Skip to main content

National pride - What's your reason?



National pride is one common factor that binds all its citizens together. 

The definition of the word says:
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.

Why do we indulge in it? Simply because it makes us feel happy, to see positive change. Makes us feel happy to see collective progress as a large group of people unanimously feel the same sentiment. It also validates the feeling of Collectivism.

But do we wonder what is the cause of national pride for different countries?

Some nations have been built over the years and dramatically transformed into great civic countries. They enjoy a sense of civic pride. At the same time, there are countries where there are more reasons to feel proud of ethnicity and history than civic developments. It is important to understand what is the reason for our national pride. Are we having all the right reasons?

I am reflecting on how News, Influencers' views, and corporations are making us feel proud of our respective countries in the version that benefits them.
If we dig deeper and figure out what are the main personal reasons for our national pride, we would be able to put a thing or two into perspective about what patriotism means to us. Although there are studies that attempt to prove that civic reasons are giving citizens more happiness and contentedness for pride over continuous development. On the other hand, ethnic reasons are more grounded in history and make us feel proud of our rich past. 

Singapore is proud of racial Harmony as much as it's proud of economic development and progress.
Some European countries primarily pride the rich culture, achievements in Arts, and Literature. 
In the US primarily citizens are proud of Economic developments and global influence.
India is proud of cultural diversity and heritage
Some countries are largely proud of how democracy works for them while some countries have other reasons.

To each to their own! While it's important and popular to express critique isn't it a refreshing idea to remind us of why we are proud too. It is worthwhile to take a deeper look into the reasons for our national pride and ensure it consists of elements, both, Ethnic and Civic. 

Eventually, what we are looking for is happiness and this form of happiness comes from feeling the love for a nation unanimously with everyone around you. It's proven by data that civic reasons can bring us more happiness. That is probably due to its "continuous" nature and distinct scope of improvement that we can look forward to. Anyone who feels proud of the nation has the right to join in and share the sentiment. It doesnt need you to have ethnic roots to share the common feeling.  

While on the other hand, with globalization challenging ethnic grouping, there is diversification around all of us creating a greater mix and boundaries getting thinner.

Why are you proud? Maybe we can give it a thought and list down your reasons. 
That would be something passed on to the next generations!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

When a stranger called me an idiot

Photo by Goutham Ganesh Sivanandam on Unsplash It was a laid back weekend afternoon, a perfect day for home shopping. I was walking with my extra-large cart, through the aisles of Ikea. Blinded by the colors of the pillow covers, I was oscillating between looking at the items on display and my way ahead. Maneuvering through the narrow bends, I pushed my cart cautiously. Just then, a lady (middle-aged), engrossed in picking between the two pillow-covers in her hand, stepped backward and appeared right in front of my cart. Obviously, you guessed it - We crashed! My instant reaction was "Sorry". Sorry because, firstly, most probably just like me, she was blinded too, by the colorfully tempting cushions on display. Secondly, it was a mishap. No one decks up and leaves home planning to accidentally hurt someone at Ikea. My "sorry" was not an expression of regret. It was an expression of sympathy. I do understand, English can be complicated. Maybe something the East Indi
5 comments
Read more

Our Identity is our masterpiece!

jozefmicic/Adobe Stock Disclaimer : I am not an aspiring shrink. I might be a few years too late for that attempt Hi my readers! ( yes, all 4 of you out there! :-) ) I often think about why people suffer Identity Crisis. All of us have or do face it on and off. The key, I feel, is in how we answer just one question. A very important question; How do I describe myself ? It might be fruitful to introspect and find out what our answer to that question has been. More importantly, if we have answered it ourselves. Is it our own authentic answer? when someone asks us to describe ourselves, the first few things that pop into our head might be: 1. What job do we do? 2. How good or bad we are at it? 3. What belief do we relate to - religious, political or others 4. What is our role? 5. What is our social status? 6. How we look? and so on. But think about who has actually answered these questions. We rely on our boss to tell us what role we play and how good or bad
4 comments
Read more

Happy International Women's Day 2020!

Women : We are same, we are unique, we are Awesome! Ever wondered, why we need L'Oreal to tell us that "we are worth it"? In the year 1973 this phrase was launched in an ad and it caught on instantly as it resonated with the women then. It definitely must have been an excellent marketing campaign launched about 40 plus years ago. While, it tapped an untapped marketplace within the women community and increased business multi-fold, it gave a much needed boost to more women to focus on self care and beauty. It also gave women a sense of empowerment and spoke from their point of view at a time when it was a new and shiny concept. This somewhat still seems pertinent but we must acknowledge that the world for a woman has changed drastically and still is constantly evolving. Today's women are characteristically diverse. Thousand years of patriarchy has affected the lives of women in varying magnitudes and this has caused us to also have varying degrees of self
2 comments
Read more