Hi all. Welcome back to A Rob Blog. Upon posting my last blog, I was pleasantly surprised when I received a notification to say it was my 50th blog post. It’s not the sort of thing I keep track of, so it was a bit of a shock. A nice shock, but a shock nonetheless. Anyway, blog number 51 is about patriotism and how we define what makes a good patriot. Enjoy:
As I’ve gotten older, patriotism is something I’ve found more difficult to define. What is patriotism, really? On the face of it, it’s very simple: it is the love of one’s country. But that is what leads me to confusion.
Because, in order to understand the love of a country, one must first understand what it is that makes a country. Is it simply the land within the borders of the country? Possibly. There are certainly some really beautiful places here in England. Perhaps patriots just love the picturesque views? But that would seem a bit odd, just because there are beautiful locations all around the world; why should you automatically love your country’s locations more than others?
If not the physical land, perhaps it is the people who live in the country that truly make a country? But I know plenty of people who would describe themselves as patriotic who seemingly can’t stand the majority of people they come across. They’ve got no time for them.
So, if it’s not the land, and it’s not the people, perhaps it’s the history of the country that patriots love? Though, that seems a bit dodgy. History goes back quite a fair way, and all countries have periods they’re not particularly proud of. Can you truly love the history of a country if large parts of it are horrific? I suppose you can cherry-pick the parts that you like, but you surely have to have high levels of cognitive dissonance to just ignore the bad bits.
Not the land, not the people, not the history… what else could it be? Perhaps it is the ideals of the country, i.e., what does your country represent? That feels like the best answer, and it’s kind of perfect, in a way. Because, of course, what your country represents will be different depending on who you ask. So it becomes a very personal thing between you and your country, which I think is quite a nice thought.
That does then lead to another problem, though. It becomes very difficult to define what patriotism is because it is different from person to person. You might have two people from the same country, who both describe themselves as patriotic, but they might have diametrically opposed views on everything, including their country. This can then lead to some conflict.
One area where this comes up quite frequently is with government policy and the potential backlash against certain aspects of said policy. You see this online quite a bit, where someone will be critical of the government and will then be inundated with messages telling them to stop being so negative or to believe in the country more. Or, my personal favourite, “Well, if you don’t like it, leave.” As if packing up your stuff and moving to a different country is the easiest thing in the world.
These arguments do raise an interesting point about patriotism, though. Is having faith in the country the most patriotic thing you can do? Or is being critical and looking to improve things for everyone more patriotic? The two aren’t mutually exclusive, of course, but it does seem to boil down to one or the other a lot of the time (at least online).
Another aspect of patriotism that can end up dividing people is the support of a national sports team. This is particularly prevalent during the summer international tournaments. The great thing about these tournaments is that people who aren’t really that into football get swept up in the occasion, too. There’s an expectation that everyone will get behind the boys (and the girls, lest we forget the fantastic achievements of the Lionesses over the last few years).
Even with this in mind, some people are either so anti-football or, at best, apathetic towards it, that they don’t get behind the team. It holds no interest for them, and they don’t actually care who wins the games or the tournament itself. And this is their perogative, of course. But there are plenty who would dub these people unpatriotic for not supporting their country.
On the flip side of this, let me point you towards the final of Euro 2020 (played in the summer of 2021, due to Covid). It was England men’s first major final since winning the World Cup in 1966, and the fans were understandably excited. However, that excitement turned to chaos, with many incidents that marred the occasion.
There were lots of drunken groups, who had been drinking since the morning in many cases, some openly doing drugs in the street, some publicly urinating. There was litter everywhere, not to mention the property damage that was done. And this is all before most even got close to Wembley stadium. The scenes at the stadium were arguably worse, with lots of crowd trouble and a real headache for any police who were unlucky enough to be working there that day.
It could be argued that these so-called patriots might have treated the country a bit better on that day, both in terms of physical damage and the damage to our reputation around the world (such as it was). It should go without saying, but I’ll add the caveat that, of course, this wasn’t all the England fans who were acting badly. As usual, it was the minority (still probably 100s or 1000s of people) who spoiled it for everyone.
On the subject of England playing in a summer tournament, I have one final story that I think sums up how absurd patriotism can be at times. It’s what I refer to as blind patriotism.
I was a teenager, and it was England against France in a summer tournament. A quick Google reveals that the match in question was at Euro 2004, which means I was barely 16. My family, as we often did for England tournament matches, gathered with a big group of friends to watch.
Before a ball was kicked, there were, of course, the national anthems. I can’t remember which countries’ anthem was first, but I vividly remember what I said after the French one had finished. “I quite like the French national anthem, I find ours quite boring.” Quell surprise for the family friends who heard me.
I was met with incredulous and, at least a tinge of, angry rebukes. “You can’t say that,” and “Ours is better” are the two responses I remember. I wasn’t exactly sure what I had done wrong, but it was clear that I had made a faux pas.
As I reflected on my supposedly stupid words in the hours and days that followed (my mood not helped one jot by France knocking us out of the tournament that night!), I concluded that the reason my words must have rankled so much was to do with a perceived lack of patriotism on my part. I actually felt embarrassed and ashamed at what I said. I felt that I was in the wrong.
You know what, though? I wasn’t wrong. My comment wasn’t meant as a barb against the country; I was simply stating that I preferred the tune of another country’s national anthem.
And look, I don’t care how much you love it, God Save the King (Queen) is an objectively dull tune. It’s slow, it’s sombre, and it’s perfectly reasonable that a teenage boy might not think it’s a great song.
The funny thing is, as dull as I find it, it still fills me with pride when I hear it. What it represents still resonates with me. But, I’m a music man, and our anthem is just not good from a musical perspective. In my opinion.
Blind patriotism robs us of our ability (some would say, “duty”) to be critical. It misses the point that a critique is not the same as criticism. It is the childish notion that we are the best despite no supporting evidence.
I’m reminded of the pilot of the HBO show, The Newsroom. In it, Jeff Daniel’s character is asked why America is the greatest country in the world. The audience expects him to give a comforting answer, but he instead tells them that it’s not the greatest country in the world. He then reels off a number of metrics that place America nowhere near the top globally. The inference being, if there are so many countries who do so many things better, how could America ever be considered the best?
The best thing about The Newsroom is that it co-starred Emily Mortimer. She’s an English actress and is, therefore, automatically the best thing about the show. And that’s all the time we have for today. Sorry, no follow-up questions.
Thank you for joining me once again. The pleasure is all mine. Until next time, take it easy.
Rob Recommends
Casino Royale – Film – 9/10
This film came up in conversation a few weeks ago, and I was stunned to realise it is 17 years old. I also realised that I hadn’t seen it for a while, so I thought I’d give it a re-watch. It was a very good decision.
What a film this is! The opening half hour or so is just great. The black and white cold open, the casino-themed opening titles (RIP Chris Cornell!), the Madagascar parkour chase, the espionage and poker in the Bahamas. All incredible.
The rest of the movie is none too shabby, either. Daniel Craig is great. Eva Green is great. Mads Mikkleson is great. Dame Judy Dench is top class, as you’d expect. This is truly one of the great James Bond films. It’s almost enough to make me feel patriotic…
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