The all get into it for the same reasons. They want to hustle to make money and tyey are the type of person who is drawn to the "romantic" view of the life of crime. Many are not supid. But most of them are and they end up paying "tax" to the smart dudes on top who are successfull. The stupid dudes are the ones on the street that are seen by the public. They are really urban terrorists who cause people to live in fear.

sure

I'm proud of my country because ( million reasons:cool: )

I'm very proud of Poland's history - but what's happening today makes me feel a little bit ashamed.

Don't want to talk about thing that "our" president have done... I'm just waiting for the end of his cadency (that's about 2 years...).

Just to clear for you our situation... 70% of citizens DO NOT trust President...

No. I'm actually ashamed of it.

I don't believe in national pride, we should be proud of our own personal achievements, not our countries. People say they are proud of their country but not their government, excuse me, but the government are the ones who make the country what it is, therefore if you hate the government you also dislike the country.
I don't understand why people feel pround of their contry's history, I mean, what do they have to do with what happened centuries ago? And I also feel concerned when people say that they feel proud of certain parts of history when their country colonized others, I'm portuguese and many portuguese feel poud of the fact that Portugal colonized, enslaved and murdered people in Africa, Asia and South America; that's just disgusting.
Nationalism raises racism, xenophobia and leads to war.

I consider myself a citizen of the world.

But while thinking about yourself as a citizen of the world, you cannot forget about where do you derive from. =)

And I must disagree with you Cowabunga, because what's makes country what it is, is not a government, but people.
Choosing the concrete administration not always shows what people are. My example is the best to show you this. Almost 3 years ago when my people were choosing the president, we all thought he is the best candidate, who will represent our country and believes well and with honour. But it all changed when party connected with him forfeit the office.
Now he is disturbing new governments work (even when people has the same opinion as the administration) and has other opinion with a goverment in almost every case (which makes us - as a nation look really unseriously).

As I said earlier - 70% of my people don't trust president.

Hi Zimek.

Yes, sometimes that's true, like in Poland's case, I know you guys currently have a bad government. But every country has its own people, I've never met a Polish person before so I don't know about your country's people, but I'm getting a bit tired of the portuguese people. I'm 18 and most people around my age in my country only care about smoking weed and getting drunk. Also, it's disgusting that many portuguese still defend Salazar the fascist dictator, although the dictatorship ended in 1974 many old people and even younger people defend it. Salazar isolated the country from the rest of the world during three generations and while the rest of Europe started to develop its industry, Portugal continued being a farming country, people were forced in school to attend religious classes, a boy couldn't approach a girl on the street, schools were segregrated (boys and girls) the first time people had classes together with the opposite sex was in college, and only about 3/4% were able to go to college, half of the population was iliterate, there was poverty everywhere, the police had the right to violently beat WITNESSES(!), African countries (Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea, S. Tome and Principe) were still colonies.

It's pathetic and disgusting that many portuguese miss that period saying they had a better life. How can someone prefer dictatorship over freedom?
Portuguese also complain that one of the biggest problems of the country is that people are losing their national pride. That's a lie, according to a survey I read in a newspaper (Year 2007) Portugal was the most patriotic country in Europe while Sweden was the least, I think it's safe to say that Sweden is much better than Portugal overrall. In that survey 51% said they would support Portugal in a war whether Portugal was on the right or the wrong side, that means if Portugal did something like Germany once did, more than half of the portuguese would still support their country, that's disgusting! Portuguese think national pride = ultra nationalism, they are proud that once Portugal colonized territories in South America, Africa and Asia and think that portuguese were "cool" an never murdered a single native, they think that the Spaniards were the only murderers, History school textbooks actually try to brainwash us that way.

Other problem was in Euro 2008, people skipped their jobs and school to watch the national team play, and put flgs on their windows, used them as picnic towels, they don't know, but actually using the flag that way is a bit disrespectful, LOL!

Sorry for the long rant.

New york sucks a lot too

I'm greatly proud of my native country, as I like my motherland very much. RUSSIA is one of the greatest countries in the world. Of course, it's not a perfect one, but there is no a place in this world without it's drawbacks. for the last century russia has come through a very difficult period, and in the memory of it's cityzens these years will always remain as black ones. I mean the USSR period. But now the country and its people bebirth from the ruins. The youth like it's country and we do everything possible for it's faster recovery!

But my love for my motherland does not humiliate my love to the whole world, Japanese including. The world is so wonderful that i can't but appreciate it!:vsign:

I am very proud of my country. Taiwan has always been a great country. It suffered quite a bit in the past, but it held on and is still holding strong. China will never take Taiwan...I'll see to that personally >.< The thing I love most about Taiwan is its ability to balance the new and the old. There are very many traditions that are still commonly practiced, yet the country has also wholesomely taken in technology and innovation (kind of like Japan I guess). Taipei, being one of the more advanced cities in the world, is a great example of Taiwan's technological achievements. And who can forget health care? Taiwan has one of the best medical systems in the world. Free health care anyone?

Go Taiwan! XD

umm,, maybe yes,, maybe no..
but i vote "Yes"! :vsign:

yeah I'm proud of Germany.
although we always get put down for WWII and things connected I don't care no country is perfect and has fucked up in the past (kind of like people)
We have a great soccer team (sometimes hur hur), great food, great culture, great people, great social system (as far as healthcare, welfare, retirement, etc.)

I agree with that. The biggest problem for a German is, if you're proud of your country you get to hear you're a nazi and all that kind of shit. Come on Germany is more than Hitler, Heidi, beer, sheep and green meadow

yeah i'm so tired of that too, besides Hitler was Austrian!!

I'm also from Germany
i like my country , because the people are very nice and not to seriously;)

Australia is a nice place .. its just not japan.. but im still proud of it ^^

i like ur attitude.i wish there would be more russians like u..we have a lot of russians here who still want my country to be a part of the russia -.-..every country has a right to be independent..right?

Apparently not... :rolleyes:

Proud of my country?? so much... with the kind of people living there... hate them... I'm from Argentina and I really really love my country... but hate people from there, can't understand how can be that way and ruin such a beautiful country like that... sometimes I feel ashamed to say where I'm from... it's so sad to see...

I'm not proud of my country. (The Netherlands)
Most of you'll probably wonder why, The Netherlands are a relatively rich country, we have freedom of speech and our democracy works quite properly.
I'm just not proud of The Netherlands.
But I'm not proud of teenagers, or Spanish speaking people, or Tokio Hotel fans. And I am those as well.
I like some Dutch people though, and I think we have possibilities to be proud of. But The Netherlands, I think it's too unclear what it is. Is The Netherlands cheese? Or Anouk, a Dutch singer? Or is it Christianity? Or maybe even Geert Wilders (a politicus)? I like cheese, I think Anouk is a great singer, I'm not raised with Christianity, I vote Femke Halsema in stead of Geert Wilders.
So I'm not proud of The Netherlands, it's a lot I like but it's also a lot I don't like. ^^

No I'm not proud of my country (England). My heritage is mixed , 4 varities and I have never felt like I belong not even as a child. If I left England to live in another country, I don't think I would come back here.

I love America. I see it like she's my girlfriend, we have our differences, but we love each other no matter what. Plus Japan is looking kinda hot right now, and America is cool with it. Maybe someday just maybe... Ménage à trois :mtongue:

I like Australia, even though I haven't been anywhere else to compare it to... yet. The people are kind and sometimes it seem as if they put there social lives above there jobs. I friend of mine told me that Australia has one of the highest records of sick days taken but really everyone is just down at the beach:D . I don't know if those statistics are true but I wouldn't be surprised if they were.

I am definately not proud of my country. America is way too over-rated, and the government here thinks they are the world police or something. I hate it here so much. The only good thing about America is this is where Texas is. Other than that, I would not miss this country if I left.

National Pride?
 

Okay a quick explanation first I think. I just discovered that today is St. George's Day. A day of celebration towards the patron saint of England. Something that we should make a big fuss over. I mean, you get St. Patricks day where people ALL over the world celebrate by drinking copius amounts of alchohol/Guiness for no other reason than its an excuse for it. But thats not the point.
The point is that I believe that we (the English/UK) as a nation have lost all sense of who we are. We cant celebrate anything without possibly offending someone. Take the incedents at the G20 Summit (I think thats what it was) last week. 90% of it was peaceful until some idiot decided to cause trouble. But thats a completely seperate rant about the media.

Back on topic: I'm proud of the nation and culture I come from, even though its offensive to say that ;) . We have so many things that are great about the nation and its a shame that we cannot actually celebrate it properly.

So now your wondering if I'm just venting some anger and rage at life in general, and if so why I'm doing it on a forum supposedly devoted towards all things Japan. Simple, as always with me I have a question:
Do you still have pride in your respective nation/culture, no matter what it may have done in the past?
And if your in Japan (though still get back to me even if your not) how do you celebrate your heritage and history?

Well, thats enough of a rant for me. Laters all.:ywave:

Well I totally understand where you're coming from.^^
I'm from Belgium and I'm proud of it! xD
I know it's a small country that's currently a little screwed up but it still has so many beautifull nature spots and the history behind some buildings are just .. WONDERFULL. I could just spend hours and hours walking around taking pictures with my friends on thee places..

I know exactly what you mean. But I just wonder why it is that the ordinary (and I use that term in the vaguest possible way considering some of the people around. Like me;)) person feels that they've lost the right to express it.

That and I'm always curious about something or other.

yeah! I can't understand that some people seem almost ashamed of where they come from.. (well that's how I see it here where I live) We have diferent provinces here and some people actually look down upon people becasue of where they live. It's wierd how different people can be, even if they are from the same country and live maybe 3 hours MAX away from each other. I have friends all over the country and even outside of it and it's curious hwo different they all are.:o
That and I'm allways looking for something.. I can't figger(sp? x3) out what it is but I allways had a need to go somewhere just to see the culture.. That's why I hope my parents will let me go soon.. They seem reluctant to let me.. *tears*

Yes, yes it very much is. I must have missed that topic before I opened this one, since I know people on here hate useless threads opened repeatedly.

Sorry about that outburst, I didn't actually see that one when I was looking through some of the older threads. But then again (and at 37 pages long I dont have the time to check) did it also ask this question:
This is something that I'm ineterested in, if only becuase I'm in a funny mood right now.

Well, no actually I'm not sure what your getting at. Would you care to explain a little more please?

@TenmaAi: are we related somehow? Or are you secretly spying into my brain, becuase you've hit the nail on the head as it were.

Wait, did you say people just use St. Patrick's as a reason to drink? Do you know the story behind St. Patty's??

Honestly no I dont, I'm taking a very biased and probably wrong point of view about it. <Scrap that part. I just did a quick wikipedia/google search on the guy. Not bad, worfking as a missionary alnd all that. Patron saint of Ireland, yep got that also. Reason's its celebrated outside of Ireland...to celebrate Ireland. By drinking and partying? Am I missing something here?
But does the celebrations now have anything to do with who he was? And then tell me why its celebrated the world over and not just in Ireland (since its more than just the Irish that celebrate it).

@ CrazyLee: I wouldn't know xD As far as I know I don't have the abillity to spy or look in peoples minds. I wouldn't like that, Who knows what I'd find! :o :p

I'm Algerian born, but I'm a British Citizen... I am VERY proud to be British and I think any long term resident of Britain should be proud of it!
England has given me so much more than Algeria could have ever given, and this is why I am so proud of England. I don't see anything negative about that at all... The only time pride becomes an issue is when it goes along the lines of "my country is better than yours because....". I don't agree with pride when its routed from belittling another nation!

you're right about that!
No matter what country or nationality you are from/have you shouldn't belittle others . ^^

Unless its against the French (joke) ;). But your right on the whole demeaning of another country. It shouldn't happen. Though it likely does.

yeah it does.. to bad*sigh*

haha... It's always fun to make fun of the french... haha... I live here now and even the french do it :D

true xD making fun of the french is something everyone does xD

Could be worse
 

In the us we have all kinds of holidays, i find most of them very interesting.