What makes you proud of your country?

[Angela]

(Oh, keep Mozart anyway, those national borders are so silly!)
Then add in writers and philosophers.

[Elias2]

I'm not really proud of Canada. It seems from 1867 onwards there is this underlaying obsession of keeping quebec inside the union either forcefully or make it politically impossible for it to leave. Case in point the FLQ crisis in the late 1960's, a couple of overnationlist quebecois kill a british diplomat and held a canadian politican hostage then Ottawa sends in the entire army to patrol the streets. I guess the rationale is if quebec leaves the differences separating English Canada and America would be so small it there wouldn't even be a need to have two countries.

Another example is how only recently that Ottawa has given aborginal peoples self-governing rights to their lands like the Tlicho. Of course there are people who tell me at least there still are aboriginal peoples in canada unlike the states who hunted and killed. If the aboriginal people didn't live in the northern regions of canada and the land was more hospitable for settlement the exact same thing would have happened to them aswell.

This is probably why there is an "identity" crisis in canadian social sphere where people usually say their ethnic background as a form of identification rather than their national identity as canadians.

[Tuga]

Many things, but most of all is obviously us being the pioneers of the Discoveries.

[Tuga]

(Portugal)

[Gusar]

Don't be shy to be proud of your ethnicity or country guys. Society may be heading in an ethnic-less direction in the traditional sense. I always saw ethnicity as generally positive. At least the eastern ethnicities I think always had a welcoming friendly, non-exclusionist sense to them. And also a sense of interest and discovery towards other ethnicities.

[Gusar]

I don't have any nationalistic feeling about The Netherlands. Read well.. The Netherlands is plural.
The Dutch did many good things, but many more bad things.
In modern time they joined the Anglo-American capitalism.
Companies are lead by pirates that chase for big bonuses, while the workers are treated like slaves with a low wage.
I grew up in a time when everybody was proud to work for a company. It was "our" company.
Now that's all gone. It's everyone for himself. And God isn't even there anymore to look after us.

A similar sense applies to most European countries does it not? Countries, football teams, cultural events... everything feels like a corporation to me.

[Hal Fao]

Proud to be Albanian!
And do you know why? Being Albanian is a challenge of destiny. Being Albanian is a nice game where all claim to be referees.
Are you in power and might lose the election? No problem, you can find mercenaries willing to fill the ballot boxes for you.
You're in opposition and assume power? Sorry, but this is a national betrayal since the position has governed very well. But the democracy allows you to boycott the parliament, to hamper the reforms and thus to discredit the government.
Ah, you're the victim of a crime and the court has punished you and not criminal? Don't worry, you can go to the nearest bank, get a loan to buy gun (be careful, keep the amount to pay judges), kill criminal and the problem is solved: this time the court will give you the right! And now, after the revenge you feel proud, don't you?

[Gusar]

Wow, Albanians certainly have a 'unique' mentality, for fear of using a more pejorative term. I tend to think/hope this culture of blood feuds and revenge is just exaggeration but you're attitude would kill that. Man, that is an incredibly primitive misanthropic attitude.

[Hal Fao]

Wow, Albanians certainly have a 'unique' mentality, for fear of using a more pejorative term. I tend to think/hope this culture of blood feuds and revenge is just exaggeration but you're attitude would kill that. Man, that is an incredibly primitive misanthropic attitude.

I do not really know where you are from, but I bet you are a Serb. Shame on you for all your insults. I really criticized the Albanians for any fault they have (I criticized above mainly Albanian politics) but you should know that Albanians have never applied feud in the state policy level and have not caused any tragedy to anyone. There is someone else in the Balkans who can boast for such "values". You live in Sarajevo and the reader can easily understand your mentality. I dare to criticize the Albanians while you dare to insult them!
Even you accuse me for “primitive misanthropic attitude”. You, Serbian "philanthropist"!
What an irony!

[Gusar]

Hal Fao, believe me I have no intention to particularly insult. I really have very little against Albanians. I primarily hold Team America responsible for the outcomes in the Balkans during the last two decades... Just specifically on blood feuds, as an outsider to this culture, and most people are, it definitely sounds pretty crazy and primitive. Apparently today 5500 Albanian families are engaged in blood feuds, and there have been 10000 deaths since 1992. I mean that surpasses any figures that Serbs apparently oppressed Albanians enough on to have Serbia and Montenegro have the shit bombed out of them by Team America. ...I am also referring this historically to Dukanjini's Code. It all seems very relateable to your first post as a reflection of your mentality. And actually I'm not going to apologise for saying I think blood feuds are very messed up and that Albanians should do away with that particular aspect of their culture.

[Gavroche]

I'm proud of my country because we have OUR way of life, and nobody will change it...

We are not perfect, but we have refused the "Anglo-American" mentality and their sytems...

We will die in the shit, but this is OUR shit...

[Gusar]

Thumbs up to you VonRoust. You are French hey? I love the French for all I know of their culture, mentality & beautiful language. French always sounds like the most beautiful language to my ears. After French I love also the sound of Spanish. I have known a few French people. Some also from French colonies but they seem to always have something so charming about them. It raises the issue of the effect of language on peoples thoughts and how it can shape them.

[samantha89]

My parents come from so many different places, and jet I would never change my Vojvodina for anything. I guess home is where the heart is, not where your ancestors come form.

I love the mentality, we are good hosts, we eat good, although not very healthy food, we take things with ease and do everything slowly. It is my life philosophy as well, although I appreciate when I meet someone totally different.

[Mzungu mchagga]

What is unhealthy about your food?
I think there is nothing that can top urban industrial-mass-produced nutritional lifestyle, like it is practiced in most places of North America, Australia and most parts of North Western Europe.

[Gavroche]

=> Gusar

Sorry, yes i'm French, i come from Nantes the capital of Brittany...

And you, what is your nationality?
And samantha? Serbian?

[Gusar]

VanRoust, yes I am essentially of Serbian ethnicity, and proud of it. You know though I have had nice dreams about being other ethnicities. As a young teenager I would dream of being a Frenchman like Claude Monet, a fantastic artist traveling at a steady pace, making romance in beautiful landscapes... You know my Serbian friend and I once pretended to be French to impress the girls... when we went out, we told girls we were French and then spoke to each other in Serbian with our best French accent. My friend seemed to pull it off quite well... Though with disappointment and in more somber moods I can still quite easily become Van Gogh and dream about cutting my ear off to send to the girl... At my misanthropic best I am a Swedish metal singer spitting on humanity.

[Gavroche]

...Are you serious?

And yes, Monet was a genius, a lot of painters make me proud of my country: Renoir, Cézanne (the real father of the "cubism"), Rousseau (aka "le douanier"), Delacroix, Degas, Manet, Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec, etc...

But for me the greatests was Italian

[seemann]

Well my friend, you're very wrong... There are so many thing you as a German should be proud of...

[seemann]

I'm not really proud of Canada. It seems from 1867 onwards there is this underlaying obsession of keeping quebec inside the union either forcefully or make it politically impossible for it to leave. Case in point the FLQ crisis in the late 1960's, a couple of overnationlist quebecois kill a british diplomat and held a canadian politican hostage then Ottawa sends in the entire army to patrol the streets. I guess the rationale is if quebec leaves the differences separating English Canada and America would be so small it there wouldn't even be a need to have two countries.

Another example is how only recently that Ottawa has given aborginal peoples self-governing rights to their lands like the Tlicho. Of course there are people who tell me at least there still are aboriginal peoples in canada unlike the states who hunted and killed. If the aboriginal people didn't live in the northern regions of canada and the land was more hospitable for settlement the exact same thing would have happened to them aswell.

This is probably why there is an "identity" crisis in canadian social sphere where people usually say their ethnic background as a form of identification rather than their national identity as canadians.

Well, sorry my countryman, but I AM PROUD CANADIAN...

[seemann]

My parents come from so many different places, and jet I would never change my Vojvodina for anything. I guess home is where the heart is, not where your ancestors come form.

I love the mentality, we are good hosts, we eat good, although not very healthy food, we take things with ease and do everything slowly. It is my life philosophy as well, although I appreciate when I meet someone totally different.

As far as I know- Vojvodina is the northern part of Serbia?

[Bodin]

I am proud about my country because of : Novak Djokovic ,and team sports except football, Medieval and ancient history ( Vincha first culture in world that used metal -coper, Sarmatia one of Great empires, Tzar Dusan , king Mihailo Višević ) , Nikola Tesla ( man that alowed electricity to be carried on great distances , invented remote control), Mihailo Pupin(invented lot of important things for Telecomunications ), Ivo Andrić ( Nobel prize winer for literature ) ,... It should be known that Nikola Tesla was living in Croatia that was then part of Austro-Hungary , but he was Serb , and Ivo Andrić was Croatian but lived in Bosnia and Serbia , but I dont see Croats and Serbs are so many diferent , except religion so we both should be proud on these humans

[Bodin]

Also there is lot of reasons to be proud on Germany ( I was born there) , lets just mention Bach , Wagner , Mozzart ,... Amazing history ( they make two wars in last 100 years against whole world , and survive , that shows they exeptional strenght , remember Otton I who stoped Magyar raids on west Europe , remember Theutonic Knight Order ,remember Holly Roman Empire, ... ) ;Benz and other car manufacturers ,...

[sparkey]

Also there is lot of reasons to be proud on Germany ( I was born there) , lets just mention Bach , Wagner , Mozzart ,... Amazing history ( they make two wars in last 100 years against whole world , and survive , that shows they exeptional strenght , remember Otton I who stoped Magyar raids on west Europe , remember Theutonic Knight Order ,remember Holly Roman Empire, ... ) ;Benz and other car manufacturers ,...

I love German culture, but my bold above wouldn't normally make it into most people's lists for reasons to be proud of Germany... although I have enjoyed reading about the history of the HRE, it was often a mess and not exactly always on the right side of history.

By the way, cool info about Serbia, makes me realize that I know too little about that country. And you say you're in Cape Verde now, and have also lived in Bosnia? You've lived a lot of places! Have anything good to say about Bosnia and Cape Verde?

[Elias2]

Well, sorry my countryman, but I AM PROUD CANADIAN...

For the sake of conversation, can you explain why.

[Bodin]

I love German culture, but my bold above wouldn't normally make it into most people's lists for reasons to be proud of Germany... although I have enjoyed reading about the history of the HRE, it was often a mess and not exactly always on the right side of history.

By the way, cool info about Serbia, makes me realize that I know too little about that country. And you say you're in Cape Verde now, and have also lived in Bosnia? You've lived a lot of places! Have anything good to say about Bosnia and Cape Verde?

Well I have oppinion that humans alway have some kind of mask over they faces , and only times they remove that mask is in battle and in bed . Solely surviving such a great battles shows streinght of German nation ,and they almoust won against whole world - and that I consider a great ting , for same reason I consider Napoleon , Caesar , Hitler , Charlemagne , Stallin , ... great rullers ( evill or god is another question ) .
Well any state make a mistaces , and I dont believe there is god or bad side of history only interes of state .
I have a lot of god to say about Bosnia : for me Sarajevo is one of most beautifull cities in world ( that I have see) , not so much because of buildings , but because of specific spirit, slower , relaxed way of life . My favorite music is Bosnian sevdalinke , especially Safet Isović . I love multiculturalism of Bosnia - Muslims , Ortodox, Jews and Catholics in one place for last 5 centuries , aldo it vas severly destroyed during II WW , and last war ( 1992-1995) . Ivo Andrić that I was allready mention was born and spend his youth in Bosnia, so his ancestors are from Bosnia , I would mention one more very god writer from Bosnia Meša Selimović . Bosnians are less warlike and most helpfull peoples of all Balkans. Most beautifull girls I ever have seen were from Banja Luka . I love Herzegovina because ancestors of my father come from there ,...
I am new to Cape Verde , and I spend a lot of time abroad ( east North Africa) , but I can say they girls are very beautifull -creole ( they inherethed beautifull eyes from Portugal girls ) . It is very fast growing economy , one of the best states to live in Africa , aldo there is some poverty to . Beautifull ocean and hotels . Music is mixed Portugues and African and I like Portugal music ( fado ). Languages are realy dificult for me both Kreol and Portugues , aldo I know some Latin , and few words of Italian and Spanish .
Thanks for answering