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arjen · 05-08-2004, 06:47 PM

Just to be blunt: I dont like waving flags. Seen a lot of bad examples of peoples that waved flags around too excitedly.

And one more thing that in my view shows a big difference between the United States and my country. Its about being proud of that country. First, its alright to be proud , all the countries in the world have one or two, or in some cases even more things to be proud of.

But I have some problems with 'teaching' people to be proud of a country. For two reasons actually: first, when you are dealing with young people its very hard for them to see that there are things in a country or a nation to be proud of and at the same time that there are things in a country that you shouldnt be too proud of, children until the age of 12 think in either 'black' or 'white', the concept of 'gray' is hardly known to them. (at least thats what the current specialist say about that) So in my opinion these children are filled with the idea that the nation they live in is good without questioning.

Second, when these young people have the idea that their nation is good in all things, and that might not only be the nation itself, but also some other, more international phenomena, like capitalism, christianity or democracy, they lose their critical view on such issues, and what might even be more important, their critical view towards their own society. And in the future that can prove to be a great problem, because if you want to progress, or survive, whatever term you like best, you will always need to adapt and change...and therefor you need to be critical towards the past. and by the way that is the thing i am most proud of when it comes to my country, not the wooden shoes, not the invention of the stock-market, not the liberal views on weed and certainly NOT the queen...its that ability to change...to see new opportunities

(im not a socialist-atheist-anarchist, im just critical...lol)

05-08-2004, 06:47 PM	#14
arjen Elite Waterdeep Guard Join Date: May 6, 2004 Location: Rotterdam, Holland Age: 47 Posts: 20	Just to be blunt: I dont like waving flags. Seen a lot of bad examples of peoples that waved flags around too excitedly. And one more thing that in my view shows a big difference between the United States and my country. Its about being proud of that country. First, its alright to be proud , all the countries in the world have one or two, or in some cases even more things to be proud of. But I have some problems with 'teaching' people to be proud of a country. For two reasons actually: first, when you are dealing with young people its very hard for them to see that there are things in a country or a nation to be proud of and at the same time that there are things in a country that you shouldnt be too proud of, children until the age of 12 think in either 'black' or 'white', the concept of 'gray' is hardly known to them. (at least thats what the current specialist say about that) So in my opinion these children are filled with the idea that the nation they live in is good without questioning. Second, when these young people have the idea that their nation is good in all things, and that might not only be the nation itself, but also some other, more international phenomena, like capitalism, christianity or democracy, they lose their critical view on such issues, and what might even be more important, their critical view towards their own society. And in the future that can prove to be a great problem, because if you want to progress, or survive, whatever term you like best, you will always need to adapt and change...and therefor you need to be critical towards the past. and by the way that is the thing i am most proud of when it comes to my country, not the wooden shoes, not the invention of the stock-market, not the liberal views on weed and certainly NOT the queen...its that ability to change...to see new opportunities (im not a socialist-atheist-anarchist, im just critical...lol) __________________ COMING THROUGH!!!!