I know him well. I’m used to him, he feels like “home”. I have lived with him/here a long time, and to be able to do so I have taught myself to stress the good parts and to understand and forgive and grow to love his irritating quirks.
Fighting? Sure I’d fight for him if it was really necessary, but how often is fighting the solution? Nagging, complaining and trying to change him/my country little by little will do more good. So I send my fiance to the hairdresser more often and I dabble in local politics.
Okay, maybe nagging an trying to make little changes won’t do much improving, but I do it anyway, because that is my way of loving. That and the occasianal outburst of pride and admiration for some side of my fiance or my country, as I have done many times on this board. But I think that the love shows most in wanting to stick with what I’ve got: I’d hate to have to move away or break up with my fiancé anytime soon !
Sorry to pile on, but this discussion of Canadian patriotism has hit on one of my pet peeves. Canadians, in my experience, are among the loudest, most persistent patriots on earth…and they’re never called on it!! Whenever Americans delve into über-patriotism there are always tons of people around ready and eager to put us back in our place and denounce our arrogance. (Sometimes, in fact, we’re attacked pre-emptively, before we’ve even done anything.) But when Canadians do the exact same thing – or worse – everyone just smiles blandly and ignores it. It’s like there’s this great, blinding myth that Candians couldn’t possibly be arrogant, because they’re all so polite and self-effacing and cosmopolitan, especially compared to those terrible Americans they have to live near. Bull. If I’m told one more time – without asking – about how the UN named Canada the best place to live, or the superiority of Canadian laws on this or that, or how civilized Canadians are, etc. ad nauseum…
Sorry, I’ve been rude. The discussion on this topic so far has been all in the family, and it’s not really my place to comment. Just had to vent. Canadians certainly have plenty to be proud of; just tone it down a bit – as much, for example, as you’d want to hear Americans go on and on about their country.
I agree. Your country should be more to you than the sum of its current policies. You can love a country’s politics and not love your country – and vice versa. For example, I don’t see any contradiction in Russians who fled the Soviet Union because they hated communism, but continued to love Russia for all its other qualities and meanings. Many German Jews, who more than anyone had reason to hate their country, continued to love Germany after the war (as was the case with the parents of an aquaintance of mine).
I would, if the opportunity presented itself, and was forced upon us, die for my country. Attack Canada and you’d attack Spezza.
That said, if somebody flew a plane into the CN Tower, I would not go out and join the army. Neither would I support my country if it decided, in retaliation, to invade another country with no cause. I would, however, join and support military action against an organized and identifiable enemy who was targeting Canadians or Canadian interests.
Yes, I do love my country. I feel no nationalistic pride, I’m not much of a patriot, but I do love it here. I love how everyone is given a chance, as far as it is possible. I love how the country sticks to a model that most of the rest of the world gazes on in bewilderment. I love how gay civil unions were legalized… and it was no big deal, no big debate, nothing - it just happened. I love how we haven’t been in a war for ages. I love the environment, especially the mountains (although it looks like I’ll never again get to visit them).
There are problems. We have a freaking king, for God’s sake. But all in all, I’ve been to plenty of countries, and none have ever come close. I love it here.
I really dislike a lot of this country’s policies, especially under the current crowd of assholes, but I haven’t lived under any president I really liked, though Clinton came close. There are also a lot of aspects of American culture I dislike–anything for a buck, crass vulgarity, bellicose pharisical religiosity.
That being said, I’d rather live here than anywhere else, including Western Europe. I like the people, for the most part, and I feel at home here. So, while I wouldn’t say I Love my country, I’d say I’m on pretty friendly terms with it.
Canadians certainly have plenty to be proud of; just tone it down a bit – as much, for example, as you’d want to hear Americans go on and on about their country.