<p>Someone was born in Sweden (Malmo) to a Saudi father (from the Wahabists’ city of Buraydah) and a Palestenian mother (from Rafah). He lived in Malmo, SE until he moved with his family to US (when he was seven). Around his 17 birthday his family moved to china and lived there for three years before they all came back and settled in Birmingham, AL</p>
<p>How would you answer this person (knowing his background) when he asks you what patriotism is?</p>
<p>Loyalty to one’s country, plain and simple. </p>
<p>As for the title…“patriotic or traitorous.” Um…where did the traitorous come from lol?</p>
<p>How would he determine which country is “his”?</p>
<p>Answering your question: “traitorous” to provoke thoughts unstated in the post ;)</p>
<p>I think Mark Twain said it best: a patriot is someone who supports his country all the time, and his government when it deserves it.</p>
<p>I think in the case of the individual you describe, only that person can know which country is really “his” and one hopes he would follow through with citizenship of wherever that may be.</p>
<p>Love the Twain quote.</p>
<p>Addenda. You sound overly concerned about locations you’ve lived in and your parents’ origins- being ethnically Middle Eastern and being raised/living in Sweden and China is more than enough knowledge for some interesting conversations. Americans can have any background or ancestry, we share a present country (no matter how many flaws…). You can choose to be American and still be very different from the people in your area of the country.</p>
<p>The answer to what patriotism is has nothing to do with any of the information you provided, it is not defined by the questioner and the person answering the question will most certainly let his/her biases determine their definition.</p>
<p>I deal with many children like that and they end up with multiple nationalities as do their parents.</p>
<p>Conyat, this person somehow has passports from three countries–three citizenships. The values of the Saudi government often (if not always due to a different foundations) conflict with those of Sweden and the US.</p>
<p>wis75, patriotism, by definition (as I understand it), has everything to do with the info provided.</p>
<p>overseas, but doesn’t that make your children (and you) “inferior” citizens in the countries you are a national of?</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.panarchy.org/tolstoy/1894.eng.html[/url]”>http://www.panarchy.org/tolstoy/1894.eng.html</a></p>
<p>“In Dr. Johnson’s famous dictionary patriotism is defined as the last resort of a scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer, I beg to submit that it is the first.”—Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary, at entry for patriotism, The Collected Writings of Ambrose Bierce, p. 323 (1946, reprinted 1973).</p>
<p>H. L. Mencken added this to Johnson’s dictum: “But there is something even worse: it is the first, last, and middle range of fools.”—The World, New York City, November 7, 1926, p. 3E.</p>
<p>I’m not certain it’s possible to be a patriot to three countries, much less three countries as disparate as Saudi, Sweden, and the U.S. In theory, you could make an argument that it’s possible: one could love all three, and want the best for them, which of course would include no conflict among them (because “the best” would always be the side of peace and good relations). But . . . not really.</p>
<p>There’s no requirement that anyone be a “patriot” of any country, though. In general, we attach a positive connotation to that word, especially when it relates to the United States, but we are not above criticizing people for supporting oppressive governments elsewhere, even on a patriotic basis.</p>
<p>One of my teachers in college was then in his mid-30s, and had never held a passport from or citizenship of any country. He was a completely stateless person, having been born in a refugee camp in 1945. His wife was Trinidadian with British citizenship; his two children had been born in France and the U.S. and each was a citizen of his or her country of birth. (On top of that, at the time one of the kids only spoke English and the other – the American citizen – only French.) Even back then, it took a minimum of six months’ planning, and usually some string-pulling by friends, for that family to cross any border. Obviously, it was a political decision by my teacher not to appatriate himself somewhere, but I doubt anyone who knew him thought less of him for it (really a lovely person).</p>
<p>Mini! What a pleasure to see you here.</p>
<p>Well, I was hoping to help others reach this conclusion on their own. But guess what? many “real Americans’” confirmation bias will prevent them from reading what you posted; even if they did, the ideas in it will be dismissed by unclever faith.</p>
<p>I thank you.</p>
<p>Interesting teacher you had there JHS, I wish I meet a a person like this one day.</p>
<p>“In general, we attach a positive connotation to that word, especially when it relates to the United States, but we are not above criticizing people for supporting oppressive governments elsewhere, even on a patriotic basis.”</p>
<p>That’s because our government, our system are always right and perfect. After all it’s OURS, so it’s gotta be the best.</p>
<p>Nice post BTW JHS</p>
<p>No, it makes you a world citizen. :)</p>
<p>It is possible and legal to have dual citizenship… </p>
<p>As far as patriotism… why does it matter?</p>
<p>That concern is usually saved for just before they blind you with a red hot poker.</p>
<p>Here is one I just looked up.</p>
<p>Patriotism is proud of a country’s virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other countries, with their own specific virtues. The pride of nationalism, however, trumpets its country’s virtues and denies its deficiencies, while it is contemptuous toward the virtues of other countries.</p>
<p>Originaloog, unfortunately i cant elaborate as much as I desire but I have few minutes to say this:</p>
<p>Patriotism necessitates one to regard his or her fatherland to be superior to all other nations, and that the principles on which this fatherland was founded to be preferable to all other values. Patriotism (and not just nationalism) demands “exclusive devotion to one’s own people” which translates into discriminatory, sometimes even racist, world-viewes.</p>
<p>Now, originaloog, those who hold a position like yours may attempt to parry the aforesaid ratiocination by proposing nothing but an antinomy, which farther reinforces many of the conclusions of the link posted by Mini in this thread. Here it is agian if you happened to overlook it: <a href=“http://www.panarchy.org/tolstoy/1894.eng.html[/url]”>http://www.panarchy.org/tolstoy/1894.eng.html</a></p>
<p>A person like the one spoken of in this thread (the Saudi Swedish American) does not fail to recognise the true nature of “patriotism,” thus he finds it disturbing.</p>