# What are you proud of in your country?



## Ewks (Mar 25, 2009)

So on my history class today we talked about American values and as I'm not really interested in history my thoughts started to wonder around. I started thinking of the things that I'm proud of and what I'm not proud of in Finland. I'm most proud of our tecnology and I'm not really proud of our shyness, for examble we won't sit next to anybody in the bus as long as there are free seets left and if we do have to sit next to someone we won't talk to them.

So what are you proud of in your country and what are you not proud of?


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## Gparker (Mar 25, 2009)

im not proud of the war with iraq right now ( USA is where i live) and im not proud of the economy


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## Kyle Girard (Mar 25, 2009)

Gparker said:


> im not proud of the war with iraq right now ( USA is where i live) and im not proud of the economy


right there with you


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## Kian (Mar 25, 2009)

Gparker said:


> im not proud of the war with iraq right now ( USA is where i live) and im not proud of the economy



thanks for that refreshingly original remark.

Anyway, I'm proud of the traditional American beliefs in freedom, laissez-faire, and individualism and the good people who still stand for it.

I'm not proud of the collectivist, pro-dictatorial majority.


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## Ethan Rosen (Mar 25, 2009)

I'm proud of the small minority of men and woman serving in Congress who are willing to stand up for their beliefs and for the people, as well as their supporters.

I am not proud that this is a small minority.


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## Crossed (Mar 25, 2009)

Ewks said:


> So on my history class today we talked about American values and as I'm not really interested in history my thoughts started to wonder around. I started thinking of the things that I'm proud of and what I'm not proud of in Finland. I'm most proud of our tecnology and I'm not really proud of our shyness, for examble we won't sit next to anybody in the bus as long as there are free seets left and if we do have to sit next to someone we won't talk to them.
> 
> So what are you proud of in your country and what are you not proud of?



I think the same as you. My country doesn't have any major flaws, even though our economy has been through a rough patch right now.


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## Daniel Wu (Mar 25, 2009)

Kian said:


> Anyway, I'm proud of the traditional American beliefs in freedom, laissez-faire, and individualism and the good people who still stand for it.



laissez-faire would be good. too bad the government is messing with that.


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## Kian (Mar 25, 2009)

rickcube said:


> Kian said:
> 
> 
> > Anyway, I'm proud of the traditional American beliefs in freedom, laissez-faire, and individualism and the good people who still stand for it.
> ...



agreed. the nation that fought a historic, unparalleled, bloody revolution over a 2 cent tax now supports near trillion dollar bailouts. it's sad.

i am still proud of those that will not sit by idly and accept it, though. 

don't tread on me.


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## Stefan (Mar 25, 2009)

I am proud of my good achievements.
I am not proud of anything else.

What does this have to do with "my country"? For example, Ewks, why are you proud of your country's tecnology? What did you do for it? And then why didn't you do the same for other countries?


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## EmersonHerrmann (Mar 25, 2009)

Nothing....I cannot be proud of what I did not create or do. I dislike America anyway. Who cares if it's the land of opportunity and whatnot.


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## Deleted member 2864 (Mar 25, 2009)

I can't say much because I've lived in so many places in my life (my dad's job keeps on relocating him where he's needed so we've lived in california, japan, Ohio, China, then Ohio again...). Right now I'm in cincinnati Ohio... so I guess I'm an american (I'm also an american citizen beacuse I was born in LA). So.... All I have to say is:



PROUD OF:
1. equal rights
2. freedom of speech
3. right to vote
4. pretty much everything the forefathers wrote I support.

NOT PROUD OF:
1. Economy
2. War on Terrorism (I think that it is right to look for these terrorists, but I also think that we should be worrying about how much money we are throwing into this stuff that we desperately need... but what can I do? I'm not even in High School...)


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## EmersonHerrmann (Mar 25, 2009)

aznmortalx said:


> but what can I do? I'm not even in High School...)



Doesn't it make you feel so powerless?  No major influence on anything...


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## d4m4s74 (Mar 25, 2009)

I forgot what "proud" is with this government


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## mcciff2112 (Mar 25, 2009)

EmersonHerrmann said:


> aznmortalx said:
> 
> 
> > but what can I do? I'm not even in High School...)
> ...



You don't have to be an adult to make your voice heard. There ha been high schoolers and kids even younger than that who have made a difference by standing up for what they believe in. Don't discourage yourself because you are too young. You can still have your own opinions and the right to inform others of what you think is right.


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## EmersonHerrmann (Mar 25, 2009)

mcciff2112 said:


> EmersonHerrmann said:
> 
> 
> > aznmortalx said:
> ...



I don't really believe in anything...I'm just saying  Thanks for the support though


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## Odin (Mar 25, 2009)

Kilroy.Also the fact that we OWNED teh british.


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## Deleted member 2864 (Mar 25, 2009)

mcciff2112 said:


> EmersonHerrmann said:
> 
> 
> > aznmortalx said:
> ...



Well... I can't just go into the washington and expect to sway people's thoughts about a war... besides, it's going to end soon... I hope... the pres is against it. Besides... there are enough activists of the war out there...


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## fanwuq (Mar 25, 2009)

StefanPochmann said:


> I am proud of my good achievements.
> I am not proud of anything else.
> 
> What does this have to do with "my country"? For example, Ewks, why are you proud of your country's tecnology? What did you do for it? And then why didn't you do the same for other countries?



I agree. With all the globalisation, it doesn't matter where you live and what is your country. Why be super nationalist? I don't think that I'm representing my country at cube competitions and I don't think my country's government cares either. However, it is still cool to have NRs.

Laissez faire is not nationalist, it's just human. Don't make it something special about USA. It's actually a French phrase if you really want to be picky.

Edit: 
Wafflecake: To quote my favorite cubist,


Fobo911 said:


> I love WaffleCake.


(Fobo911 is proud of everyone who has posted in the word association thread.)

I'm also proud of anyone here who use
the Z perm: M'UM2'UM2'UM'U2M2'U'
the R perm: R'U'RU2'RU2'L'R2URU'LRU2R'U2
the R perm: RUR'F'RU2R'U2R'FRURU2R'U'
the Y perm: FRU'R'U'RUy'RUR'B'RU'R2
Or their mirrors or inverses,
The Face-Permute all Pyraminx method,
The R2 variant noob-freestyle BLD corners method,
The phrases "WTF2L" and "ROF2L" and their variants
and/or whatever else I have contributed to cubing.


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## Stefan (Mar 25, 2009)

WaffleCake said:


> What, you can only be proud of yourself now?


No, I specifically said "my achievements", not "myself", didn't I? I'm proud of the good things I've done and I'm on a second level proud of others for their achievements when I played a role, e.g., when people use my methods for blindsolving or when people start to think after I made them (which also happens the other way around, and then I'm thankful. But I digress).



WaffleCake said:


> When people graduate from school, do their parents not tell them that they're proud of them?


Maybe, and quite possibly with good reason. They created and nurtured their children.



WaffleCake said:


> It's no different being proud of your country.


I neither created nor nurtured nor in any significant way affected "my country" (any country, actually). So how is that no different?


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## TheBB (Mar 25, 2009)

StefanPochmann said:


> I am proud of my good achievements.
> I am not proud of anything else.
> 
> What does this have to do with "my country"? For example, Ewks, why are you proud of your country's tecnology? What did you do for it? And then why didn't you do the same for other countries?


National pride may not be well founded in reason, but neither is a lot of other things we do. We have an instinctive desire to form groups based on some possibly far-fetched common ground. National pride is one such thing. Professional pride another ("I'm a mathematician. I'm proud of mathematicians because ..."), alignment with sports teams too (I'm proud of Rosenborg, now topping the Norwegian league, even if I didn't raise a finger to put them there), and so on.

You're right, of course, but that doesn't really change anything.


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## ajmorgan25 (Mar 26, 2009)

Ewks said:


> for examble we won't sit next to anybody in the bus as long as there are free seets left and if we do have to sit next to someone we won't talk to them.



I would imagine this is the same in most countries, not just Finland.


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## ThePizzaGuy92 (Mar 26, 2009)

I'm not proud of the US's history, nor am I proud of anything else in this country. I lack any national pride. I'm happy that I live here, not proud.

Viva George Carlin, haha


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## toast (Mar 26, 2009)

What I'm not proud of: Politicians

What I am proud of: Being a boiling pot of many different cultures and races.


USA BTW.


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## daniel0731ex (Mar 26, 2009)

im proud of: Taiwan WAS better than China, HAD kept the more original chinese culture when the communitsts swep all the 

not proud of:

stupid politicans
radicals
wrecked education system
THE MEDIA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09L-IUot_l8&feature=related
uncivilized government http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1at6ssr1zM&NR=1
idotic people
retarded ex-persedant



i think there's tons more... but couldn't recall them at this moment


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## Ton (Mar 26, 2009)

proud of
freedom of speech (@Stefan this is depended on where you live)

Not proud of
The wiliness to use violence e.g support any war 

Not specific for my country but for most western cultures


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## soccerking813 (Mar 26, 2009)

I am proud of being proud of my country, but there is not anything in my country to be especially proud about, other than the people who voted to put Obama in office.


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## F.P. (Mar 26, 2009)

Nothing. (too short)


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## Escher (Mar 26, 2009)

I personally believe that national pride (at least, too much of it) just fosters xenophobia and racism. 
I have no national pride whatsoever. I don't believe that 'pride' fits in at all with wafflecakes definition. Particularly the part where it says "opinion of _ones own_ dignity etc"
I might be 'happy' for somebodies achievements, but whether they are ugandan or welsh makes no difference to me. 
To be completely honest, I think being (overly) proud is quite repugnant. I mean, almost anything you will do in your lifetime is not worth being 'proud' of when compared to people who have changed the course of human history. Proudness represents a severe lack of, or far too much of, an ego. 
Anyway, I'm not religious at all, but for those of you that are, I thought Jesus said 'blessed are the meek'?


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## Rama (Mar 26, 2009)

I am proud of our high taxes here in The Netherlands...


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## Sg.Speedcuber (Mar 26, 2009)

The Singaporean approach to Maths problem solving.model drawing approach.


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## blah (Mar 26, 2009)

Sg.Speedcuber said:


> The Singaporean approach to Maths problem solving.model drawing approach.



Hell. (message too short)


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## Neroflux (Mar 26, 2009)

blah said:


> Sg.Speedcuber said:
> 
> 
> > The Singaporean approach to Maths problem solving.model drawing approach.
> ...



yay! (message even shorter).


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## LarsN (Mar 26, 2009)

Rama said:


> I am proud of our high taxes here in The Netherlands...



I bet the danish taxes are higher, but I'm strangely proud of that too


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## Zeroknight (Mar 26, 2009)

Kian said:


> Gparker said:
> 
> 
> > im not proud of the war with iraq right now ( USA is where i live) and im not proud of the economy
> ...



w00T! I'm with this too. I'm also not proud of socialist ideals creeping in our great land.


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## Chillum (Mar 26, 2009)

I am from England, and I am proud of our beer.


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## teller (Mar 26, 2009)

Zeroknight said:


> w00T! I'm with this too. I'm also not proud of socialist ideals creeping in our great land.




I second that. Go capitalism!


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## daniel0731ex (Mar 26, 2009)

Chillum said:


> I am from England, and I am proud of our beer.



or top gear?


rhymes


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## Jhong253 (Mar 27, 2009)

Just like to say, being proud of your country too much can rather have a negative impact. Keep in mind that nationalism played a huge role in starting both World Wars.


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## Lux Aeterna (Mar 27, 2009)

I'm from America, and not particularly proud of anything about it. American popular culture makes me want to run far, far away and never come back. America used to be epitomized by the poem on the Statue of Liberty. Now America is tabloid magazines, angry investment bankers, McDonald's, and MTV. The current generation cares more about the special effects than the plot of a movie, cares more about building a new mall than the trees and the frogs that live there, cares more about cars than books, and needs that shiny gadget made cheaper and faster and needs it right now because time is money and money is everything. Where are those huddled masses yearning to breathe free? They're suffocating under a pile of paperwork, demonized by the public at large, and being deported. This country has spent decades training financial engineers who make money out of money, instead of _actual_ engineers who make innovations out of money, and now that's collapsing and we have nothing to show for it. 

Sure, this is objectively a nice place to live. Life is easy, and we have hospitals that can do amazing things (if you can pay). I guess I'm proud of our doctors, and the people that do public health work abroad in the poorer corners of the world. We've also made commendable progress in civil rights in the past few decades. But that's about it. I tend to think I was born in the wrong century, in the sense that I think we'd all be much happier if the Industrial Revolution never happened. My life goal is to live in a small cabin in a forest with a shelf full of books, a fire, a dog, my wife, and to interact with other people as little as possible. Modern life is so complicated, and for what?

I don't think anyone should be proud of their country, per se. Countries don't even really exist; they're just lines on maps and people in suits we agree to listen to. If there are noble things being done in your country, be proud of the people that do them. Being loyal to a flag doesn't make any sense to me. Be loyal to your friends, to your family, to yourself. The only thing rallying under a flag really does is help frame the world in terms of "Us versus Them", which is questionable at best and gives rise to the deaths of millions at worst. People should just be people; Earth should just be Earth.


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## Odin (Mar 27, 2009)

Lux Aeterna said:


> I'm from America, and not particularly proud of anything about it. American popular culture makes me want to run far, far away and never come back. America used to be epitomized by the poem on the Statue of Liberty. Now America is tabloid magazines, angry investment bankers, McDonald's, and MTV. The current generation cares more about the special effects than the plot of a movie, cares more about building a new mall than the trees and the frogs that live there, cares more about cars than books, and needs that shiny gadget made cheaper and faster and needs it right now because time is money and money is everything. Where are those huddled masses yearning to breathe free? They're suffocating under a pile of paperwork, demonized by the public at large, and being deported. This country has spent decades training financial engineers who make money out of money, instead of _actual_ engineers who make innovations out of money, and now that's collapsing and we have nothing to show for it.
> 
> Sure, this is objectively a nice place to live. Life is easy, and we have hospitals that can do amazing things (if you can pay). I guess I'm proud of our doctors, and the people that do public health work abroad in the poorer corners of the world. We've also made commendable progress in civil rights in the past few decades. But that's about it. I tend to think I was born in the wrong century, in the sense that I think we'd all be much happier if the Industrial Revolution never happened. My life goal is to live in a small cabin in a forest with a shelf full of books, a fire, a dog, my wife, and to interact with other people as little as possible. Modern life is so complicated, and for what?
> 
> I don't think anyone should be proud of their country, per se. Countries don't even really exist; they're just lines on maps and people in suits we agree to listen to. If there are noble things being done in your country, be proud of the people that do them. Being loyal to a flag doesn't make any sense to me. Be loyal to your friends, to your family, to yourself. The only thing rallying under a flag really does is help frame the world in terms of "Us versus Them", which is questionable at best and gives rise to the deaths of millions at worst. People should just be people; Earth should just be Earth.



You would love the movie "Phone Both".


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## Dene (Mar 27, 2009)

New Zealand is a dump. I have nothing to be proud of, especially not myself.


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## deco122392 (Mar 27, 2009)

sooooooo just felt like i should throw this in. pride is one of the "Seven deadly sins" if im not mistaken


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## idpapro (Mar 27, 2009)

Dene said:


> New Zealand is a dump. I have nothing to be proud of, especially not myself.



What, youre not proud of frodo frolicking all all around your country?!?!?!?


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## Zeroknight (Mar 27, 2009)

deco122392 said:


> sooooooo just felt like i should throw this in. pride is one of the "Seven deadly sins" if im not mistaken



Close, but it's not pride, but pride to the point of narcissism. And also to the point of self-acclaimed, irrational, unjustifiable superiority.


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## Pietersmieters (Mar 27, 2009)

My government...not
Our Chocolate...yes


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## Stefan (Mar 28, 2009)

WaffleCake said:


> [Stefan,] do you honestly never feel national pride? When an athlete from your country wins a gold medal, for example?


Correct, no pride there at all for me. I don't even see why someone could, except because of *being taught so*. It just doesn't make sense.

In the case of an athlete from "my country" (and no, I'm not going to drop those quotes) winning something, I'm also not even "happy". Well, maybe if I know the athlete in person, though then I'd not be happy because of the country but because of the person. Country is really ... completely meaningless. Someone earlier gave the example of a mathematician being proud of mathematicians, and that I can somewhat grasp. But country? Nah.



ThePizzaGuy92 said:


> I'm not proud of the US's history, nor am I proud of anything else in this country. I lack any national pride. I'm happy that I live here, not proud.
> Viva George Carlin, haha


Nice, when I first entered this thread I thought exactly the same, that "happy" would fit much better in many cases. And thanks for the hint, I think I found it:


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## siphuyoda (Mar 28, 2009)

I can't think of a single thing to be proud of America for. I'm gonna move to Japan or S. Korea one day...if anything else I respect the Japanese culture and South Korea has some hot girls


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## Lucas Garron (Mar 28, 2009)

StefanPochmann said:


> Correct, no pride there at all for me. I don't even see why someone could, except because of *being taught so*. It just doesn't make sense.


You know why I like learning math? I can be taught something, but I don't have to accept it blindly. But when I verify that it makes sense with my other understanding (especially in math, where you can verify derivations), I appreciate the teacher for it.

Even if I don't have citizenship, I could probably have had de facto American WCA nationality. But I still had affinity with Germany. And now that I've been in the US for a while, I appreciate both of them.
But I grew up in Germany first, and it defined any later potential. Being born in Germany might have been arbitrary, but I'm proud that I was raised there.

Recently, I came across the old TV show intros I remember: Sendung mit er Maus, Heidi, Löwenzahn.
There must have been something to the country and culture that produced such shows for a childhood, just as American high schools have developed into academically stifling institutions (although college is worth it –and not that I know that Gymnasium is better in Germany).
So, I'm proud of Germans, because they do things for perpetuating a country I appreciate. Affiliation is a sort of dedication, and it tends to encourage doing things. And I think it's worth doing things for humanity, under whatever affiliation.

Also, similar reason applies to my pride for Stanford. But that was more of a choice. Nevertheless, I love the university, and I'm proud of people who contribute to it.


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## Rubixcubematt (Mar 28, 2009)

Im proud that Australia beats england very easily in a game they created!


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## DcF1337 (Mar 28, 2009)

I'm sorry that I have nothing to say besides the following:

I find it interesting that such a simple question can lead to such debate.


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## n00bcubix (Mar 28, 2009)

I'm proud Korea is very good at Baseball and Soccer :]
Kim Yuna also owned at WTFS today


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## Yes We Can! (Mar 28, 2009)

I'm proud of the German soccer team and it's success.


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