Nationalism and You!

[DiamondDog]

[Nalano]

That's a good list. I'd have to agree with all. I'd probably list the space program as a whole on there, rather than just the moon. Voyager, Pioneer, Viking, Hubble, Pathfinder, Curiosity, Galileo, Cassini-Huygens, Kepler, Mars Odyssey, and Chandra , just to name a few.

I thought the space program in general was implied, but yeah. That.

[mickygor]

I voted labour because despite their many many flaws, their base ideology isn't inherently evil.

You're kidding, right? Labour are even more authoritarian than the LibDems are, at the moment. Removing self determination from people is inherently evil. Enforced wealth redistribution is not a moral approach to the issue of poverty. For crying out loud, the best party to vote for if you're leftist at the moment is the Conservative party, and that's really not saying much. Labour is a shambles, and the NuLabour reactionaries are driving them even further towards a completely authoritarian system.


As for the topic at hand... I'm proud of our Finest Hour. I think it's hard not to be, to be honest. I'm proud of our colonial history, that we managed to beat out continental Europe to become the dominant power. Punching above our weight, so to speak. There are too many figures to list them all, but top of my list, I'm proud of Alan Turing. Without him, I'd probably have a qualification in languages and be stuck just being a language teacher (ignoring the fact that someone else would've developed the tech, you know what I mean). Currently, I'm proud that we're the voice of dissent within the EU. Someone's gotta stand up to them, and Nigel Farage is the perfect figurehead. There are tonnes of things I'm proud of, I'll probably post again later when I'm not in game.

[Nalano]

I'm proud of our colonial history

Eugh.

10chars.

[Hypernetic]

I thought the space program in general was implied, but yeah. That.

It was, but I wanted to add that anyway.

[mickygor]

Eugh.

10chars.

You 1/32 native or whatever it is you have to be these days? There's nothing wrong with being proud of your nation's history.

[Hypernetic]

You 1/32 native or whatever it is you have to be these days? There's nothing wrong with being proud of your nation's history.

Are you proud of slavery too?

[lasikbear]

Are you proud of slavery too?

Evidently unless you are 1/32 black or greater you should be.

[Alex Bakke]

I'm proud of our colonialism, but in the sense that we were a tiny nation, we were clever enough to hit the industrial revolution first, and we wasted no time in building one of the largest empires of the world.

(How we handled it of course is another matter)

[JaminBob]

We invented the modern torpedo, we have one the cleanest seas, our handball team is among the best in the world, many of our cultural heritages are under UNESCO protection, Nikola Tesla was born and raised in our country and he was half Croatian.

I have nothing against Croatia, I'm spending my honeymoon there in one month time. Everything you say is valid, although claiming the 'Modern Topredo', did made me snigger.

You also have awesome bendy trains from what I'm told.

[Fumarole]

I reserve pride for accomplishment, so no, I'm not proud to be American. My parents fucked here, I had no part in it. Other people took an active role in their citizenship, and good on them for it, that's something to be proud of. I'm happy to be American, yes, but that's a different thing.

The things I'm less than pleased with about my country would have to be topped by how much our politicians bow to the ignorant masses, but I suppose that's all in the name of democracy, eh? Education can fix this problem, but likely not in my lifetime.

[mickygor]

Are you proud of slavery too?

I'm not sure pride is the right attribute for it. Obviously it's difficult to justify something that has an obvious immorality, but you have to place it in its time. The slave trade existed in a time when owning slaves was by and large an acceptable policy. As such, I can hold pride in my nation's actions at the time. For example, keeping it on thee subject of slavery, the English empire was very progressive in the legalities of slavery and its eventual abolition.

[Nalano]

I'm not sure pride is the right attribute for it. Obviously it's difficult to justify something that has an obvious immorality, but you have to place it in its time. The slave trade existed in a time when owning slaves was by and large an acceptable policy. As such, I can hold pride in my nation's actions at the time. For example, keeping it on thee subject of slavery, the English empire was very progressive in the legalities of slavery and its eventual abolition.

No, the English didn't need to uphold slavery. They made their money by subjugating entire nations and exporting foodstuffs while the locals starved. I'm pretty sure there was never a time when genocide was acceptable. And while America ended its "peculiar institution" in 1865, the Brits kept holding on to those territories straight to the Second World War. Funny, that.

[Jiiiiim]

A great time for hats, though

[DiamondDog]

I'm sorry Nalano but I'm calling fucking bullshit.

How can you not have American cheese on your 'not proud' list?

[Cryptoshrimp]

I'm pretty proud my country's still here, being boxed in against France and Germany. Also, we're pretty good at trolling mother nature. And raw herring, of course.

[kalelovil]

No, the English didn't need to uphold slavery. They made their money by subjugating entire nations and exporting foodstuffs while the locals starved. I'm pretty sure there was never a time when genocide was acceptable. And while America ended its "peculiar institution" in 1865, the Brits kept holding on to those territories straight to the Second World War. Funny, that.

True, but the USA has been guilty of much the same in the Americas before and during the Cold War.
E.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_republic

[Nalano]

True, but the USA has been guilty of much the same in the Americas before and during the Cold War.
E.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_republic

Two things.

1) If you'll notice, I already said it was something to be ashamed of. Pay attention.
2) How does that in any way excuse what the British did for centuries?

[Skalpadda]

Not sure I'd use the word pride, there are certainly things I like about my country but I can't take much credit for them.

Some things I like:
Our "Freedom to roam" laws and customs. which go a long way to making sure our country is actually our country.
The general geekiness of our culture.
That we've stayed away from wars for 200 years.

I would also like to take this opportunity to apologise for IKEA.

[kalelovil]

Two things.

1) If you'll notice, I already said it was something to be ashamed of. Pay attention.
2) How does that in any way excuse what the British did for centuries?

When did I say it did?