Poll: would you die for your country?

[Polite Sage]

When they say you're fighting/dying for your country it usually implies dying for your goverment (even more so if your country is invading).

And the whole concept of "dying for your country" is stupid. I like to live here but I'm not a nationalist that harbors some sort of twisted love for a piece of landmass and "superior cultural values".

 

[Yoh3333]

Would I die for Denmark? Haha, no.

Exactly that
We might have been mighty vikings but heck, i don't feel like dying for my country, heck i will propably opt out of our military training if i get chosen

 

[Jonabob87]

You put a lot of faith in your country.
If your government's military told you it was your duty to suicide bomb innocent civilians 'in the name of your country' you would do it then? If so, why not? Don't you love your country?

I suppose I would die in if my life was directly required in order to maintain ideological freedoms (e.g. arguably WW2, that's about it) or to save many other people's lives (which is not the same thing as dying for your country, hell if my life would save a million Arabs it'd be worth dying for).

I hate the term 'loving your country' and our supposed duty to do so altogether; it's way too abstract. I love liberty, egalitarianism, justice etc. but they are just components of what a 'country' represents. Would you be so forceful towards a North Korean to love their country?

You can love your country without loving the current regime. The French didn't automatically hate France or love the Nazis during the occupation!

Then what is it your actually loving when you say you love your country? The ground? Is the question now 'are you willing to die for a plot of land'?

Country borders are completely man-made. Whatever feelings we are supposed to have towards something so immaterial and arbitrary, I would not call it love.

Well my love for my country is based around the land, the history and the people that develop from it. Where you grow up is a big determining factor in certain aspects of your personality and I really adore the Scottish ones (constant gallows humour, harsh language, a strong emphasis on loyalty). If I hadn't grown up in Scotland I'd be a different person, and I like the person Scotland has helped make me.

It's also the land that my descendants lived in for thousands of years (as far back as we can find there's nothing but Scottish in my family tree) and all the family history is here. The good; Rob Roy MacGregor, the bad; it becoming illegal to be of the MacGregor clan, and the humorous; having other clans pay us not to steal their cattle after failing repeatedly to stop us.

To finish off, Scotland is just a beautiful looking place. I even love the weather!

All of these things combine to give me a stern love for my country regardless of it's leadership, and others can feel the same about their own country.

Well I suppose I can see the appeal of country love when you consider the permanent connection an entire people can have with its surroundings (thanks for the clarification), but I still do not consider this a necessary duty. It's the same question as unconditional love for your parents, which again should surely only exist if one is treated right by those who have such an integral role in our upbringing.

Personally, I struggle to get as excited as you about English weather when I could be in Northern Italy right now

Oh yeah, it's definitely not something that should be a duty. First off, not everyone is born to be a fighter. Secondly some people just don't have the same type of connection to a country that others do. I guess I don't find it necessary to be angry about Scotland because of politics because I don't think we've done anything (lately) that's worth being angry about. Joining the Iraq war was Tony's idea, not ours for example.

Ah see I can't handle hot weather, I grew up in a house that didn't have central heating so my body has learned to keep itself warm. I just over heat!

 

[Sunrider]

I dunno if I would ever go to war for my country, but rather for my own life and what's dear to me. And while I like my city and all that, I wouldn't fight to defend IT. I would fight perhaps to defend my place in "my world", where my place of residence just happens to be included.
I can't stand patriotism.

 

[Crazycat690]

No, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else, but I would not die for it, because if I die for it, it would do me no good, yes I'm being selfish here.

 

[Drakulea]

For Romania? HELL NOES!

 

[A Distant Star]

I voted yes. But its a complicated question.

See, if my country was seriously threaten by an outside force. If it was kill or lose my home my friends my family, or being occupied by some outside force. Yes, I would die to prevent that with out so much as a second thought. But if the Canadian Military gave me a gun, told me to go die for my country in some god forsaken dessert over seas for the name of my country... I would have to say no... no I defiantly wouldn't.

 

[Raideh]

Cleaned.

 

[DazBurger]

No I wouldn't... Maybe its people but never for a piece of land.

 

[J3bba]

I think the question should really be "Are you willing to die to protect the people in your country and their way of life?" People and standards are what's worth dying for, not the piece of land on which they live.

 

[Matt East]

I'm diabetic, so my dream of joining the army was taken from me, but in the event of an invasion, mos def

 

[somonels]

I would gladly give my life for Somonelsopia.

 

[Skulltaker101]

I wouldn't give my life for England, but I'll gladly have a go at any Frenchman for nationalistic reasons.

In the end, I wouldn't die for my country if I truly love it for the same reason that I wouldn't die for the woman I love. I can give much more than merely my life for someone I love, and if I died? They'd likely be devastated. Okay, perhaps not so when it's a country with 50 million people within, but if I was truly in love with my country and fought for it, I'd probably end up some kind of war hero, and I'd be a pretty shit patriot if I dropped dead.

 

[Ammutseba]

Would you die for your country?

Nope.

If your not willing to die for it, then why live there?

Because I happened to be born here and I go to school here.

You obviously don't love it there very much.

You're right, I don't. I'll move when I'm done with high school.

Screw Norway.

 

[Kaymish]

yes perhaps but only the most exceptional circumstances where there is a high likelihood that my death will have a large benefit for the others who live here

 

[Kalith]

No, I wouldn't. As much as I love it.. my life is worth more.

 

[Xok]

No way.

I'd do a better job and live for my country

 

[Tourmeta]

I don't do Nationalism, no.