Patriotism (not Jingoism)

[cupboardy]

Hey folks

 

I was wondering if people here would like to tell us about their country

 

One thing that makes you proud

One thing that makes you angry / ashamed etc

 

Here's Mine

 

Country UK - England

 

Makes me :angry: - Taxes - We have some of the highest taxation in Europe - A friend recently sold his house, as it was worth more than £600,000 (I may be wrong on the exact figure) the governemt got.... 40%!!!

 

WTF!!! Thats almost half, what the f**k gives these assholes the right to take so much!

 

Think of it this way

 

Say I earn £1

 

This is taxed before I get paid, it is taxed as a saving, it is taxed when I withdraw it, it is taxed when I buy things, it is even taxed if I leave it in a will to somebody!

 

How dare the goverment continually tax the same money, So (example) 95% of my precious £1 goes to the government, to pay for men like John Prescott (who was fired from his job but kept his pay...

 

The National Lottery (Lotto) here in the UK is run by a group called 'Camelot'

Media Mogul Richard Branson offered to run it as a charity

 

The government said no..why? Cos they can't tax charities! Ooh Surprise me :glare:

 

And don't get me started on the effing Royal Family! How dare such an archaic notion as 'birthright' continue today... My taxes help fund the queens 15 million effing castles, all of which require upkeeep 99% of which are never used!

 

---

 

Makes me :smile: - The BBC - I love that there are no ads on the BBC, I love that the BBC has a duty to Educate and Inform, I love that the BBC can do consumer rights programming without hindrance

 

(The BBC can run programs that recriminate multi-nationals without fear that the company in question will remove advertising revenue..cos there aint any.. ha!)

 

This is why I'm happy to pay my licence fee...otherwise what? American style vacuous nonsense that caters to the lowest common denominator and has ads every 5 minutes (literally!) Not to say that American TV is all rubbish but it's known widely known for it's quality (All the best exports appear to be HBO, which is funded by payment from the viewers)

 

The only thing that bothers me nowadays is that all BBC stuff is repeated on a host of 'UKTV' cannels...whcih are advertising funded, yet we still pay a license :glare: but I aint complaining...

 

Next!...

[rogerkint]

"Tax is the price we pay for a civilised society." –Oliver Wendell Holmes

 

If your friend is paying 40% tax on selling the house then it must mean it is caught by capital gains tax and thus they're making a mint anyway. If it was their main home it would be exempt, unless a couple of other conditions aren't meant, which would suggest that this is a secondary house, worth £600K? If they're that rich they can't complain too much about having to pay up: a progressive tax system is the only way a society can work effectively.

 

But anyway...

 

Something I love - The freedom. I can't think of another English speaking country that is as free as we are. I'm free to cross the street where ever I want, I'm free to protest where I want (with one or two exemptions), I am free to say what I want when I want and to whom I want, provided I'm not inciting violence or hatred. Freedom is something we tend to take for granted; but that's only because we're so used to it.

 

 

Something I hate - Not the BBC. Like cupboardy I love the BBC and I think they do some amazing things. But what I do hate is the TV licensing fee. What does it fund? The BBC. If I wanted to watch the BBC, then fine, if they want to charge for it so be it; but I don't watch BBC. Why should I pay a fee to them so that I can watch channel 4 news? Channel four don't get anything out of it. They're paying to be able to broadcast! No, if they want funding then they should have people pay for their channels - just like Sky or any other satellite or cable company. The fact that Channel Four expecially, but the other channels too manage to do so well to compete and even better BBC shows how good they are. I'd like to see what would happen to the BBC if their public funding was cut. I don't think they'd last all that long.

[kank84]

UK again i'm afraid

 

Thing I like - The NHS. I'll be the first to accept that it's not perfect by a long way, and it can sometimes take a while to get what you need, but it does supply everyone with free healthcare, regardless of who they are. I still think it's preferable to the system in other countries where you need to have private medical insurance, essentially excluding the pooer sections of society from the medical care they require. I like that medical treatment is a right (an inefficient and slow one, but a right none the less) and not a privilege.

 

Thing I don't like - Football and national obsession with it. It's a boring game, the players earn too much, TV companies spend too much on the rights to show it (especially annoys me with the BBC, see license fee rant above), the fans have given us a thugs reputation throughout Europe. I don't like that it's expected everyone will don a st george's cross and chant mindlessly whenever England's football team play anywhere; if i don't like football the rest of the time, what makes people think i'll be any different during the world cup? Give me rugby anyday, there's a proper sport!

[rogerkint]

I agree completely kank84; the NHS, while not perfect, is definitely a massive step in the right direction. The idea that should only get basic medical attention if you can pay for it is absurd. I find it ironic that they don't have anything like it in America, yet rule 5 of the Alcatraz rules and regulations used to state, (when it was a prison obviously) "You are entitled to food, clothing, shelter, and medical attention. Anything else is a privilege." Obviously medical attention is a privilege too now.

[Guest brokenbeat]

Country - America GASP ZOMG!

 

I am proud of our, umm... ehh... well uh... maybe.... I think America... something ;O :unsure:

 

I am ashamed of our healthcare system. Learning about out Medicare and Medicaid benefits made me realize I better get some damn income before I get placed on that. Boy do you get treated like shit on Medicaid. Well atleast I didn't say War in iRAQ, Why? cause everyone would say that, am i right?

[Wonderwoman]

well I have many things I don´t like in my homecountry Germany and for sure on is taxation and trust me cupster we beat you on the tax level anytime

mine is currently at about 55% with out the indirect ones...

 

I don´t like that we make many thinks more complicated then necessary as our politicians love to make compromises that hurt no one and in the end make everything worse.

 

I love on my country the health care system especially when you get to know some other examples like the US (don´t get me started there or I get seriously angry).

 

Generally my opinion is that you must have lived some time abroad to cherish many things in your country you normally take for granted.

We all can be very lucky to be living in relatively well and rich nations and not be forced to exist in countries like Sudan, Kongo and so on...

 

:ww:

[xxnandomxx]

QUOTE(year @ Apr 16 2007, 11:54 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Country - America GASP ZOMG![/b]

wow, i didnt know America was a country i always believe was a CONTINENT :wacko: :blink:

Well i live in Peru (South America)

what i like...

1.- Gastronomy.- (Traditionally my country is divided in 3 regions: Coast, Saw and Jungle( Costa, Sierra y Selva) And each one has one without number of saucers, without mentioning all kinds of desserts, You cannot visit Perú and not to prove the food. :ok:
2.- Beautiful places.- Waterfalls, Forests.... and the diversity of the flora and fauna dont have comparison. B)
3.-People.- (At least out of the capital-Lima-) The persons are very amicable, treat the tourists as if they were one more member of the family. :drinks:
I can continue with much more :P , but, they are the 3 principal things that I like of my country.

what i hate...

1.-The Politics and the politicians :blah: :blah: :blah: , I think the only thing that they do is steal to the people, at least the great majority :angry:
More money is destined for weapons that for education :shock:
2.- The service of transport.- Only a word to describe the traffic in Lima, Chaos :eeek: Especially in the principal avenues of the city, sometimes u just wana punch the Driver :diablo:
3.-Garbage.- This is really sad. We have a beautiful country but we cannot take care of it, In some places, the authorities allow that the garbage should be accumulated for days and we all know the dangerous and harmful thing that this is, :cry:

Is better i shut up now, otherwise I am going to end really angry and sad if i continue enumerating :lol:


But definitively u have to visit Perú :thumbs: , Only do not remain a lot of time in Lima :rofl:

[hager75]

Here's mine:

 

Country: Puerto Rico

 

What I hate:

 

My country is the oldest colony in the world. It was an Spanish colony for 405 years and has been a colony of the USA for 109 year!!! What I hate most is that it seems that we don't know what we want. About 50% of the people say that they want to become the state # 51 of the union, while the rest of us say "no way Jose".

 

We have never declare a war, but have been forced to participate in all the the 20th and 21st century wars that USA has participated. But we cannot vote for the President and Congress that declare the wars.

 

What I like:

 

Even when we have been a colony of the USA for more than a century, we have kept our latin culture and language (Spanish). At the beggining of the 20th century the States tried to make English the official language of the education in PR. The people just didn't sent their children to school. At the end they had to agree to teach English as a second language.

 

OK. Ok. No more politics. Lets talk about the people. According to the latest World Values Survey released in March 2005, Puerto Ricans consider ourselves happier than any other people on earth. We credit our emphasis on extended family, an easy warmth among even strangers and the readiness to celebrate anything at any time makes our quality of life higher than anyone else's anywhere on earth. Of the 82 societies surveyed, Puerto Rico rated # 1. People rated their happiness on a scale of from 1-5 and PR rate was 4.67.

[cupboardy]

Thanks guys, some truly fascinating responses so far

 

I still think it's preferable to the system in other countries where you need to have private medical insurance, essentially excluding the pooer sections of society from the medical care they require. I like that medical treatment is a right (an inefficient and slow one, but a right none the less) and not a privilege.[/b]

I totally agree, I remember when this really dawned on me, it was when I first saw the movie 'The people Under the Stairs'

One of the characters is very ill, but cannot afford to go to hospital

 

I remember thinking at the time what an absurd storyline it was, I was naive enough at the time to think that even the worlds biggest capitalist country wouldn't be cruel enough to let it's people die simply because they had no money...

 

Sadly I was wrong...

 

I don't like that it's expected everyone will don a st george's cross and chant mindlessly whenever England's football team play anywhere; if i don't like football the rest of the time, what makes people think i'll be any different during the world cup? Give me rugby anyday, there's a proper sport![/b]

I sorta agree, I am guilty of being a part time supporter, I always watch when England play (but I'm not suicidal if they lose, 'cos they do so often)

 

Oh and rugby is crap, invented by a cheat who ran off with the ball in a good old game of football for gods sake -_-

 

:D

 

yet rule 5 of the Alcatraz rules and regulations used to state, (when it was a prison obviously) "You are entitled to food, clothing, shelter, and medical attention. Anything else is a privilege." Obviously medical attention is a privilege too now.[/b]

:goodpost:

 

Well said man, Thats an argument I hear a lot, prisoners are given basic right, free men are not???

 

Country - America GASP ZOMG!

 

I am proud of our, umm... ehh... well uh... maybe.... I think America... something ;O :unsure:

 

I am ashamed of our healthcare system. Learning about out Medicare and Medicaid benefits made me realize I better get some damn income before I get placed on that. Boy do you get treated like shit on Medicaid. Well atleast I didn't say War in iRAQ, Why? cause everyone would say that, am i right?[/b]

See my post above, oh and please don't say that bud, there must be something that makes you proud...

 

well I have many things I don´t like in my homecountry Germany and for sure on is taxation and trust me cupster we beat you on the tax level anytime

mine is currently at about 55% with out the indirect ones...[/b]

Bloody hell, it's despicable, I do not resent taxes themselves they are indeed needed, but I resent tax for taxes sake,

 

...is the 55% of your salary visably improving your community, did part of it go on that new hospital in the town?

 

Or on the foreign secretaries new home... :glare: [/b]

 

I love on my country the health care system especially when you get to know some other examples like the US (don´t get me started there or I get seriously angry).[/b]

So you have a good healthcare system then?.. that's good to hear, do you have some kind of mandatory national insurance as we do in the UK WW?

[cupboardy]

"you have posted more than the allocated blocks of quoted text" -_-

 

Ha!

 

Think that'd stop me?...

 

wow, i didnt know America was a country i always believe was a CONTINENT :wacko: :blink:[/b]

ha ha, honestly?

 

Aaaw so pleased to find people as naive as me about simple things :D

 

It was in University when I asked a friend, "I wonder why it's hotter in the South of England than it is up North"

 

"Erm, because it's closer to the equator bud, the whole worlds like that"

 

"Aaaarrrggghhh" I wanted the ground to open up :D

 

Well i live in Peru (South America)

 

what i like...

 

1.- Gastronomy.- (Traditionally my country is divided in 3 regions: Coast, Saw and Jungle( Costa, Sierra y Selva) And each one has one without number of saucers, without mentioning all kinds of desserts, You cannot visit Perú and not to prove the food. :ok:

2.- Beautiful places.- Waterfalls, Forests.... and the diversity of the flora and fauna dont have comparison. B)

3.-People.- (At least out of the capital-Lima-) The persons are very amicable, treat the tourists as if they were one more member of the family. :drinks:

I can continue with much more :P , but, they are the 3 principal things that I like of my country.[/b]

What's your national dish then bud?

 

Sounds like paradise man, That's something I like about the UK too, We have fields and forests, and beautiful lakes , streams and rivers, and protected land where you won't see man made things like power lines, just fields and plants

 

Sounds like your people have a great attitude bud :smile:

 

what i hate...

 

1.-The Politics and the politicians :blah: :blah: :blah: , I think the only thing that they do is steal to the people, at least the great majority :angry:

More money is destined for weapons that for education :shock:[/b]

Yeah that seems like a common theme amongst so many countries now, priorities are all messed up :glare:

 

2.- The service of transport.- Only a word to describe the traffic in Lima, Chaos :eeek: Especially in the principal avenues of the city, sometimes u just wana punch the Driver :diablo:

3.-Garbage.- This is really sad. We have a beautiful country but we cannot take care of it, In some places, the authorities allow that the garbage should be accumulated for days and we all know the dangerous and harmful thing that this is, :cry:

 

Is better i shut up now, otherwise I am going to end really angry and sad if i continue enumerating :lol:

But definitively u have to visit Perú :thumbs: , Only do not remain a lot of time in Lima :rofl:[/b]

Aaaw that's sad man, I saw a documentary about the road system in India a few years back, You pretty much use your horn for everything and push through wherever you can... I simply cannot believe how people can function with such constant tension on the roads..

 

and yes we get problems with rubbish (trash) too

 

Something called 'fly-tipping' (driving pout somewhere remote at night and dumping your rubbish there) you'll be driving down a country lane and suddenlt comes across a pile of junk, old sofas and refridgerators...

 

Sad thing is, I saw a program about the destruction of the coral reefs, as the narrator was swimming through coral that has taken thousands of years to form he comes across...

 

A rusting coca cola can :(

 

Here's mine:

 

Country: Puerto Rico

 

What I hate:

We have never declare a war, but have been forced to participate in all the the 20th and 21st century wars that USA has participated. But we cannot vote for the President and Congress that declare the wars.[/b]

FFS - oh yeah well I'm sure that makes just perfect sense to the politicians eh... :glare:

..even if it sounds completely absurd to the rest of the world...

 

What I like:

 

Even when we have been a colony of the USA for more than a century, we have kept our latin culture and language (Spanish). At the beggining of the 20th century the States tried to make English the official language of the education in PR. The people just didn't sent their children to school. At the end they had to agree to teach English as a second language.[/b]

Score! ha ha, that sickens me, Wales (part of the UK) has a dying language, fewer and fewer people learn it nowadays, so sad that hundreds of years of an entire countries language can fade like that...

 

Pleased your people made a stand though

 

I hear that 'clamping' (attaching a metal clamp to an illegally parked cars wheel, you are then charged to have it removed) failed horribly in France for the same reason

 

The people as one said NO WAY, if you saw a clamped car (even if it wasn't yours) you'd put glue in the locks, with all clamps being trashed the government was left with no option but to abandon the whole idea...

 

B)

 

OK. Ok. No more politics. Lets talk about the people. According to the latest World Values Survey released in March 2005, Puerto Ricans consider ourselves happier than any other people on earth. We credit our emphasis on extended family, an easy warmth among even strangers and the readiness to celebrate anything at any time makes our quality of life higher than anyone else's anywhere on earth. Of the 82 societies surveyed, Puerto Rico rated # 1. People rated their happiness on a scale of from 1-5 and PR rate was 4.67.[/b]

Aaaw what a lovely note to end on too, well I'd say in that case you're a good ambassador for your country mate :blush:

[Chris1547624861]

What I like about England:

 

Free healthcare

Free speech

Imperfect but tolerable equality of genders, races, sexual orientations, and faiths

 

What I hate about England:

 

Corruption of Government, business and media

Governmental appropriation and mismanagement of public money

Lack of self-responsibility

[cupboardy]

What I like about England:

Free healthcare
Free speech
Imperfect but tolerable equality of genders, races, sexual orientations, and faiths

What I hate about England:

Corruption of Government, business and media
Governmental appropriation and mismanagement of public money
Lack of self-responsibility[/b]

Very succinct post there Chris

Yes, Free Speech would have to be one of the most important for us, As someone said previously I think sometimes we cannot appreciate our own freedoms until we learn of others who have so much less

"mismanagement of public money" - Oh yes!... :glare:

[Wonderwoman]

@ cupster

 

to answer your questions:

 

we do not have a thing like local taxation, all is taken either directly from your wage each month regardless where you are living or you must declare it in your income statement.

So you can´t say that you paid for anything particular in your region

 

regarding health care, we have a general health insurance system run by companies under influence of the state, you are forced to be a member when you have a job and don´t earn more then a certain amount. If you earn more or are self employed you can also have private insurances where you can have as much as you can afford...

 

even so many German complain about our system it´s still considered one of the best in the world, many English come to our hospitals to get treatment rather quickly in comparison how long they have to wait with your NHS, not an option when you are older or have big pains.

 

What is also true that we have a very high level of social security, no one is really forced to starve or live under the bridge when they are willing to ask for state help. We have no limit on how long you can receive social welfare and you get a falt for free and health insurance and the state even pays for your pension when you are old. You do not get that much, around 800 to 1000 € per month all together as a minimum for a single but compared to some wages in other countries it´s still quite a lot.

 

:ww:

[Guest spanky69uk2002]

Yes, Free Speech would have to be one of the most important for us, As someone said previously I think sometimes we cannot appreciate our own freedoms until we learn of others who have so much less[/b]

 

Ummmms, what free speech? Even that is gettin taken away from us before Bliareo leaves downing street, this country is becomming a police state like our cousins over the atlantic, you cannot demonstrate, near parliement without being arrested, so much for freedom off expression eh.... :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

 

Anyhoooooooo

 

Country UK - Scotland

 

Likes - the deep an sometimes majestic scenery in Scotland,(if it is not owned by some foriegner).... can walk for miles an miles and never get bored with it. Oh and yeah the NHS, although again going through crappy times right now, at least it is free to a certain point..........cant forget either the Fireservice, who put theirlives on the line everyday for acrap wage..... Hats off tot hem...Oh and Also the Olympics, when Britian wins a medal or even better still Gold Medal.... (Apart from the national Anthem) the rest of it is oks...

 

Hates - Always getting either in sports from National News Channels......... England this England that, an then a lil sniplet about Scotland or Wales or N/Ireland.. BLAH BLAH BLAH.......... Oh and yeah all politics, most of dem are a bunch of liars anyways, dont trust any off them...

[rogerkint]

Scotland is a beautiful place. I did the West Highland Way last year and loved every minute of it.

[cupboardy]

That's very sad to read Reg, so both yourself and Year now haven't come up with a single reason to love your country...

 

What about the people, The stereotype would be an arrogant and cocksure race, but surely there is good in everybody...

[Wonderwoman]

well my two cents are that for sure those Americans I have met, they are all absolutely normal people like anyone else and some are very special and dear to me.

 

As I said before never mix the population or individuals with their government !

 

:ww:

[sezgin]

well my homeland is turkey

 

what i like about turkey,

hmm of course istanbul:) it is a great city, has lots of historical places, and there is bosphorus, it is kind of excelent place for me, having breakfast by bosphorus or drinking by it makes me feel great. i also like the urbanization in istanbul, a crowded place with lots of possibilities of unexpected things, mostly bad things but can be good things too, maybe i just like big cities. other than this i like the history and the traditions that comes with that history in turkey, i like people of anatolia, they are so pure, and even i am considering myself as a muslim i like the islamic culture here, mosques and ramadan are fine, especially hearing ezan in the early morning kind of relieves me.

nature is also fine, we have four seasons, u can have all of four seasons in the same day , of course in different parts of the turkey

 

what i dont like:

military - consuming the major part of our GDP

politics - people who dont know anything are becoming leaders

democracy - it is not the only game in town, there is military affecting decisions

imperalism - we cannt just stand against it

our debts - if we cannt export more than a specific amount, a huge economic crisis will emerge

distribution of wealth - very poor and very rich people in the same city, and in istanbul u can have everything u want but in the eastern part of turkey there are villages without schools

[Guest marcus15]

I love my country Canada. We have a great health care system. Love the freedom.

However I hate the taxes. It is so expensive to live in Canada.

First you work your ass off and before you get your pay the government take out its share from your pay check. Then you take your money and go shopping and then you pay taxes again. I call this double and tripple dipping...we are taxed to death.

[Guest brokenbeat]

QUOTE(xxnandomxx @ Apr 16 2007, 06:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

wow, i didnt know America was a country i always believe was a CONTINENT :wacko: :blink:[/b]

Ooh you almost caught me on that one but OBJECTION!!


America isn't a continent

North America / South America is a continent

America can refer to either BOTH South America and North America as a whole which would be 2 continents
OR
America can refer to United States of America.

I'll take definition number 2 B)