What makes you feel proud of your country?

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To quote another Molson Canadian commercial,

Here is a clip of the one Jaguar mentioned.

[ August 09, 2004, 17:00: Message edited by: reepnorp ]

 

Meh, nothing to be proud of here.
Our politics are so split up and spread out nothing ever happens, our 'multicultural society' thing just isn't working out, with foreigners having strongly above-average unemployment and criminality ratings, below-average education and income.
Not blaming them, but I do blame the system.
Our police force is rather ineffective, our policy of condoning is stimulating crime, and our punishments for criminals are a joke.
Plus, anyone who DOES have a well-paid job will pay for half a dozen people less lucky/talented/w/e as we are a very leftist country
On the other hand, we get to buy and smoke weed. kinda stupid this is the only 'good' thing that comes to mind.
Aw hell, Holland sucks, I'm moving out of here as soon as I turn 18.

 

1. The native wildlife. Any country that can generate the fauna and flora we have in Australia is one worth cherishing. Okay, so we eat one of the animals that's on our Coat of Arms, but that's typical.

2. Sense of humour. Every state has something to take the piss out of them for, and there are national jokes about Tasmania, Queensland, Sydney, Melbourne and every regional centre. To cap it off: a former Prime Minister of this country drowned while swimming on the coast. How was he memorialised? The Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Pool.

3. Multiculturalism. Sure, it's not perfect, but by-and-large everyone gets along okay, and it expands the everyday experience of the citizen when they know that there are more lived realities than their own out there. Greater knowledge inevitably leads to greater appreciation and tolerance. Maybe it's more a Melbourne thing, someone else can correct/confirm that.

4. Lack of European history. Not a knock on the Europeans here, but the fact that Australia is a predominantly Anglo country, in the Asia region, and which has an Aboriginal history which dates back thousands of years means that there is no real cultural identity that we feel compelled to cling to. The closest thing to this is the Anzac legacy, which is something that I can feel proud of - not that people went off to die on some god-forsaken peninsula, but that they faced everything together. Anyone who wants a good intro to this should rent Gallipoli. "Mateship" is an over-used term, but as a national attribute, it's something I can be proud of.

5. Aussie rules football. At least we don't call the Brisbane Lions the "three-time world champions" of the game. It's fast, it's aggressive, and it's tactical. We have a unballishly-shaped ball that you're meant to kick around. Plus, for the ladies, the guys are pretty easy on the eyes.

6. The beer and barbecue traditions. Nothing better than a summer day with a footy, a few beers, a barbecued steak or two, some onions and potatoes, and nothing to look forward to but more of the same.

Sure, there's plenty I don't like about Australia, politics being number one on the list. But there are moments and places where all of that just drops away and I can't help smiling at how much I love this country, just for what it is, not for

 

I'm proud of our language and freedom here in Finland.

 

Man reenorp, that brought a tear to my eye. Sniff.

So beautiful.

 

I'm proud of my country's language(it's said to be the most scientific language in the world). Also, the food, although some foreigners seem to find the smell unpleasant. We've got a history of around 4500 years, although the Chinese have been trying to steal a chunk of out history lately.

NOT proud : We're still at war(technically), and from what I hear, if war starts, my city's one of the first to go.

 

What is it that makes it "scientific"?

 

Well, they say it was made by looking at the shape of the mouth or something...I don't really remember, except for a couple of professors saying that it was... Pretty lame arguement on my part, isn't it?
I'm sure someone can argue it better than me...

 

Well, what makes me proud of my country is that we learned from history and drew our conclusions and implemented them. After WW-II we made a democracy that works (unlike the earlier Weimar attempt) and we made a significant step away from traditional understanding of nationalism to a sort of enlighted internationalism (only to coin it in the phrases of the US discussion).

West of Europe, the core - consisting of Benelux, Germany and France - from bitter experience, came to understand that the only way for us to survive - physically as well as economically, was to unite and get over the old nationalist animosities ... that led to the early EWG* that reglemented the strategic goods of our continent: Coal, steel and nuclear material, and of course, trading and agriculture.

Despite all flaws we have been doing admirably well - trading sovereignty for mutual interest, cooperating for mutual benefit and profit - achieving half a decade of peace, stability and prosperity.

Vive de Gaulle, vive Adenauer!

* the german acronym ...

 

What am I proud of?

Well, first off, like it was already mentioned, we managed to defend ourselves against an enemy far superior in numbers in the WW2, and after THAT, we drove the Germans away as well.

We have one of the best education systems in the world.

We are, even if Wirhe disregards it, ont op of all the new technological gadgets. After all, we practically invented mobile phones...

We gave the world Linus Torvalds, without whom there'd be no Linux.

The guy who originally invented IRC was Finnish, too.

Even if it to the non-farmer population it might seem like a small thing, the AIV-stuff that's fed to cows in winter was creeated by a Finnish scientist (Who got a Nobel prize for it)

And, of course, I am proud of our language.

 

Once upon a time in Vevey, a company started to revolutionize the world of chocolate. It researched new and better ways to make it tasty. The company since has grown to be the biggest food company world-wide and Swiss Chocolate is the only chocolate thou shalt eat.

Someone placed those huge thingies with snow on top all over. Great view.

And we generate about 75% of all votes and elections worldwide held per year..... beat that!

 

There is ABSOLUTLY nothing that makes me feel proud about my country (Romania). But of course it not the worst place to live... and I do live in the best part in the country... so ok, it's a preety nice heck of a 2nd world parasite of a country with the laziest people you could possibly think of... in Tymora's name! I could swear i would rather live in Sigil!!! No, I'm just kidding... it's a nice place to live but still i find nothing worth beeing pround of.

 

I am absalutely not proud on my country whatsoever. The way Belgium's political system is constituted makes me sick. You actually have 3 different governments. It's so funny. Because Belgium is home to a sh*tload of languages, there are some minor problems concerning them as well. I swear you will hardly find a country so dense in different cultures and communities, but the way they rule (it's a monarchy) is just unacceptable. Some of you will probably don't even know where it's situated on the world.

Other than that, WWI has been fought largely in Belgium, because our king then didn't gave permission to the germans to attack France through Belgium. I am more proud of Europe in what it has accomplished. Most people don't give a damn about the EU, but I do. Just now, some new countries will be added to the EU, and probably the first muslim county, Turkey, is next. Hope it helps laying connections. Peace in the making? It better is.


(Sorry for the bump)

 

I already posted in this thread. But I've read an article in the newspaper today. And again, I think, we've got the greatest political system in the whole world. Semi-direct democracy just rules in every way. I feel lucky to have been born where I've been born.

 

I feel no alliegance to my country, no debt to be repaid by patriotism and thus exagerating country's virtues.

It is a nice country though, as always some things are better, some worse than elsewhere, but i'd like to point out the nature. Slovenia has just about any type of natural enviroment except for desert and arctic. All you have to do is drive for 2 hours and you're looking at something completely different than before.