(Wlodzimierz Holsztynski) wrote in message . com...
snip

Patriotism, nationalism, chauvinism

Patriotism cf Nationalism is a distinction worth drawing

Patriotism
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Patriotism is a positive, constructive feeling and
attitude. A patriot is a person, who wishes everybody,
hence every country, every nation, every ethniv group
well. A patriot devotes her/his efforts mostly to
"her/his" country since it is the country which s/he
knows well, including the people, the language, the
culture, the political situation... where perhaps the
ancestors were buried. But patriot will be happy to
contribute to the wellbeing of any group of people,
not necessarily of her/his own country.

Since patriotism is a positive notion, one can be
a patriot of more than one country.

This seems a very loose and generous interpretation of patriotism and
the concluding sentence just plain wrong.

Maybe I'm against patriotism because my country is so spineless: if I
lived somewhere with something to be proud of then maybe I would feel
patriotic but AISI political argument tends to go from effect to cause
in an attempt to justify an agenda that has its origins elsewhere. Why
should I be any different?

Patriotism just makes no sense whatsoever. Walking round the richer
parts of, say, London: Mayfair, Kensington and the like, and seeing
the people there ISTM that I, and they, have far more in common with
people of a similar social class in another country.

AIUI historically the nation state is an impermanent feature of
political life. It's here today but it will be gone tomorrow. The
tribal instinct will remain.

Do I hate my country? I'm nine tenths of the way there and this seems
the only reasonable response to the way life is lived here. Give me
the chance (I reckon it would take about £10 000) and I would be off
like a shot. This seems like a completely reasonable pov. In the
circumstances patriotism would be insane.

My country right or wrong? Wrong.

cheers

dd