Beckham or the queen? (Patriotism)

Name: leahslad

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Product:	Patriotism
Date:	16.10.01 (90 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Keeps the country together, Creates a good sporting basis

Disadvantages: Can lead to violence, What if you are born in a country but your parents are foreigners?

Why is it that when I see the word patriotism my first vision is of chanting in the stands with England fans? Maybe I'm a lucky one, at least its not a vision of overweight English thugs ripping apart central Rome in an effort to cause as much drunken havoc as possible.

For others patriotism may resemble a fight in the war, a belief in our systems or a will for our fellow countrymen to succeed as you have. Whatever you imagine when you see the word, it all comes down to the same thing, loyalty. A patriotic person is loyal to their country, its the very definition of the word, and when you're loyal to your country, you're country will be behind you.

When England were in the Semi-Finals in 1996 we saw some amazing scenes as over 3/4 of the population poured into bars and turned on their TV's across the nation to support our heroes. The country banded together.

Bin Laden's terrorist attacks and the threat of Anthrax have led to us banding together again, albeit with the help of other nations to fight terrorism.

But its not only white British people who are patriotic, just look at the Americans.... They salute their flag and spend over 3% of their estimated waking life performing some sort of patriotic act (please note that the study did not define a 'patriotic act').

To me personally, sport is the main way in which partriotism shows through. I will always support an English team, be they a rugby team, a football team or indeed a dominoes team. It doesnt matter to me, if they are English then I want them to win. It's not that I am against other nations and I am not racist, I wont sit there thinking 'I want that Indian guy to lose', I simply want Enlishmen to win.

Quite why I am this way is strange to me, thinking about it I am still unsure. Maybe its something we are born with, a will for our own tribe to survive and a will to defend it coming through in the modern
day area of sport. Maybe its this natural instinct which leads us to support our country. Maybe the men were the main fighters and defenders of the tribe and so they have a greater in built patriotism than women? I'm not saying that women are not patriotic but I can be certain of seeing more men actively supporting their country in times of need than women (who have more will to protect their own young).

Of course times have changed since we were hunting and being hunted, now we simply live in concrete blocks and occassionally chant at each other. But what do you do if you are A foreigner in another country, who are you patriotic to? Personally I know I am an Englishman through and through with true Yorkshire grit so I would undoubtedly support England in everything I did. But what if I was born to Iranian parents here in Britain? I am British by birth but Iranian by family. What then? I dont know how to tell people to choose in this situation, I dont think I have a right to but I know that if they choose England then they will be welcomed into the sporting arms of our nation.

To be patriotic isnt just about sport though, what about our queen for instance? It's considered by many to be patriotic to support our queen, she's even in our national anthem so why not? Personally I am not a royal family fan, I think they guzzle up too much of our money and provide only small returns in tourism but even so I dont think I want to see our queen dethroned. The royal family are a part of our past and our traditions, a thing at the very heart of patriotism. It's not an essential part of being patriotic but its one that many would associate with the word.

Then theres the everyday helping your country. The British are not as patriotic as the Americans, but I would still like to think we do our bit for our country. Everyone has a role to play in this, from picking up litter in the street to vying for world peace. Everyth
ing that a person does to help our nation is a small piece of patriotism. Its real patriotism when it is done with no personal gain, but thats almost always impossible to manage and is a totally seperate argument.

Patriotism is what really holds us together and keeps us a nation, without patriotism we would collapse in a war and be unable to follow our football team with any real vigour, we'd lose so much that it really isnt something to be taken lightly. The world cup will be a true test of patriotism with 6am kick offs meaning that extra effort to watch the national team play, so I leave you with one last message:

Come on England, Come on England, Come on England!

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