[Grug]

http://www9.sbs.com.au/theworldnews/region.php?id=129945&region=4

People rated how proud they were of their countries in areas such as political influence, economic success, sports and history.

They survey ranked 34 countries, mostly in Europe and the Americas, with several Asian countries represented. Only Israel was included from Middle Eastern countries.

Here is how the countries ranked:

-1. United States
-2. Venezuela
-3. Ireland
-4. South Africa
-5. Australia
-6. Canada
-7. Philippines
-8. Austria
-9. New Zealand
-10. Chile
-11. Great Britain
-12. Israel
-13. Uruguay
-14. Finland
-15. Spain
-16. Denmark
-17. Switzerland
-18. Japan
-19. France
-20. Portugal
-21. Hungary
-22. Bulgaria
-23. Norway
-24. Russia
-25. Sweden
-26. Slovenia
-27. Germany (West)
-28. Czech Republic
-29. Taiwan
-30. Latvia
-31. Korea
-32. Slovakia
-33. Poland
-34. Germany (East)

While not surprising, I did find it amusing.

[Deepblue]

Kiss me, I'm Irish!


(not really)

[Knight Templar]

USA! USA! USA!

[Rictor]

Those East Germans have a lot to be proud of. They're well on the way to re-unificati....oh wait.

[Sarafan]

Why is Germany divide?

[Turambar]

both the concept of pride and of nations are misguided and should be done away with

[Rictor]

If you say so. Emotions are useless, destructive things, it's best to do away with them.

[Turambar]

nah, tried that (concerta), it sucked

[achtung]

Why is Germany divide?

Because the nation was basically seperated for over 50 years.  Soviets occupied the east.

[Sarafan]

Why is Germany divide?

Because the nation was basically seperated for over 50 years.  Soviets occupied the east.

Of course I know that but it was some good time ago, they shouldnt divide it like that anymore because then it's people will never consider that they live under the same ''banner'', so to speak.

[Mefustae]

Living under radically different conditions for 50 years can alter a population quite deeply. The nation may now be whole, but the divide in the hearts of the people will last for decades. Moreover, it is quite interesting to see how the different regimes can affect the national pride of a population, and there is no better candidate for such an experiment than the German people.

[AlphaOne]

they should of included Romania then they would really be shocked I think about how "proud" romanianas are of theyr leader and country. On the other hand romaninas are pretty sensitive when it comes to theyr teritorial pride. Several hundred years of foreign rule over diferent parts of the country tend to induce a sence of well resentement to anyone who has the nerve to claim teritorial ambitions.

But back to the topic at hand I think less then 50% of romanians are actualy proudt of theyr country(the way its lead its economical status and influencial status)

[vaang]

yeah scored last

Its quite difficult to be proud of germany (east or west) here
patriotism is closely linked to our past, and except for football most people I know are strictly against patriotism...
I can remember an incident when a politician claimed that he is proud of germany
that triggered a discussion which lasted for weeks until they agreed that you can be only be proud of yourself and what you achived...
and the vicious politician nearly had to resign

[aldo_14]

I wonder what the results would've been if they had done Scotland, England, Wales, etc independently.

[Mars]

The USA scores top on another wall of shame.

nah, tried that (concerta), it sucked

God I hate that ****ing ****, I was on it for a year; I finally just stopped taking the crap; can't believe people get high off of that ass ****ing ****.

*breaths*

[Fineus]

Jesus, we actually didn't do badly (the English). I find that frightening.

[Wobble73]

Jesus, we actually didn't do badly (the English). I find that frightening.

Actually it was the BRITISH did well, not just the English. I expect the Scots and the welsh bumped our score up a bit as they are very patriotic to their own countries! I'm wonder where the Turkish would have been if they were included in the survey? They have a law against, abuse of their flag! Such as it being used to make bikinis, they just don't understand the British at all, having the Union Flag (The union Jack is only when it is flown at sea, Yes I saw Dr Who too) on their boxer shorts etc.

[Shade]

Not surprised USA came out on top. I do however wonder if it's actual pride, or just the kind of false patriotism* (I'll explain below) constantly seen at the moment. I mean, in the current political climate over there, it would be tantamount to a trip to Guantanamo to say you're not proud of the country in a test such as this.

* By that I mean the radicalism/fanaticism-disguised-as-patriotism that seems to reign supreme at the moment. If you don't support the government you're unpatriotic. If you don't want to be frisked every time you board a flight you have something to hide and you're unpatriotic. If you travel to cuba on a holiday, you're a criminal and unpatriotic. If you don't support the flag bill you're unpatriotic. The list just keeps on going...

But none of these things have anything to do with patriotism. Not one bit. A patriot would in fact stand up against a government that's perverting the values of his/her country. A patriot would defend those values even if it meant putting up with some dislikable things, such as burning flags. In short, a patriot loves his/her country, its values, its ideals, its history, its culture. But a patriot will also very much not love a government that threatens those things, and would not be at all proud of it if those things were going on.

[Mars]

* By that I mean the radicalism/fanaticism-disguised-as-patriotism that seems to reign supreme at the moment. If you don't support the government you're unpatriotic. If you don't want to be frisked every time you board a flight you have something to hide and you're unpatriotic. If you travel to cuba on a holiday, you're a criminal and unpatriotic. If you don't support the flag bill you're unpatriotic. The list just keeps on going...

I thought that was patriotism

[Shade]

No, that's bury-head-in-the-sandism.