FacebookTwitter
Hatrack River Forum   
my profile login | search | faq | forum home

  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» Hatrack River Forum » Active Forums » Books, Films, Food and Culture » Patriotism, nationalism, stateism (thats a word). (Kind of a Game)

   
Author Topic: Patriotism, nationalism, stateism (thats a word). (Kind of a Game)
Laurenz0
Member
Member # 5336

 - posted      Profile for Laurenz0   Email Laurenz0         Edit/Delete Post 
Whoa. Been a long time since I logged on to here. (sorry to those who liked it that way)

I was thinking up something that would be kind of fun and an interesting way to know people better, and thats by sharing our values.
Here's how it goes. Start of with your country and name a few thigns you like about it and a few thigns you don't. Now you can stop here, or you can carry on. Talk about your state(or if your like me, province), City, area, house, bedroom, you can go as far as you like.

Anyway, to those who think this is lame, i apologize, you don't have to play, nor do you have to tell me how lame it is. I just thought it would be kind of interesting.

I gues i'll go first.

I live in Canada,

A couple of things I like, I like the fact that we have 25 percent of the worlds fresh water.

I especially like the fact our population denisty is far below average. (8 people per sqaure kilometer)

I like the fact that we accepted the kyoto accord.

I don't like the fact that Canadians are sterotyped as beer guzzling hunters/hockey players/ hockey watchers. Canadians themselves even do this.

I don't like the fact that our say means nothing in world economics, but why should it. Our population is miniscule.

I live in the province of Alberta. The province the second most to the west.

I like the fact that alberta is diverse in nature.

I don't like the fact that its 95 percent right wing convervatives who tend to value a few coins over a forest or two.

Calgary

I'm very proud that our city has the best, thats right, the best water filtering system in the world.

I'm also proud that from a hill, our city looks good because of all the trees.

I don't like it that its owned by money hungry oil tycoons.

I'm not so proud that the only culture we seem to celebrate(and we celbrate it alot) is that of people who flip cows upside down and tie their legs together.

Well, thats it. join it if you want.

Posts: 247 | Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Xavier
Member
Member # 405

 - posted      Profile for Xavier   Email Xavier         Edit/Delete Post 
Sure, why not.

I live in the United States.

I like that its the most powerful nation in the world.

I like that it is an economic superpower.

I especially like the diversity. An example of this would be world cup soccer teams. Look at any other team and the whole team is made up of one type of person (with maybe one exception), then look at the mutley US team [Big Grin] .

I don't like the fact that most Americans consider this a Christain country.

I especially don't like the fact that those Christians try and get legislation passed which is based on their religious values, and not secular reasons.

I'm ashamed of our current administration, and feel I was decieved into supporting an unjust war.

I live in New York.

I'm sort of proud of my states history, and its importance even on a national/global scale (though thats mostly NYC).

I love that everything is green here, and there are some very nice scenic places.

I hate the ten feet of snow we get during our eight month winters! Its like 30 degrees outside right now! Also the lack of sunshine gets me down.

I don't like that the economy is in the gutter right now, with virtually no jobs in the upstate region.

I live in Oswego, near Syracuse.

As much as I hate the bad weather, I'm strangely proud of it.

I like a few of the restaurants? (I'm reaching here)

I don't like that the population here is almost 95% white (though somehow I managed to have two out of my three best friends a full blooded native american and a hispanic girl).

I can't stand that pretty much the only two options for hanging out with people here are drinking and doing drugs. I like to drink occasionally, but Oswego is in the book of worlds records for most bars per capita. This is because everyone is a lush.

Well, now that thats off my chest, I'm happy to say that within a couple weeks I will be in SoCal, so I can make a new list there. If I don't like SoCal, I'll be making a new list from one of the Carolinas shortly after. Then maybe Florida...

Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Fitz
Member
Member # 4803

 - posted      Profile for Fitz   Email Fitz         Edit/Delete Post 
Canada.

I like the fact that Canadians are sterotyped as beer guzzling hunters/hockey players/ hockey watchers. I am this stereotype, apart from the hunting part, and the only reason I don't hunt is because I'm too lazy. I also say 'eh', but not 'aboot.'

I don't like the fact that it's winter 6-8 months a year.

Alberta

Alberta sucks. I wish I lived in B.C., or pretty much anywhere else in Canada. Well, not Saskatchewan, or Manitoba, or the area formerly known as the Northwest Territories.

Edmonton.

I love Edmonton because we have the best hockey team in Alberta, and arguably in the nhl.

I hate Edmonton because there are a lot of stupid kids in my neighborhood who take pleasure in slashing my tires.

(Edited for capitalization)

[ October 04, 2003, 02:20 AM: Message edited by: Fitz ]

Posts: 1855 | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Erik Slaine
Member
Member # 5583

 - posted      Profile for Erik Slaine           Edit/Delete Post 
Hi, my name is Erik, and... I'm an American.

::"Hi, Erik"::

The US is a land of great liberties. The opportunity to say nearly whatever you like is powerful, and, well, liberating. It is a land of great diversity, and if you don't like the culture you were born into, you can pick and choose from a thousand others, like a smorgasbord.
"Take what you like, and leave the rest!" (Egg Chen, Big Trouble in Little China, out of context. He was reffering to Chinese philosophy.)

The hard part is over however. Tyranny of the majority reigns in America today. And it's a thin majority, so that everyone winds up on edge. The American people don't want to grow up and take social responsibility, as Canada and other nations have. Instead, they throw the problems to profit mongering capitalists, who do not solve the problems, they just make it worse by trying to make a quick buck. The myth of trickle-down economics is killing us. The money doesn't trickle down, it winds up in corporate coffers.

Moving on. California.

The fog is spilling over the ridge above me now. The sun illuminates it, making it a glowing silver mist floating down amongst the oak forest. Simply gorgeous. The land is rich, beautiful (where you can get away from the urban sprawl). The society here is composed of people from all over the world, reactionary ideas don't seem to be tolerated. And, oddly enough, intolerance is not an issue, people mostly agree to disagree. California is the essence of America's melting pot.

California is suffering on this influx however. Many natives have moved on, it's just too expensive to live here! Many of you might be in similar areas, such as those in NYC, but a two bedroom apartment here goes for about $1200.00 a month! Political Correctness is a real problem here. Many people blindly follow any PC ideal to it's insane conclusion. PC is a direction, not a way of Life!

Napa. I love this valley. I love the California Coastal Range. The weather is perfect for me. The native flora is just beautiful.I was born here.

Our families were not the Wine Barons that popular television might make Napa out to be populated by. The principal industry in Napa, when I was in school, was horse husbandry, not vineyards and wineries. Tourism is not for me. I remember that Kaiser Steel and Mare Island were the principal employers here. It seemed that eveyone worked for one of those two employers, now gone. Profiteers bought up my lovely valley, and stripped native vegitation for vineyards. They've taken over. They've ruined many vistas in the area, and the runoff from them poisons our water table. Now they are getting theirs, however, as other areas of the country, and the world, encroach on their market.

Okay. That's my morning rant. Thanks Laurenz0!

Posts: 1843 | Registered: Aug 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
JonnyNotSoBravo
Member
Member # 5715

 - posted      Profile for JonnyNotSoBravo   Email JonnyNotSoBravo         Edit/Delete Post 
I totally agree about the PC thing. I'll have to post a new topic or resurrect an old thread. There was this girl visiting from SoCal (she was not the brightest girl in the world) and she was so PC it was sickening. Of course she was also a deep believer in Feng Shue (sp?) and crystals and Tarot and owing people lots of money and finding a man to take care of her financially.

Anyway, I'm Jon. I live in Seattle. I live near University of Washington and go to school there.

I like living where I don't have to fight for my human rights, or civil rights or legal rights. I like having a passport and being able to go just about anywhere on a whim.

I like living near a university. I can go to free lectures by experts on the Bose Einstein Condensate, the neurobiology of emotion vs. feelings, the politics of Israel, and the beauty of ballet all within a week. All in a diverse, open minded environment where there's always room for debate.

I like the scenery here. It's not flat. It's not barren. It's not monotonous. There are trees and mountains and lakes and rivers and oceans and animals and people and islands. Isolation and insulation in a wooded wilderness is only an hour away by car to National Parks, or 10 minutes, if I walk down to Ravenna Park. Downtown is 10 minutes away by bus if I feel like joining the throng. If I do want flat and barren it's just over the mountains in Eastern Washington.

It's not as hip or exciting as NYC (few places are) but it couldn't support the landscape with an atmosphere like NYC has, and it would be harder to get the isolation. Yet it still has quite a lot of music, culture, public markets, activism, diversity and activity. We have tolerance, talent, and technology and it's drawing a lot of creative people here, adding more tiles to our mosaic.

I don't like the fact that although I live in a fairly well educated country, we still have bigotry and hatred, that we are a country of image, easily swayed by soundbites and commercials, and not by facts. Where being accused is a lot closer than you'd think to being guilty, where the dollar is king and where the news of a shooting is not uncommon. Where televangelists, advertisers, politicians and con artists are all waiting to lighten your wallet. Where deception and evasion and lack of responsibility is the default setting. Where most everyone believes that education is the silver bullet but we're unwilling to devote enough resources to it.

It's not perfect, but it'll do for now. [Wink]

Posts: 1423 | Registered: Sep 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Teshi
Member
Member # 5024

 - posted      Profile for Teshi   Email Teshi         Edit/Delete Post 
Canada.

I like the way Canada is so empty and huge.

I hate the way Canada is so empty and huge- you can never get anywhere.

I love the way that in one country you can find so many different landscapes.

I sometimes like the way Canadians are viewed by the rest of the world, other times, I hate it.

I hate the way Canada's history is, compared with other, much more historical countries, is fairly empty.

I like that the government is not based religiously. I like the way the politicians rarely mention some sort of God in their speeches.

I live in Ontario, the most populated province in Canada.

I like the way it is more populated than the other provinces, and the fact I can get to many different places by driving.

I like the rockyness of the Canadian Shield and the lakes and trees that smother the rocks.

I like the way Ontarians are generally going foward, thinking in new ways, passing new ideas and laws, and that they are mostly open to new ideas.

I hate the dependance on cars, because everything is so spread out, and it gets so cold in the winter.

I love the colours trees turn in Autumn.

I even like the way we still have old fashioned people who don't change.

I live in Ottawa, the second coldest Capital City in the World.

I love the way I live in the Capital, and the way Ottawa is big but not terribly dangerous.

I love the way it snows for Christmas, I love skating on the canal. I hate the way the snow doesn't go away, and I hate the spring: Mud, slush, terrible smells and cold.

I love the way Toronto, New York, Montreal are a drivable distance away. (Only two to nine/ten hours! [Smile] )

I love the way my neighbourhood, although primarily white (which is a shame), is open to all races, sexualities, religions. I have never heard anyone make racial slurs.

I don't like the way the suburbs are so bland, new clean, large, and samey.

I love living here.

I used to live in England (to add some variation):

I love the way England has such a history full of interesting things, good and bad.

I love the way England is all jammed close together but there is still space for parks and trees and open spaces and forests and wild ponies and all manner of wonderful things.

I hate the way England is still pretty closed-minded about new things.

I hate the way England's suburbs are built, straight roads, ugly houses. I hate the way property prices are so astronomical.

I love the way you can live in a house in England that is hundreds of years old. I love the old road are impossibly narrow, impossibly, ridiculously bendy, and buried into the ground because of the generations of people that have passed along them.

I hate the way it is cold and rains.

I love the spring in England, I love the way the flowers come up in time for my Birthday, I love the English Robin and the way he hops in the frost.

I love the way, when it snows, everything stops, and everyone just enjoys the snow.

I love the way I can walk to places. I love the way everyone has a mixture of accents, and you can tell exactly where people are from with which accent.

I hate the way you can immediately tell someone's background from their accent.

I love the way, although England is such a tiny little miserable Island (or part of an island) it has made such a mark on the world.

I hate the way that much of that mark is black.

I hate being connected with the black marks made by the past of that tiny little island.

I love the way, for all its faults, I can still love England as much as Canada.

EDIT: Sorry about the length of this. [Smile]

[ October 04, 2003, 07:09 PM: Message edited by: Teshi ]

Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Beren One Hand
Member
Member # 3403

 - posted      Profile for Beren One Hand           Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
I like the way the politicians rarely mention some sort of God in their speeches.

I did not know this about Canada. Thanks for sharing that, it is a definitely plus in my book. [Wink]
Posts: 4116 | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Erik Slaine
Member
Member # 5583

 - posted      Profile for Erik Slaine           Edit/Delete Post 
JohnnyNotSoBravo: feng shui [Wink]
Posts: 1843 | Registered: Aug 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
JonnyNotSoBravo
Member
Member # 5715

 - posted      Profile for JonnyNotSoBravo   Email JonnyNotSoBravo         Edit/Delete Post 
Thx. =)
Posts: 1423 | Registered: Sep 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Laurenz0
Member
Member # 5336

 - posted      Profile for Laurenz0   Email Laurenz0         Edit/Delete Post 
hm, a lot of canadians.
Anybody from not around the NW hemisphere?

Posts: 247 | Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Annie
Member
Member # 295

 - posted      Profile for Annie   Email Annie         Edit/Delete Post 
Sorry - I am smack dab in the center of the NW hemisphere
Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Morbo
Member
Member # 5309

 - posted      Profile for Morbo   Email Morbo         Edit/Delete Post 
Sorry to quibble, Laurenz0, but I think that would be NW hemidemisphere, a half of a half of a sphere. I'll have to check.
*checks*
Not in the dictionary, but used on this page and this page.

Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Robespierre
Member
Member # 5779

 - posted      Profile for Robespierre   Email Robespierre         Edit/Delete Post 
I am an American from the mid west, St.Louis to be exact.

I like That the US is the world leader in:

economy
military power
popular culture
lead mining

I do not like the fact that our government enjoys taking money from those who earn it, and giving it to those that have not.

I like our political freedom

I do not like political correctness

I like that th english language is so wide spread.

I don't like the racial situation in St.Louis, where blacks and whites live apart from one another in a highly antagonistic situation.

I am proud that most people in the world who are fleeing oppression look to the US for shelter.

I am proud that we have freedom of relgion and freedom from religion.

Posts: 859 | Registered: Oct 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
   

   Close Topic   Feature Topic   Move Topic   Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
 - Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:


Contact Us | Hatrack River Home Page

Copyright © 2008 Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.


Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2