What does "I love my country" mean to you?

[Political Heretic]

There may be some who disagree with me politically who will assume I'm trying to make some kind of point with a "loaded" question.

I'm not. Someone in another thread said that they loved their country, and it struck me how all my life that statement has never made sense to me. Which does not mean that I "hate" my country because that would seem strange as well.

I just feel like I don't understand the language when someone says they "love" their country. And I thought it would be interesting to listen to people give a little "essay" (ha ha!) about what does "I love my country" mean to you?

I know what it feels like to love people, to love my tribe... to love and invest in my community, a community being only a collection of people that I know and interact with. What does love look like when its directed toward a nation?

Thoughts? I don't expect this to be contentious - I have a like "this American Life" attitude going into this haha. I'm looking forward to reading some responses.

Cheers!

[Cant trust em]

1. How does the love of community differ than the love of country?

Isn't the country a community on a much larger scale?

Certainly the country is too diverse with too many facets to love all of it, so I think it's more of the idea of loving the country more than any specific details.

[Political Heretic]

8. Because I know everyone within the context I would call "community"

It's love of people - tangible, real.

[Mike 03]

2. Your question is appreciated, at least by me.

My only expectations of my country are:

that we have a leader that inspires me, and of whom I'm not ashamed

And that we can make amends with our former allies who we have offended and disagraced under Bush.

[XemaSab]

3. I love the land, I love our values (as I see them), and I love *most* of the people

The culture has its ups and downs, and the political process... big downs with occasional big ups.

That is what loving my country means to me. :patriot:

[Political Heretic]

9. I was wondering if more people would talk about love of the land.

That's something I've not connected with, I think because I moved so frequently growing up I never quite got rooted into the earth anywhere....

But I was imagining that connection my be more real for some people.

[drmeow]

15. I moved a lot too

but I still love the land. California from birth to 6 months, overseas from 6 months to 6 years, CA again 6 - 7, overseas again 7 - 11, back to CA till adulthood (at least 5 different cities/counties), then NY, then AZ. I love the diversity of land in this country. I especially love the desert southwest which, although it is not completely unique in the world, is pretty rare. I love hummingbirds which are unique to the Americas if not to the US. That doesn't mean I can't love land elsewhere but there is something about the immense diversity of land and climates in the US which speaks to me ... and relates to what I think of when I think that I love my country.

I love being able to visit all of that diversity within the same country.
I love that people like John Muir and Frederick Law Olmsted recognized that diversity and beauty and fought to preserve it.
I love the freedom we had before GWB and that I hope we will have again - especially the Bill of Rights (I know that GWB is not the only dark period in our history but I do think his is the darkest).
I love that I can graduate HS in CA, college in CA, graduate school in NY, and get a job in AZ without having to apply for citizenship and still be covered by some of the same protections in all states.
I loved my country when providing a safety net and making an effort to level the playing field were priorities and resulted in incredible prosperity and growth.
I love the fundamental philosophy upon which the country was founded.


However, I do not make the mistake of believing that my country is the only country that may have those qualities. I do not believe that there are not qualities that I would love about other countries. I do not believe that other countries do not have the capacity to surpass the US in many of the things I love about this country.

[Political Heretic]

16. Thanks that was very nice. :)

Cheers.

[TahitiNut]

4. "Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being ... "

"Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life."

:shrug:

More obliquely, it means they've not been confronted by the betrayal of that trust.

[Voice for Peace]

5. I love my self. "I love my country" has never made any sense to me either.

The earth is so beautiful. This country is just a piece of it.

[Cant trust em]

6. Dont we have a pretty nice slice of it?

You could adjust the size of this statement however you'd like. "The universe is so beautiful. This planet is just a piece of it."

[Voice for Peace]

10. you are exactly right.

the Great Everything is beautiful. the universe is a little mote of it.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

7. I react to that the same way I do when I hear someone say "I love Jesus."

I'm put off by it in a way I'd never be by the same person saying "I believe in Jesus" or "I follow the teachings of Jesus" or even "Jesus is the way."
I just would rather deal with these things on a reasoning level than an emotional level.

[Bonn1997]

11. Great question!

I think making public statements about loving the country is something conservatives do more than liberals. I think it does not make sense to have the same feeling toward your country that you do toward your parents, children, or romantic partner. RE: The land. I do love the nature in (and outside) our country but that doesn't mean I need to say I love our country. There are specific things in our country (some people, natural land) that I love but that's different from loving the country itself--just like there are some foods that I love but I wouldn't say "I love food."

[Oregone]

12. It means someone bought into the con and loves the regime that occupies the land they were born upon

By some twists of faith...

[MedleyMisty]

13. I don't really understand it either.

I love my state - its mountains and beaches and hills and trees and grass are all in my blood. But I find it hard to be quite as attached to the other 49 states when I don't live there and have only ever been in a fifth of them in my life, and most of those were only once for a short time. I can't grasp loving land that I've never seen the same way I love the land that formed me, the land where I've walked and breathed and gazed in wonder at clear blue skies and fields of green my whole life.

Not that I don't love the land there too - it's just like people, you know? I love all humans but I don't love all nearly seven billion of them the same way I love my husband and my mother.

I think once before I said in another thread that I didn't get what made one bit of land more special than another bit of land, and someone replied and seemed rather offended and said, as if I was perhaps a bit developmentally challenged, that it was the people that made it special and that other people took pride in.

People are people, and why should I feel differently about people who live on one bit of land than I do about the people who live on another bit of land?

[Fumesucker]

21. North Carolina is a pretty diverse state..

The Eastern part is quite different from the Western.

Do you love every single county? Have you been in every single county?

Not trying to be a jerk, just pointing out that most of us inhabit and are familiar with a fairly small area, much smaller than most states.

I've moved too much in my life to "love" any particular spot.

[OwnedByFerrets]

14. Used to mean something completely different.....

What this country has become is nothing to be proud of. What the neocons turned it into is nothing to be proud of. What americans allowed to happen to this country is nothing to be proud of. OR LOVE.

[JDPriestly]

17. I lived in other countries for quite a number of years, so when I say I love

my country, I mean that I love my home. I love America's Constitution. I love the ideals that caused the Founding Fathers to revolt against the tyranny of the British throne.

I love the fact that Americans are pretty frank with each other while being polite. (The British are very polite but not so frank. The French are very frank but not so polite about their frankness (although they have wonderful manners about some other things).

I love the prairies, the farmlands of the midwest, the open stretches without towns or cities, the smell of cornfields, the golden hue of a sea of wheat in the morning sun, the barns and silos and the occasional cattle or horses grazing in open meadows.

I love all the little churches and cemeteries in the midwest -- the memories of the generations that cut through the virgin brush, claiming the land, making it their own. I love state fairs, public schools, free libraries, open houses and Dairy Queens.

I love having an East Coast and a West Coast. Not all nations do.

I love my American family and friends, Thanksgiving dinners, Fourth of July parades and barbecues.

I love the mountains around L.A., my community, my neighbors, my friends, my garden. I love pretty much everything about the U.S. And like I said, I've tried some other countries, and I like the U.S. best.

[lamp_shade]

20. Wonderful response, JD. Reading it gave me goosebumps. Thx.

[Ysabel]

18. i love trees...

- and water...

[Political Heretic]

19. I really love water.

I have a strange nearly spiritual affinity to water....

[cali]

22. I no more love my country than I love humankind

it's too abstract a concept.