Patriotism

[Pickers]

Highly esteemed members of Boat-drinks,
My first (and quite possibly only) contribution to this discussion forum comes in the guise of Patriotism.

Next week, my tutor group have to do an assembly for the rest of their "house", and it has been suggested and voted upon by the kids, that the theme should be Patriotism.
This comes in the wake of a host of major sporting events which saw support for England rise tremendously, and also in the recent announcement of Britain's bid for the 2018 football World Cup.

I want to help my tutor come up with an assembly that deals with the issue of patriotism, addressing ideas and controversies over it.
For example,

• What (if anything) affects a person's 'right' to be patriotic for a country? Can someone of a different ethnicity, an immigrant be patriotic in their new home?
• Is patriotism good or bad?
• Does patriotism exclude and isolate minorities, or does it offer a common banner for all to stand under?
• What are the dangers of extreme patriotism? Any examples?

Can anyone offer their opinions? Ideas for how to convey a message to an audience about Patriotism in about 10 mins? It cant be too deep and has to be able to be presented in an interesting and balanced way. I'm trying to think of snippets of facts/statements which can be backed up, or countered by using real life examples for the kids to act out / debate.

[Dymetrie]

Originally Posted by Pickers

What (if anything) affects a person's 'right' to be patriotic for a country? Can someone of a different ethnicity, an immigrant be patriotic in their new home?

Being patriotic is a choice that a person makes, it is something that only they can feel, as such then, with adequate belief, a person can be patriotic wherever they like, whether that is their own country, their adoptive country or the country of their heritage.

Originally Posted by Pickers

Is patriotism good or bad?

Both. Being patriotic can help someone understand and appreciate the culture/society they live in, it can also cause them to be blindly intolerant of other cultures/societies.

Originally Posted by Pickers

Does patriotism exclude and isolate minorities, or does it offer a common banner for all to stand under?

Ideally then it is the latter, but it depends on the viewpoints of those who are being patriotic. For example then in a predominately white society it is more difficult for the majority of patriots to be accepting of ethnic minorities who also display patriotism for that society, no matter how long those minorities have been a part of the society.

Originally Posted by Pickers

What are the dangers of extreme patriotism? Any examples?

The most prominent problem of extreme patriotisism is Racism, or racialism. The inability to accept those of different creeds, beliefs or even morals. The most extreme example of this is Nazism and the focus on the Ayran race being superior to all others with the Jews seen as the very underdogs of society, this was twisted even further with the idea of eugenics.

More recently then it has been prevalant in the USA on both sides of the coin. White supremacists using their beliefs in the natural superiority of whites, and more specifically the US, to belittle and justify attacks on members of other races. In contrast to this has been the black movement in the US, some misguided teachings (almost justifiably given the treatment of African blacks by the whites in the US) focus on the superiorty of the black race and the 'brotherhood' which exists in retaliation to the treatment which black Africans had received.


If I think of anything else then I'll post more

[edit]
oops, just realised I might have strayed a bit too far towards racism there
[/edit]

[semi-pro waster]

Dym has gone into it in a bit more depth than I would but I agree with his points mainly.

My view on patriotism is much the same as my view on nationality - if you feel you belong to a nation then you do, no requirements to be born in a specific place or have parents of a certain nationality, if you adopt a country and feel belonging or passion for it then as far as I am concerned you are of that nationality. It obviously doesn't work so well as far as legal issues are concerned but that isn't my point nor my fight, too many wars have been fought over being from the wrong place.

You could always throw in a bit of Samuel Johnston - "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.". But patriotism in itself is not bad, simply sometimes that bad people hide behind it and wrongly do things in its name.

[Pickers]

Some good comments well put so far. Kitten, they are 12, but assembly is for 11 to 18 year olds

[Stan_Lite]

Originally Posted by Pickers

What (if anything) affects a person's 'right' to be patriotic for a country? Can someone of a different ethnicity, an immigrant be patriotic in their new home?

Like dym, I believe it is a person's 'right' to be patriotic towards whichever country or countries they feel patriotism towards.

Originally Posted by Pickers

Is patriotism good or bad?

Patriotism is a good thing in my view. Being patriotic towards a place reinforces and enhances one's sense of belonging somewhere and having things in common with others, helps to encourage comradeship and understanding.

Originally Posted by dymetrie

..... it can also cause them to be blindly intolerant of other cultures/societies.

I disagree with this. Patriotism in itself does not engender blind intolerance, this comes from the individual and how they consider others and will manifest itself regardless of any feelings of patriotism to a country or culture etc.

Originally Posted by Pickers

Does patriotism exclude and isolate minorities, or does it offer a common banner for all to stand under?

As above, patriotism in itself does not exclude anyone - quite the opposite. Patriotism is inclusive of all. Anyone who claims to be a patriot but who excludes people on the grounds of race/colour/creed etc. is not a patriot, he/she is a racist.

Originally Posted by Pickers

What are the dangers of extreme patriotism? Any examples?

As with my previous points, one should not confuse 'extreme patriotism' with xenophobia or racism. Patriotism is not an excuse for intolerance and anyone who attempts to use it as such is not a patriot.

One final point.
It is the responsibility of existing patriots within a country to give newcomers a reason to feel patriotic towards their new home. If incomers are made to feel excluded or unwelcome, they are hardly likely to feel patriotism. If, on the other hand, they are made to feel welcome and encouraged to be an integral part of society, they will be more likely to feel some form of patriotism towards their new home.
It is equally important for newcomers to want to belong to the society into which they have placed themselves. If they arrive with no intentions of assimilating into society or no interest in becoming patriotic towards their new home, then perhaps they should try somewhere else.

Edit: Sorry, rambled on about my own opinions so much, I forgot to make any suggestions.
I've always considered role-playing an effective tool for getting a message accross. Having the pupils act out different scenarios and asking the assembly to assess what they have seen could well be effective in my opinion. e.g. have some kids act out a scenario whereby someone claims that he/she is a patriot and as such thinks immigrants should be sent home. Then ask the assembly whether they think this person is a patriot or something else.

[Pickers]

Bonza idea there Stan. Your final point is a fantastic statement that I had not considered and one that explains itself very simply.
One trap that must be careful not to fall in is to confuse patriotism for racism - its something that my tutor group started to do this morning.
I think role play with narrative could well work best for this type of message. Thanks for all suggestions so far. its also very interesting to see how people perceive the merits and misguided 'problems' caused by 'patriotism'.