Not a patriot, and very proud of it.
Patriotism has always made me feel rather uncomfortable. Because when you scratch a little beneath the surface, it’s actually just jingoism .
A definition of patriotism is:
Patriotism or national pride is the feeling of love, devotion and sense of attachment to a homeland and alliance with other citizens who share the same sentiment.
Which seems all well and good. Until you think about what the definition implies, and then ever so slightly adjust it.
Patriotism or national pride is the feeling of hatred, disrespect and sense of opposition to a land and its citizens who share a different sentiment to your own.
And then look at the definition of jingoism:
Jingoism is nationalism in the form of aggressive foreign policy, such as a country’s advocacy for the use of threats or actual force, as opposed to peaceful relations, in efforts to safeguard what it perceives as its national interests.
There’s not a great deal of difference.
Patriotism sounds as though it’s something positive, whereas in fact it is a shield (in many cases with a misapplied St George’s cross on it) hiding a much more sinister sectarian sword.
It’s nice to like stuff about the place where you live. And I definitely like some things about England.
But I like things about Scotland too. And Wales. And Ireland. And France. And Germany. And Kerala. And Vietnam. And there’s lots of other places that I love the sound of but haven’t visited yet. I quite fancy a fortnight in Iran for example. And Palestine. And Israel.
And there is a lot of things that I don’t like about England. And all of those other countries too. But I would never, I could never let that fester into a hatred of an entire country, or its people, or its religion.
But I’m lucky, because my life and my experiences have led me to naturally feel that way. So hatred must be the same. It’s something that develops over time. And it’s mostly bought about through fear, and through pain. And that’s really sad. There must be an awful emptiness inside to hate so much. It sounds exhausting, and such a waste of what could be a wonderful life.
My heart truly goes out to the poor haters.
So, if anyone tells you that they are a patriot, do the jingo bingo and see if what they really stand for actually ticks off the things in the second paragraph. And perhaps give them a big hug.
