Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[eda]

well..here we all discuss about whether we are proud of our country or not.I also do wonder this;Do you think your country is proud of YOU?

If your country would post a comment here,how would it be?
For me...I am not that veryproud of mine and also don't think that she really cares about me

Anyway..I do wonder your precious replies.
_________________
invasion is so succexy so succexy.

[ClarissaMach]

I don't know... but I really hope so. I've never done anything that would shame her... I've never cheated on anyone. I work and study hard. I have plans for the future. Besides, I never think about leaving her... although I would like to work abroad for sometime, in order to gain experience, I would never leave her sunny beaches or her affectionate people for nothing in this world....

Moreover, I think about doing something for my country. I'm tired of seeing people proud only of our soccer players... I wish we were proud of something greater than this. And I'll do everything I can to achieve this objective.
_________________
Stormy Weather.

[eda]

Hi Clarissa!Thanks for your dear comment.I am sure Brasil is also proud of herself that she brought up a citizen like you:)
now i have one more question,in your dear post you say you never think about leaving her,do you think leaving your country is a treason or so?
_________________
invasion is so succexy so succexy.

[ltp-008]

What is the definition of "country",country is a place where many people or various ethnic groups live together ,they are governed by a government.Country has culture meaning and also has politic meaning.You love the place where you live,but maybe you don't love the government which is governing this country.So when you said you are proud of your country ,sometimes it doesn't meam you are proud of your government.

Is your country proud of you?This is a good question,but how can we get the answer?let us do some discussions.

First,let's just suppose you are living in your own country,your civil rights are protected by your governmet,you can directly electe your country's leader,you have freedom of expression , freedom of religion and freedom of assembly ,then we can conclude your country is pround of you,why?Because your country respect your civil rights,your government regard you as a citizen not just a civilian.By contrast with statement above,if your government doesn't protect your civil rights,you don't have the rights to elect your country's leader,you don't have the freedom of expression ,religion and assembly,then your country is not pround of you,your government only pay an attention to its dictatorship regime,they only want to govern their people illegally for good.

Second,let's suppose you are living abroad,if you are attacked by terrorists ,you government can help you through its embassy,then your country is pround of you.By contrast with above ,if you are attacked by terrorists ,your government does nothing to help you,then your country isn't proud of you.A few years ago,in one of Southeast Asia countries,there was a riot in this country,ten of thousands of foreigners who belonged to one of U.N permanent members were attacked by mobs,this country didn't do anything to help these victims,How does these people say that they are proud of their country?or their country is proud of them?

In general ,we can conclude that you can be proud of your country,but sometimes you can not be proud of your government,sometimes people love their motherland,but they don't like their governments.This is fact.

[ClarissaMach]

Well, I wouldn't call it "treason"... but, you see, there's something that really makes me concerned sometimes: this thing called "brain drain".

In Brazil, the best universities are the public ones; and the word "public", here, also means "for free": if you study in a public university, you won't have to pay anything for it, no matter if it's only a graduation course or a master course etc.

So, after graduating or taking a master degree, some of our brightest, unhappy with the situation of the country, simply leave her behind and decide to live in Europe or in the USA. On the one hand, it's due to the lack of opportunities in Brazil; she doesn't offer a great environment for innovation, for example; but on the other hand, I think it's unfair, for these people were able to study at universities supported by the taxes we all pay; and after all this investment, they simply leave the country thinking only in what is best for them.

I know that, nowadays, some are alleging that instead of "Brain drain", loosing our best researches is a "Brain Gain". They say that a country with scarce resources can take advantage of "exporting" her brightest, for it stimulates scientific cooperation (see article published in Newsweek magazine, 03/08/2004). But I keep thinking that, instead of complaining about our innovation environment, these academics had better stay and try to improve it. I mean, they can live for sometime abroad in order to gain experiences and resources. But they shouldn't simply leave this country like they owned nothing to her and her people.

I remind you all that it's only my opinion. Anyone has the right to live wherever he/she decides to. But I wouldn't think of leaving my country, no way.
_________________
Stormy Weather.

[ClarissaMach]

About ltp-008 comment:

I partially agree with you. It's all about the concept of "country" we have in mind.

I think a country can't be limited to her government. Because if I was to be proud of my country because of her politicians, I would already have left her behind (well, any Brazilian in this forum would perfectly understand this sentence, for most of Brazilian politicians are a bunch of corrupts and liars... once and again they're involved in bribery scandals). Once we heard that in China crimes of this kind are severely punished with death penalty. God forgive my soul, but I wish things here were the same... (just kidding! I don't really think it's the best way to solve this kind of problem).

But well, I think a country is more than her politicians and government. I think a country is her people, her way of dealing with the tragic and sad aspects of life, as well as the happy and good ones. And I like the way we do it here in Brazil.
_________________
Stormy Weather.

[saratheswede]

[eda]

[ontheway]

Wrote to ClarissaMach:
I do respect u so much.because the political situation in your country is much like my country's(china).the "brain drain" is also happening in china,
maybe my motherland doesnt be proud of me,I wont leave too,although I could,although most investment of my education is from my family,although she would probably treat me unfair. I might spend a few years for traveling aboard,but I will definitely stay here for working and studying.because i owe many things to the people who loved or loving me
(never the government!)

[Anuradha Chepur]

I don't think I did anything worthwhile for my country. In fact I am busy criticising what I don't like about it.

But wait a minute, since I teach English, it should help people go a long way (these days there are a lot of jobs in the Information Enables Services area) and eventually contribute to the growth of the country.

[sqkyau]

hi, to all. i come from Taiwan. actually. after i read all of your opinions...wow! that is very serious! in my opinion, i did proud of Taiwan. why? answering in simply, we have liberty. it's a bottom line =.3=

[ieltsinsider]

A.C., I think your country can still be proud of you even though you criticise what you don't like about it. Sometimes countries need criticism and most people recognise that.

I have just been reading an interesting article on Gandhi's visit to Britain. When he arrived, many ordinary workers loved him, because the criticisms he made of Britain matched those that the British workers were making. No-one would accuse those workers of being unpatriotic, would they?

[BourneNOIR]

Technically, I think that countries should be proud of all its citizens by default, just like how parents *should* be proud of their children. Unless of course, the citizen/child goes out and does something stupid that embarrasses the country/family... (think Michael P. Fay). And if your country is democratic, then it should be proud of those who have the guts to exercise their freedom of speech to criticize it (think constructive criticism) so it can improve.

[flying_pig319]

My country should be proud of me, as I like to think that I'm a good person trying to do some good for the world.
However, if my country's "reply" was done by the US's current administration, *cough cough*, I'm not so sure that' I'd get a good post-- I've done some petitioning in my time
_________________
peace-monger

[Anuradha Chepur]

Thanks ielts and Noir for the words of assurance.