Patriotism is over rated. All these wars and blood shed to protect the interests of one's country and countrymen, does it make sense at all? Hell no! There is this amazing quote I heard somewhere 'Patriotism is simply the belief that my country is better than yours because I was born in it.' I mean if a fiercely patriotic Australian was born in England instead, he'd be obsessing about how great England is. We're all exactly the same, no matter where we're born right? The countries, the borders, they're just details that have been receiving far too much importance. It is just a way for governments to stay in power, same goes for religion. I would refrain from discussing religion though for obvious reasons.
The single most important thing, according to me, is humanity. Just that, nothing else. Like a friend of mine recently pointed out - You can judge the real character of a person based on the way he treats someone who can be of no particular use to him. Her example went like this, "If I own a dog who is faithful to me, I'm obviously going to treat him well because he belongs to me, and he is a great comfort to me. But my character cannot be decided on the way I treat my pet dog. It should be ajudged depending on the way I treat the stray dogs who are of no use to me." Same goes for humans, for example, you can judge the true nature of a person by the way he/she treats an ex he/she has just broken up with. Does he/she excercise caution while dealing with the stray dog, that used to be his at some point, for the simple reason that it is a living being with feelings, or does he kick the stray, because well, "you are no longer there to lick my feet when I get home".
Makes tremendous sense I feel. Anyway, that's all I had to say through this blog. Humanity - the most important quality in an individual.
Humanity is a bit idealistic. While I agree with what you're saying, it is certainly not practical. And no, patriotism is not the simple belief that my country is better than yours. This comment is so wrong, I don't know where to begin.
ReplyDeleteMan needs a sense of belonging. Thats why we have families, religion, caste, countries and finally human. What I'm trying to say is, human being all the over world would unite if there was a common threat to humanity as whole. Just as people from a country would if their country is under attack.
Apologise for my invasion, good to see you writing though :)