Explain patriotism to me

TotallyHuman

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A fictional country feels a bit unrealistic if it doesn't have a kind of identity, and if its people are the same as in any copy-past cardboard cutouts.
How to create a country's identity is a difficult topic I don't quite want to touch upon, but the first step I want to take is to create the people to love it.
It's easy to do it with someone who has a direct responsibility for it: ministers, nobles, military people etc, but how does the average Joe like his country? I can't quite understand it, so I hope if there are patriots or people who know patriots here, they will help me.
 

CupcakeNinja

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A fictional country feels a bit unrealistic if it doesn't have a kind of identity, and if its people are the same as in any copy-past cardboard cutouts.
How to create a country's identity is a difficult topic I don't quite want to touch upon, but the first step I want to take is to create the people to love it.
It's easy to do it with someone who has a direct responsibility for it: ministers, nobles, military people etc, but how does the average Joe like his country? I can't quite understand it, so I hope if there are patriots or people who know patriots here, they will help me.
Do you love your family? The land you live on? Would you fight to protect your country, which allows your family to live its life peacefully? If so, you are a patriot.

You don't need to love your government. Just the people who live within it. And be willing to protect them in whatever way you are capable.
 

SailusGebel

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Patriotism or national pride is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to a homeland or the country and alliance with other citizens who share the same sentiment to create a feeling of oneness among the people. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or historical aspects. :blob_okay:
 

CynicalStrawberry

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I'd say that it's largely the atmosphere and simple things. When you're in a parade or some mass event, just being in the crowd allows you to feel and be a part of this energy. I'd think of it as mob mentality but more positive. Think of institutions or organizations you belong to, do you ever feel simple pride from wearing a badge or a uniform or something, just to say I've been here, I'm part of this amazing thing?

Then, there could also be pride for the individuals who come from the country (maybe a celebrity or a noble that was the hero of the war). There's also pride for the country itself, the mountains, valley, or rich soil and fresh fruit found only in their country. An average Joe is probably proud of the peaches she grows that can only be found in her country because of the country's rich soil.

Did that help at all?
 

TotallyHuman

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I'd say that it's largely the atmosphere and simple things. When you're in a parade or some mass event, just being in the crowd allows you to feel and be a part of this energy. I'd think of it as mob mentality but more positive. Think of institutions or organizations you belong to, do you ever feel simple pride from wearing a badge or a uniform or something, just to say I've been here, I'm part of this amazing thing?

Then, there could also be pride for the individuals who come from the country (maybe a celebrity or a noble that was the hero of the war). There's also pride for the country itself, the mountains, valley, or rich soil and fresh fruit found only in their country. An average Joe is probably proud of the peaches she grows that can only be found in her country because of the country's rich soil.

Did that help at all?
I think I got something from it, thanks
 

Lloyd

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Most countries have a specific kind of patriotism called nationalism. There are very few patriots that are not also nationalists. The nation is in effect just an extension of your community, which itself is an extension of the family. It is simply a natural extension for people to support and love their family, their community, and their nation. Patriotism in many ways is kind of a scam, as we see many multi-national countries often are torn apart by civil strife and while homogenous nation states form a much more cohesive society. You can look back at examples as far back as the romans who had to deal with pretty constant rebellions in the provinces, the Austrian empire who punched far below their weight during the renaissance till WW1, and even modern countries like the united states, brazil, and south africa.
 

CynicalStrawberry

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One more thing to give you food for thought. To you they may just be an average Joe but to them they have their own pride in whatever small domain they operate. And individually they may be small but as a collective they make up the whole kingdom and each person is a part of that.
 

Underload

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Patriotism (): My country is heaven; you all are the cum stains on our land that my country's super sayian saint forgot to wipe/clean.
 

NotaNuffian

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From what I read above, patriotism = I love my country, my home and take pride in her values.

Nationalism = I love my country, my home and take pride in her values very much

Anyone else who is not liking it/ not a part of it are foul xenos to be purged.
 

Lloyd

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From what I read above, patriotism = I love my country, my home and take pride in her values.

Nationalism = I love my country, my home and take pride in her values very much

Anyone else who is not liking it/ not a part of it are foul xenos to be purged.
This is a pretty gross oversimplification. Also the last part is just plan anti-nationalist propaganda. Most nationalists are also very religious and are not in favor of any kind of purge. Nationalism just happens to be one of the few ideologies threatening to the current power structures of the world, so the rich and powerful naturally hate it and make a lot of propaganda against it.
 

JayDirex

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A fictional country feels a bit unrealistic if it doesn't have a kind of identity, and if its people are the same as in any copy-past cardboard cutouts.
How to create a country's identity is a difficult topic I don't quite want to touch upon, but the first step I want to take is to create the people to love it.
It's easy to do it with someone who has a direct responsibility for it: ministers, nobles, military people etc, but how does the average Joe like his country? I can't quite understand it, so I hope if there are patriots or people who know patriots here, they will help me.
To better answer your question, what you need is for your fictional country to experience something unifying that brings them together, such as WW 2. The United States always had baskets of deplorable nationalist (more like nativist) but it was World War 2 that truly united that country under a single minded "American Exceptionalism" to defeat the Nazis and bring justice (or some such. Just not at home in the rural south, where black folk were segregated via Jim Crow, or in defense of their Latin American neighbors.)

But that's how you create an identity and an narrative around a nation. But Patriotism and Nationalism are just two faces of the same coin. (Meaning my nation is better than yours. That's what the epic stupid and un-vaxxed would say in the U.S.).
 

Daitengu

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Many have defined what patriotism is, so I'll just throw in my observations of how people become patriotic.

Patriotism requires a culture and identity the general masses agree to. Unlike nationalists, a patriot doesn't have to like their government. The culture and ideals are what patriots believe in. Particular ideals of justice, music, entertainment, military code, family life, freedom and so on create a societal picture of what a person sees as their country. The more the country matches the ideal the more patriotic the person.
 

Armored99

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I am prideful of the shared values of my fellow countrymen. simple as
 

Cipiteca396

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the general masses agree to
Hmm, not necessarily. I feel closer to the people in my country, but I also feel a sense of closeness with people all across the world. People who would happily discriminate against me because of my nationality, lol.
The culture and ideals are what patriots believe in
This is definitely more in line with how I feel.



The average person may not feel a strong sense of attachment to their country or government. Sometimes a change doesn't even affect them. Those government figures will never come visit Joe's farm, so who cares about them.
own pride in whatever small domain they operate
On the other hand, if those government figures do come visit Joe's farm and complement her peaches(wow, you led me right into that one) then that may inflate their sense of Patriotism. THIS important person recognized the effort and care I put into my work. Surely they must also put the same level of care into their work. Patriotism is a type of sympathy, at the core. Which occasionally makes the lack of sympathy for outsiders more noticeable, though that's beside the point.
 
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CynicalStrawberry

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Hmm, not necessarily. I feel closer to the people in my country, but I also feel a sense of closeness with people all across the world. People who would happily discriminate against me because of my nationality, lol.

This is definitely more in line with how I feel.



The average person may not feel a strong sense of attachment to their country or government. Sometimes a change doesn't even affect them. Those government figures will never come visit Joe's farm, so who cares about them.

On the other hand, if those government figures do come visit Joe's farm and complement her peaches(wow, you led me right into that one) then that may inflate their sense of Patriotism. THIS important person recognized the effort and care I put into my work. Surely they must also put the same level of care into their work. Patriotism is a type of sympathy, at the core. Which occasionally makes the lack of sympathy for outsiders more noticeable, though that's beside the point.
That's interesting. So are you saying Joe wouldn't feel that sense of connection if government figures didn't visit her farm? Or are you saying that their visit strengthens her patriotism that starts with believing in the culture and ideals?
 

Cipiteca396

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That's interesting. So are you saying Joe wouldn't feel that sense of connection if government figures didn't visit her farm? Or are you saying that their visit strengthens her patriotism that starts with believing in the culture and ideals?
A little of both really. It's hard to care about something you have no connection to. But once you have that connection, it can be strengthened easily. It can be as simple as getting regular news from the capitol, or as complex as getting extra supplies and labor in places that are suffering. As soon as it changes from 'it's unrelated to me' to 'I have a stake in this' it can become patriotism. That stake may be as simple as believing in the same religion, working towards the same goals, or offering shelter from invasion or disaster. But there has to be some kind of connection.
 
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Tbh general idea of feel what patriotism is is that it feels one or two or few levels down from nationalism. Patriotism may be support and love for country and nationalism is that, but on a much much more intense level, like taken up some notches of what patriotism is, and can be to the point where it becomes overbearing and ridiculous.
 

wildan1197_

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I'd say that it's largely the atmosphere and simple things. When you're in a parade or some mass event, just being in the crowd allows you to feel and be a part of this energy. I'd think of it as mob mentality but more positive. Think of institutions or organizations you belong to, do you ever feel simple pride from wearing a badge or a uniform or something, just to say I've been here, I'm part of this amazing thing?

Then, there could also be pride for the individuals who come from the country (maybe a celebrity or a noble that was the hero of the war). There's also pride for the country itself, the mountains, valley, or rich soil and fresh fruit found only in their country. An average Joe is probably proud of the peaches she grows that can only be found in her country because of the country's rich soil.

Did that help at all?
I like this one. Yeah, just show the readers your character's feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction as a result of one's own achievements, qualities, or possessions or those of someone with whom one is closely associated.
 
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