In a thriving nation-state, the state does very little, and the nation accomplishes a lot. Because the state does very little, politics is a very small part of life. Because the nation accomplishes a lot, national pride is a big part of life.
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I don't like the idea of social nobodies assuming the accomplishments of their nation as part of their personal identity. Some people have every reason to feel national pride, but I think that feeling is best reserved to a minority of very influential people.
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A nation is made up by its people. Everyone has a stake in it and should feel pride in all its accomplishment and shame at it's failings. This kind of elitism leads to the people not feeling connected to their home country and therefore not caring about its actions.
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That's not even an elitist argument. I've no problem with being patriotic citizens of their home country. But nations are too large for most individuals to have a significant say in how the country looks like.
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Patriotism says "I'm proud of the country I belong to." National pride says "This country belongs to me." While the latter thinking might go violently astray, it also lends itself to a much greater sense of responsibility over the nation, despite its size.
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Patriotism is brightest when the nation does well but national pride never goes out, demanding action even in times of despair and shame.
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Plus the idea that only a few individuals should be responsible for the actions of a nation is the ultimate scapegoat. Bush may have condoned torture post 9/11 but we willingly ignored it.
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You're just strawmanning my argument.
There are obviously degrees of responsibility. Every citizen is somewhat responsible to contribute to the prosperity of their nation, but most of the time it is a few key decisions by a few people that have the largest impact on outcomes. -
If I did, I'm sorry. Perhaps there's a miscommunication. I personally believe pride and responsibility cannot exist exclusively so the idea that only a few should feel pride in their nation's everyday state also says only a few should be responsible for it's everyday actions.
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what about people in the liberal world order (Europe, North America, Australia ) (Japan?) feeling pride in the liberal world order
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