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"Patriotism"

A) You love your country, from simple pride to lovely nationalistic style 'We're better than everyone else and Islams are stealing all our hard earned bread'. Simple pride being 'yay, I love my country, although it does have some bad bits'.

Or

B) Gustave Flaubert, Frenchman in the 1800s - despised France, loved Egypt. 'As for the idea of a native country, that is to say, of a certain bit of ground traced out on a map and seperated from others by a rec or blue line: no. My native country is for me the country that I love, that is, the one that makes me dream, that makes me feel well'

Maybe you love Britain (or Wales/N.I/Scotland/England/US whatever) as in Flauberts ideas....or which one do you feel?

A) You love your country, from simple pride to lovely nationalistic style 'We're better than everyone else and Islams are stealing all our hard earned bread'. Simple pride being 'yay, I love my country, although it does have some bad bits'.

Or

B) Gustave Flaubert, Frenchman in the 1800s - despised France, loved Egypt. 'As for the idea of a native country, that is to say, of a certain bit of ground traced out on a map and seperated from others by a rec or blue line: no. My native country is for me the country that I love, that is, the one that makes me dream, that makes me feel well'

Maybe you love Britain (or Wales/N.I/Scotland/England/US whatever) as in Flauberts ideas....or which one do you feel?

Both, you can love a country because it is your home or you can love it because it is where you live, i love this country, i don't necessarily like it all the time but it is my home until i decide otherwise.

I'd be the pride one.

I'm hugely proud of my country, and am proud to be a national here, and am proud to say i'm British.

But, i do recognise it ain't perfect, but i'd rather live here than any other country in the world.

I think i may have "grass is greener" syndrome, i can feel that i don't want to stay here as much as i used to.

I like this country and I'd rather live here than anyone else, other than that I guess I'm easy...


Ofcourse, I see anyone who lives here and can speak the language as English and have odd soft spots for foreign culture... but hey, it's all good. :-)

The longer I stay in this country, the less proud I am of it. I'm definately not the first one any more, at all, I dislike the intolerence seemingly rife through many different groups I meet just in everyday life.

If I could live anywhere? Probably Italy, just for the lifestyle and beautiful country, though I have a feeling it'll be somewhere outside of Europe when I know the world a bit better first hand.

The sooner I get away from the UK the better. This is a country which is failing it's nationals and I don't want my family or me to be a part of it anymore.

As soon as I can muster it, we're off to wither S.Ireland or New Zealand

To those who say 'Pride' - is that simply because of where you are, or because you actually love the land and, shall we say, 'spirit' of the place.

I accept that one cannot know many other cultures in detail unless one is exceptionally lucky (the fact I say that proves somewhat my views), but do you love Britain because it's British or because you love it, the actual land and life of it?

Lived in America for a couple of years and just recently Canada for 4 months and i consider them far better countries to live in and more my spiritual home(s). I frankly have no pride at all in being English and the sooner i get my teaching degree and go to teach in either Japan or America and leave this country behind the better.

Ah, I see something interesting.

I take Lalakersrule as my example.

You say you aren't proud of being English and wish to go. Is that because of the actual physical reality of the place or because of the society?

I'm just curious - Flaubert seemed to make sense to me. Especially as he loved a nation that wasn't and indeed isn't as 'good to live in' as his nation of birth.