I grow up learning how great is my country and how should I love it, starting with teaching us how to draw our national flag in kinder garden to know our history and all the bravery stories. Frankly those are pretty good stories and I do love my country and my heritage but once I tried to look up my motive why I love my country and what does that means?
After a while I think I love my country and my people cause I know them more than any other people in the world but I grow up with foreigners too and yet I love them equally so maybe It's not the people I love the country. Love the sand the history love streets love all those yet it doesn't make any sense to me how to love things more than I love the people. what kind of aspects and traits in my people that make me love them? generosity? yeah but I know some cheap people and I still love them in spite of that. To sum it all up I love my people cause we talk the same language, have the same beliefs and feel each other from struggles and bad times to fun and good times.
People are people anywhere and from everywhere maybe cultural differences but in the end we shed the same blood and tears we laugh we love we hate using similar motives, it's safe to say our similarities are much more than our differences. I have this group of buddies we chill together always at the same place from 4 different continents and we do enjoy our time like we are brothers and sister just cause we decided to put our differences aside
Patriotism and nationalism can be the fuel to prosperity or can be used as the mother of all conflicts to cause wars, genocides and all sort of trouble in this world and make it a real sick world. Historically your grand grand father killed my grand grand father, is that a reason to hate you? if yes then it's safe to say that we all hate each others (which is true to some people like the hate between Jews and the Arab world or north and south Korea).
Maybe you strongly love your country especially if your away from it yet you left it anyway but I'm pretty sure everyone got a reason why to leave your homeland but your home sickness and love to your homeland can't be changed to hate towards other people just cause your country had conflicts in the past with different countries. if you believe in god I don't think any religion said your country is better than another or those people are better another.
Supremacy is always the next step to extremists they feel they are the best so don't be an extremist and think just cause your from whatever country you're better than anyone else try to see through flesh through culture through differences, you will find the world more friendly and peaceful
I love this picture but the a misunderstanding will rise "you ask me not to love my country?" NO not at all i'm just saying love the world like you love your country make your patriotism part of being humanitarian. If most of the world like this we won't see starvation in Africa cause you in the other side of the world will feel like those are your people dying of starvation, charity and donations to help should be global not just to help the people living inside some man made lines on a map called borders. Love the world love the people be a citizen of the world. if you love the world you still love your country and your people cause they are part of this world.
The bad side of this that you might defend everything your country does even if it's unethical or it's just wrong. Malcom X once said "You're not to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality . Wrong is wrong no matter who does it or says it" if you think something is wrong say it don't let this pride tame you it's actually those who learn from history mistakes to lead the way to a better future.
Finally i'd like to leave some great quotes:
I am by heritage a Jew, by citizenship a Swiss, and by makeup a human being, and only a human being, without any special attachment to any state or national entity whatsoever. Albert Einstein
No one is patriotic about taxes. George Orwell
I'm A Citizen Of The World
