You could say, though, that part of being American is working to preserve the good that others have done. Just voting, for instance, should make you (somewhat) proud of yourself, for exercising the right that others worked so hard to establish.
Participating on a free-speech discussion board should make you proud to live in a place where this is so well protected. You’re helping keep speech free, simply by exercising it.
Yep, you *could *say that. But most people would walk out the door backwards if you did.
Manny Pacquiao
Lea Salonga
Efren “bata” Reyes
Boracay beach
and most importantly, gorgeous women.
Give this man an Internets, he’s won one.
Oh, fo’ sho’. Let me be clear that all the “French national prides” I listed are things that I believe would likely come up if you asked the average Frenchman “what makes France AWESOME, exactly ?” - I myself don’t derive personal pride from the historical existence of Napoleon or the present existence of cassoulet toulousain. It’s just part of the scenery of my life. I would much rather live here than in, say, Alabama ; but I’m not *proud *of living here, having been born here, yadda yadda.
Oddly enough however, even though I would self-describe as the least patriotic person and the first to criticize or mock my country… I still get half worked up when foreigners poo-poo it undeservedly or out of ignorance/false information (e.g. “Ha, ha, the Maginot line, you idiots ! They just ran around !”. Yes. Yes they did. That was the point).
I’m kind of ashamed of this, TBH.
I’m now the King of England? Cool!
Hills Hoists are pretty awesome. And goon bags. Pharlap! Don Bradman!
Australia
Groupthink.
The US is the cradle of democracy? Wha?
I call bullshit: I mentioned the Magna Carta.
My first thought as well.
Most Americans even now are indoctrinated about the greatness of their country. It is absurd and dangerous. The States are okay, but that is about it; there are lots of places freer and where living is better.
The States as it has evolved is ruled by a ruling class of lawyers and wealth, where politicians are pretty much bought and sold and convince themselves they aren’t.
As a foreigner living in Sweden, I see the Swedish attitude towards patriotism as one of relief rather than pride. It’s a ‘thank God we live in Sweden and not anywhere else on the planet’, a long sigh of relief.
However, if you dig deep enough it’s possible to find the tiniest trace of national pride. During my first months in Sweden, when people asked me what I thought of the country, I’d say “you guys are so lucky to have such a well-functioning state and such a great safety net”. (I’m sorry, as a political scientist I focus on that kind of boring stuff)
Rather than responding with a “yes, we’re lucky”, many Swedes would show their national pride right there. Their response would be a “no, we’re not lucky, we pay taxes for this” or “if we have this safety net today it’s because of the sacrifices of previous generations”. So from an outsider’s point of view, I think the ‘Swedish model’ is the only possible source of pride here.
There’s lots that us Kiwis are proud of…
First to offer universal suffrage
Sir Ed
Sir John
Sir Richard
Sir Apirana
Rutherford
Just to name a few
Then of course there’s our history at Gallipoli
The Nuke Ban
treatment of women - at one point the three highest political offices in the country were held by woman
Fastest Indian
Mclaren (YES - that mclaren)
Dolly (the sheep, not the singer)
Kiri
Peter (Jackson that is)
Naturally - the All Blacks are a source of National pride
Our yachtsmen
Jet Boats (what you didn’t know :dubious:)
BUNGY!!
Zorbing
Seconding the goon, and adding ‘laid back to the point of catatonia’. 
Oh, and Aussies are really good at taking the piss out of themselves, and I for one am very proud that we do!
Wot?
I think there is a fine line between pride in one’s community and jingoism. Pride in one’s community requires effort, it means that you will do your part to make the community better; while jingoism really just requires you to chant USA! at a sporting event a couple of times a year.
I don’t really take pride in America’s accomplishments like the moon landing or D-day because I feel like for intellectual consistency’s sake, I’d also have to be ashamed of things like slavery, the invasion of Iraq and the internment of Japanese-American citizens. I’m not responsible for any of that stuff, the good or the bad.
I would say that patriotism – the willingness to die for one’s country – is admirable, as is pride in the good things of one’s country. Jingoism is the idea that one’s country is better than other countries and a denigration of other countries.
All countries are beautiful and have wonderful people.
Panama is proud of the Panama Canal, although they are somewhat embarrassed by the fact that they not only didn’t build it, relatively few actual Panamanians even worked on it. (It was mostly built by imported labor from the West Indies and elsewhere.) However, they do have a justifiable pride in the fact that they have been running it well since they took it over in 1999, and are engaged in an ambitious expansion.
Ime, the only people in this world more self-obsessed than teenage girls are the Scots. So there.
So, what you’re saying is this board needs more teenage Scots girls? Cool.
