You can probably tell my opinion from the end of my tagline!

Yes. I'm free to speak my mind, worship how I please, defend myself, and help others work toward life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Only thing that would make me less proud is the restrictions of my God-given rights.

I agree with you!

no im not america is still a dumpster fire rn

I respect your opinion, thanks for answering!

Lol that’d be crazy. I heard all of Oregon except for Portland wants to form a new state and let Portland burn on its own. I think it would be terrible if we started allowing new states - Chicago, DC, Puerto Rico...

Not a good situation

It was crazy in 1861 when the South formed their own country because Lincoln Not My President butthurt. Ironically, their decision ended the Democrats slave institution earlier than if they had not seceded.

Lincoln not your president? Lol may I ask why?

The Southern Democrats were filled with the same hatred for Lincoln as they were later against Trump. Not for the same reasons, but both were extreme overreactions. So they used the same “Not My President” attitude & seceded. It’s not my opinion for either President, or any other President. I can dislike many things or like many things without hatred.

That’s a good way to be.

modern democrats didn't even discuss secession. The modern democrats hated trump because he is a narcissist, fascist, and openly sexist. The dixiecrats wanted to rape, torture, overwork, and kill black people. Modern democrats and dixiecrats are not similar.

Actually i made my own country in the US it’s not official though

Explain?

A bunch of my friends and I pretend it’s independent i plan to when can buy land officially declare independence from America

Well you can’t do that...
But I used to imagine that as well I even wrote a little story thing where some of southern Texas declared independence, then expanded into mexico

Look up the republic of mollosia

Just mollosia

I heard of that yeah

Guys upvotes are not supposed to outnumber comments in this stream

You sure? On any stream, upvotes outnumber comments

yeah but this stream is mainly about conversing.

I'm proud to be an American. Makes me less proud though when I know that some old guy with dementia is running it.

But yeah, I'm proud to have my freedom.

I’m proud as well.

Yes I am eh

I am certainly not very proud of the current state my country is in. I'm fine with the minimum wage. However, I am not very OK with the way the country is being governed. They screwed over the NHS by not updating the healthcare equipment ONCE since 2012, and just generally messing them up since the founding of the NHS, they decided that the best course of action was to leave the EU. If they hadn't chosen to leave, and if they had paid attention to the pandemic warning signs, then I wouldn't be embarrassed about living in the UK.

Ah! I don’t know much about that, being an American. I thought most people were happy about Brexit?

55% of British citizens who voted. Imma tell you now, the voter turnout was NOT the best

Ah. So that I as decided by a popular vote over there?

Sorta. Really, the only countries I know of that have a popular vote are France and Germany. The Referendum itself was held by popular vote, but with elections, it is somewhat similar to the electoral college. The country is divided into areas, each area with a certain amount of people is 1 seat. Certain cities, of course, can have a lot more than just 1 seat, but the votes are counted in each area, then the party with the most seats wins the election. Of course, the winner of the election pretty much always wins the popular vote, but in very rare cases, the winner loses the popular vote, and a lot of the time, the runner-up party is 4th or 3rd in the popular vote

Oh, that’s cool. Here, only 2 candidates are relevant at all... the “3rd place” has like 1.2% of the popular vote and 0 electoral votes.

I fully support the electoral college here, many dont though.

Just out of interest, why do you support it?

I think it helps rural communities and smaller states have a say. With popular vote, candidates could appeal only to 5 large cities and win the election...

Also, it prevents total urbanization of the country. Which is important to me.

One last point is that State’s Rights are very important to me (in fact I think states should have more rights and power to change their own laws than they do now) and the electoral college helps keep states relevant, rather than us being one big state.

Democratic Republic.

That’s what the electoral college is.
I wasn’t descriptive enough;

But it also give voters in certain states more power over the election, and it allows parties to win without actually winning a majority

It’s true that some voters have more power... but what it boils down to is that the USA is a republic, not a democracy. And I think the pros outweigh the cons. That’s just one voters opinion though

Can't the US be both?

In some aspects, but it can’t be both for the same election.

*so that was

USA, and NOPE

Elaboration/explanation, or no

Oh just because a bunch of people were literally storming the capital because the dumbass they elected lost like he should have four years ago.

Yes I agree, entering the capital for reasons such as theirs is pretty stupid.

And a bunch of other stuff but that’s a big one.

There's no point to be proud of the country you're from or to nationality you have.
I'm Dutch... And what did I have to do to be Dutch? Crawling out of the belly of a Dutch woman who had 9 months before that sex with a Dutch man and this all on Dutch soil... Well, well, well, what an achievement. I think I can take pride that I mastered the C++ programming language, as that is what I really worked for... That I've set up entire RPG games all on my own, as that took me a lot of work.... But simply because I was born in the Netherlands? Nah!

Of course, being Dutch is part of my nationality and there's a lot about my country I can tell you and about the Dutch language and culture, and I like doing that, but I'm rather fond of stuff I know that other people don't, and that's just something I got fun with... Not really to take "pride" in.

And just because I'm Dutch also doesn't mean I can take pride in whatever my country did, nor take responsibility for the bad stuff my country did. And when I hear a populist say how wonderful our nation is because the Dutch Anthony van Leeuwenhoek invented the microscope I think, why should I be proud of other people's achievements? Just because he's a countrymen? If I invented the damn thing myself I'd be proud of it....

I also don't see why I should be ashamed with my countrymen misbehave abroad... They are the ones misbehaving not me... Yeah, they were born in the same country... Like I care... Very likely I never even met them.

I think taking pride in my own achievements and taking responsibility for my own faults is already enough of a burden, so why should I take on all that for the entire nation? It's a bit folly. And I guess, that's the pro of living in a free nation. That I can take on my OWN identity. Not that of the nation as a whole.

I agree with some of what you are saying...

But I still think being proud of the country you live in makes you strive to make it better. Being thankful that you were born there makes you happier.

There’s also an important difference between nationalism and patriotism... you should only be proud when your country does something good, or is good

Oh, don't get me wrong... I'm glad I live in a free nation, and having all the privileges living in a free nation provides. However I have little care for nationalism and patriotism. Lately most people I met who call themselves "patriot" only differ from those who call themselves "nationalist" by the fact that the latter group is at least HONEST about it.

However should I be part of the Dutch national soccer team and win the world cup in the process, then yes, then I too will be proud. But not for being a Dutch, but for being part to make that achievement for my team happen. But then again, if I were on a team where I was the only Dutch and the rest all French or English or Chinese or American or whatever, I'd have the same pride if my team won.

But I don't know if I should be proud that the Netherlands won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019. I mean I am not Duncan himself nor was I part of his team. Still I'm happy for Duncan, and also for Cornald Maas who has been yelling for years that the Netherlands could win the Song Contest, even though nobody took him seriously, and in the end he was right, and he was also involved in the winning act more directly.

In the end we are all part of this world, and we all bear a part of the responsibility to make it better, and whenever I know I can do something to make that happen, I will. Yet, I won't do so as a Dutch, or European or whatever, but as a living individual.

I also don't take pride in Dutch history. I think that it's important to know so I can learn from the mistakes and successes of the past, certainly. Yet, the mistakes of the past were not mine nor were the successes.

I guess I with Jerry Springer always closed his shows "Take care of yourself, and for each other". I think when you do that you already deliver a contribution to make your place better, and maybe even the world as awhole. See what I mean?

Interesting point of view. Thanks!