong emotion like religiosity, it can bring out the x factor and help you achieve something greater.

 

[dildilpak]

Patriotism is a strong emotion like religiosity, it can bring out the x factor and help you achieve something greater.

Or it can equally lead you astray like the Fascist Italy or the Nazi Germany.

I dont have a problem with either Religion or Patriotism or infact any -ism, but usually it can be an overkill. People cant be objective with any emotion.

 

[Itachi]

I don't get why patriotism is so overrated. In most cases, people don't choose the nationality they have so why do people have to keep on proving their patriotism or loyalty to the country?

you also don't chose your mother but that doesn't mean the love becomes any less.

 

[PetroDollars]

Its about your identity.

Before it was all about race - Blacks were one, whites were one, arabs were one, Chinese were one, etc.

Then it became about religion.

Then it became about nations.

One wonders what will be next, in a world dominated by tech giants and when nation states disappear.

In an increasingly Capitalistic world, Our identities maybe more about being a Google slave vs a Facebook Slave.

What about an earthling or a martian. The war will be interesting.

 

[Local.Dada]

Most of us have heard the cliche man is a social animal. We need to be in a group and that’s how we have been from the start. It starts and ends with family, community, tribe,caste, religion, nationality,race etc etc so it is natural to have one inclination or the other.

If not patriotism we will find something else to cling on to. At least I think that is better than racial,religious, caste- based discriminations.

I would say after family probably patriotism is the least harmful thing compared to other things I have mentioned. So in that context not overrated at all.

 

[dildilpak]

you also don't chose your mother but that doesn't mean the love becomes any less.

I dont really get the concept of ‘love your motherland or fatherland’. A blood bond is very different than an abstract notion like a country which at the end of the day is just a piece of land surrounded by invisible boundaries. A country is transactional - you cant change a family if you dont like it, but you can easily change a country or religion if it doesnt fulfill your needs like so many people do & have done since time immemorial.

Patriotism & Religion are just 2 concepts invoked to artificially keep people together & they work too to some extent, but someday other isms will come which will surpass them.

 

[street cricketer]

Man is tribal by nature and he has to band together based on at least one of the main tribal identities to feel as a part of a community - it may be nationality or religion or caste or any other ideology like communism, etc. It is not possible for a human to say he is devoid of all tribal identities. As a poster said before, man is indeed a social animal.

Patriotism is just one of those identities. Patriotism per se isn't wrong. Feeling affection towards the place one's born or grew up in is something very natural and is not that different from feeling a natural affection towards the culture one grew up in. It is when one feels that his country can never be wrong and is the greatest country on earth, or his religion is the only right religion and the people of his community can never do wrong when patriotism transforms to nationalism and to fascism, and religious devotion transforms to fundamentalism and to extremism. It's always good to have a moderate view on everything.

The problem with our people is that a lot aren't patriotic, they're just nationalistic. The ability to be critical of one's own country when it's in the wrong is what differentiates patriotism from nationalism. The Germans for example are very patriotic too, but they also tend to be highly critical of their past and the fascism their country plunged into during the Nazi era. The Brits on the other hand, are more nationalistic. Some are critical of the excesses that the British empire did but the majority tend to feel very proud about the British empire irrespective of what they did in their colonies. South asians for the most part are heavily nationalistic.

 

[guna]

Patriotism is needed with the way the world currently works. May be in a few decades from now, it will slowly fadeaway like many things that currently have a firm grip on humans.

 

[Itachi]

I dont really get the concept of ‘love your motherland or fatherland’. A blood bond is very different than an abstract notion like a country which at the end of the day is just a piece of land surrounded by invisible boundaries. A country is transactional - you cant change a family if you dont like it, but you can easily change a country or religion if it doesnt fulfill your needs like so many people do & have done since time immemorial.

Patriotism & Religion are just 2 concepts invoked to artificially keep people together & they work too to some extent, but someday other isms will come which will surpass them.

I agree. it's a psychological manipulation (both religion and nationalism) to keep people grouped together.

I don't think any other aspects can surpass them though. These two aspects can be manipulated to variety of arrays and other isms doesn't have that much flexibility. They just inherit from the two above.

 

[Mamoon]

Patriotism is the dumbest concept in the world.

 

[ElRaja]

humans are tribal, patrotism and nationalism create large tribes which would not be possible otherwise. absolute individualism would kill patriotism, but is likely to bring significant challenges with it, not least mental as people would then have to expend energy to form basic ideas and views which are generally absorbed wholesale from the larger tribes.

furthermore patriotism cannot be evolved out alone, as long as there are other patriots and larger "tribes" you would put yourself at a distinct disadvantage abandoning nationalism. as wealth spreads to the developed world the most important countries in the world will invariably be the most populous.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Patriotism is a big deal but the way the politicians and the media of the world have defined patriotism in their own vested interests is what is dangerous for the society.

Yes, i would love to reduce my dependence on Chinese products despite knowing it might not make a big difference but yes i will try my best not to financially empower enemies of my nation.

Patriotism is also about caring for your motherland. To fight against corruption , to fight against pollution, to fight against injustice, to fight for your civil rights.

When you are out there in foreign land , you will always be recognised first by your motherland than anything else. It is your duty to honour your motherland and protect its image.

Watch Swades by Shah Rukh Khan to understand what patriotism means. The mo or brings goosebumps to me whenever I watch it.

Sadly, modern day patriotism as per media is all about voting for a particular right wing party and that's what is doing damage to the beautiful emotion that is patriotism.

People who still depend on their parents and wouldn't even stans up from the sofas to do something for the family know nothing about what makes people defend their borders. Shame on such fickle amd dossile beta men.

 

[guna]

Patriotism is the dumbest concept in the world.

What unites you with a Sindhi in your country then? Without Patriotism, you will go back to tribal affiliations and you will be more inclined to support Afghanistan as I think you are a Pashtun.

 

[AdamM97]

Most human activity isn’t rational but aesthetic and based on how we feel. Some things don’t really have a rational explanation and we shouldn’t look for them either. Trying to find rational explanations for the human experience is futile.

Humans are tribalistic and very protective of their own and their territory, it’s a survival instinct. Our ancestors increased their chances of survival by living in tribes instead of venturing out on their own which is why we today are so tribalistic. From a rational POV, it doesn’t make any sense but it does from the standpoint of a human trying to survive.

This idea of rationalizing the human experience and trying to find materialistic explanations for everything became very common amongst French philosophers in the 17th century which is why French liberalism is very atheistic and individualistic compared to American/English version of classical liberalism but that’s another topic so I’ll digress.

 

[Ashmal]

Nation and state are just fancy names for modern tribal culture.

Nationalism and patriotism are way too much overrated and used by politicians around the world to incite hate and fool the masses.

 

[Mamoon]

What unites you with a Sindhi in your country then? Without Patriotism, you will go back to tribal affiliations and you will be more inclined to support Afghanistan as I think you are a Pashtun.

Nothing unites Pakistanis.

Pakistan has no identity. It has suffered from an identity crisis since its inception because it has tried to whitewash its non-Muslim history and last and adopt Arab culture.

However, the Arabs have rejected us and now we are trying to become Turks.

 

[Giannis]

Nothing unites Pakistanis.

Pakistan has no identity. It has suffered from an identity crisis since its inception because it has tried to whitewash its non-Muslim history and last and adopt Arab culture.

However, the Arabs have rejected us and now we are trying to become Turks.

How does Pakistan have any Arab culture? I notice a lot of Pakistani "liberals" make this claim but I don't think they have an idea what Arab culture is, if you ever get the chance to travel abroad and interact with Arabs you'll realize that arab culture is very different. Pakistan culture is mainly Pakistani (northern South Asian) with some Turko-Persian influence due almost a millenia of central asian rule in the subcontinent.

 

[Giannis]

What unites you with a Sindhi in your country then? Without Patriotism, you will go back to tribal affiliations and you will be more inclined to support Afghanistan as I think you are a Pashtun.

You don't have to be patriotic to feel united in a multicultural country, there are many people in America, Canada, Brazil etc that aren't patriotic to their country and share nothing in common with another race or ethnic group that lives down the street but the`they're pragmatic cause they may like or be used to the current arrangement, perhaps there are economical or security benefits. In [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] 's case supporting Afghanistan would make no sense as his standard of life would go down if Afghanistan were to annex the northwest of Pakistan. People have pragmatic reasons for supporting unity.

 

[Local.Dada]

How does Pakistan have any Arab culture? I notice a lot of Pakistani "liberals" make this claim but I don't think they have an idea what Arab culture is, if you ever get the chance to travel abroad and interact with Arabs you'll realize that arab culture is very different. Pakistan culture is mainly Pakistani (northern South Asian) with some Turko-Persian influence due almost a millenia of central asian rule in the subcontinent.

Serious question . Is the Koran that is taught in Pakistan in Urdu/Punjabi/ other ethnic languages or is it in Arabic?

I believe even in India it is in Arabic

For example I have seen Christian missionaries in India translate the Bible to the local language for their preaching.

 

[guna]

Serious question . Is the Koran that is taught in Pakistan in Urdu/Punjabi/ other ethnic languages or is it in Arabic?

I believe even in India it is in Arabic

For example I have seen Christian missionaries in India translate the Bible to the local language for their preaching.

Arabic is a must to understand Holy Quran. Imitating Arabs is a must as Prophet Muhammad PBUH was an Arab. Islam tries to eliminate tribal and cultural differences and brings every Muslim under one umbrella of culture. Though most Muslim countries have their own unique culture, they still have a lot of things in common.

 

[Giannis]

Serious question . Is the Koran that is taught in Pakistan in Urdu/Punjabi/ other ethnic languages or is it in Arabic?

I believe even in India it is in Arabic

For example I have seen Christian missionaries in India translate the Bible to the local language for their preaching.

What does that have to do with Arab culture? The Quran is taught all over the world in Arabic as all Muslims must perform their prayers in Arabic. I grew up in America and every Muslim here learns the Quran in Arabic. As for preaching, dawah is usually done in the local language. Christianity has different traditions and rules from Islam so you can't compare the two.

 

[SangasCoverDrive]

Go to South America and people are more inclined towards the country of their ancestors such as Italy, Portugal etc. The same can be said about POC in America, England and all the multicultural countries but the unfortunate people living in the poorer countries have to act patriotic even though the country has not given them back anything.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Patriotism is the only way we can have one group of people living advantageously over another. This is how we can maintain advantages of one society over the rest, i.e., first world over third world. If we in the west have worked hard to elevate ourselves through science, art and culture, why would we dilute it by giving it all away for free to the rest of the world?

Thus patriotism is essential in order to motivate citizens to want to maintain that gap.