(no subject)

[krazykitkat]

Good article on the current flag arguments.

his great achievement transformed into a piece of social graffiti, a toy, a trend, a product, marketed like a Steve Irwin lunchbox, but so much more than that. A symbol. Yes, but of what? It would be simpler to divine the meaning of Steve Irwin. The flag furrows the brow. Love of nation, or rejection of others? Inclusion or exclusion? Patriotism, or its ugly offspring, strident nationalism?

Personally the flag does nothing for me (and my ancestry is mostly English convicts - I feel no loyalty to the Union Jack, my ancestors were essentially unwanted), and the flag worship that's evolved in the last few years makes me uneasy.

Comments

[lifeasanamazon.livejournal.com]

I can't get my head round the whole issue of flags and patriotism. I don't think I've ever waved one in my life. Days, weeks, hell months go by without me consciously affirming my nationality. Unless it's the Olympics, of course, but even then... no flag.

[krazykitkat.livejournal.com]

I feel exactly the same.

I liked this in another article:

Waving flags and singing anthems is the new political correctness. Dissidents who dare to suggest nationalism is being overdone are attacked as un-Australian. You can't ban the flag but organisers of the Big Day Out thought that fewer flags would make for more safety. How quaint.

One of the more attractive Australian qualities was that people wore their nationalism lightly. Until recently Australians were hesitant flag-wavers and sang the anthem softly or even soundlessly, simply opening and closing their mouths, more or less in sync with the music. Many simply stood with respect. Their silent reverence had a certain charm.

It wasn't that the people then lacked pride or pleasure in being Australian. It was more that they didn't feel the need to flaunt it. Some might have had in mind Samuel Johnson's words that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, or Albert Einstein's that nationalism is an infantile disease, the measles of mankind. Others had fled countries where anthems were sung with gusto and the people marched to war behind banners and flags. Some of this last group came to Australia to escape that sort of nationalism. Still others were born here but had fought in those wars. Happy the land not in need of flags. If all the flag-waving and anthem singing is a natural development of national sentiment, that's fine. But too much of today's national sentiment is manufactured. Flags are handed out everywhere; the anthem is struck up at games of club football; Australia Day events are brought to you by one corporation or another; meat-loving patriots want the barbecue oath.

I don't like flaunting of anything, so maybe that's why I don't understand it?

[lifeasanamazon.livejournal.com]

We're not at that stage here, thank goodness. I'm not sure my girls could get to the end of the national anthem (and ours is hardly a long one) and have known more than the words to the first line. Their Grandmother might be disappointed, but they'd not invite slurs on their patriotism. Not unless the Daily Mail got wind of it, and even then most of the population would read the headline and mutter, Does this really matter?

Bizarrely, this makes me almost proud to be British.

[krazykitkat.livejournal.com]

It's only happened in the last few years, and I think it is inflated (and encouraged) by the media.

Most of us need the words of the national anthem in front of us, and are "there's more than one verse?"

I hope we get over it soon.

[vanwasigma.livejournal.com]

I'm all for flying flags and sining national anthems... but that's probably because I grew up in a country that's tries to show that they aren't just America junior. Even though they look the same, and sometimes sound the same, and drive on the same side of the road, and have the same brands of food/television etc etc, they have a flag with only red and white, a different national anthem, and a Queen.

We had a flag in every classroom, and we were expected to sing the national anthem every morning until High School where we just had to stand up for it. I've been brainwashed by the Canadian education system ;)

[krazykitkat.livejournal.com]

Definitely brainwashed ;)