Updated July 24, 2021 867 Author: Dmitry Petrov
Hello, dear readers of the KtoNaNovenkogo.ru blog. According to scientists, love for the Motherland is inherent in a person at the genetic level.
Ancient people knew that the chances of survival in the wild were maximized only in a group. Uniting, they fought for their territory and property, defended each other from representatives of other tribes.
Therefore, answering the question “what is patriotism,” we can briefly answer: “These are positive emotions towards one’s country, based on the instinct of self-preservation.”
Church and patriotism
Since ancient times, patriotism and Orthodoxy have been inextricably linked; an example of this is the church’s blessing of the defenders of the fatherland for a military battle. This tradition goes back thousands of years, even during the Second World War, when all Soviet people were atheists, special prayer services were served, and priests collected funds to buy tanks and airplanes. If we turn to official church documents, the concept of patriotism is stated as follows:
- Christians should not forget about their earthly homeland.
- To be a patriot is to love not only your native land, but also your neighbors, your home, and protect them. Because sacrifice for the fatherland is made not only on the battlefield, but also for the sake of children.
- To love your land as a place where faith and the Orthodox Church are preserved.
- To love other peoples is to fulfill the commandment of love for one's neighbor.
Active position: eighteenth century
Although the foundations of patriotism were laid in ancient times, as a politically and socially significant phenomenon familiar to modern people, this position was largely formed in the 20s of the eighteenth century. It was during this period that the rhetoric associated with politics among the British began to perceive patriotism as a common good. From the very beginning, the term was controversial, as it contrasted the common good with government and centralized power. In the second half of the same century, radical political figures, conservatives working in parliament, fought for the right to use the new ideology as the basis of their position. Patriot is a term that quickly acquired a pronounced political connotation, which, however, was just as vividly transformed in the shortest possible time. At the same time, the public understanding of the word was adjusted.
In the 74th year of this century, Johnson, one of those whose works were the foundation of the formation of the foundations of patriotism, criticized the political parties that used the new term. Particularly interesting is the programmatic conservatory article that appeared just this year. Johnson himself was a well-known publicist of the time.
Makes war more likely
Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for ordinary reasons38.
Bertrand Russell
The very type of thinking of a patriot, who approves of the enlargement of state territories or influence, is conducive to the beginning of military aggression - both for aggressive purposes and in the interests of officials. Russian writer Leo Tolstoy believed that the cause of wars is “the desire for the exclusive good of one’s people”39. Emma Goldman also agreed that patriotism is the cause of wars:
Patriotism believes that our globe is divided into small areas, each of which is surrounded by an iron lattice. Those who had the good fortune to be born in a certain place consider themselves better, nobler, smarter than living beings living in other places. Therefore, the one who lives in this chosen place must fight, kill and, if necessary, die, trying to impose his superiority on everyone else40.
Albert Einstein:
I so hate heroism on command, senseless cruelty and all the disgusting nonsense of what is united under the word “patriotism”, just as I despise vile war, that I would rather allow myself to be torn to pieces than be part of such actions41.
Progress of understanding
The essence of patriotism was considered in his works by Hugh Cunningham. He analyzed in detail the change in the meaning of the word over the eighteenth century, while limiting himself only to the processes that took place in English polemics and rhetoric. In the 25th year of that century, the Whigs had an opposition - the Patriot Party, which subsequently attracted the attention of conservatives and liberals. The main idea of the new association was the fight against corruption among ruling officials. Party members identified themselves as patriots, thereby demonstrating a desire for the common good and a desire to take care of society. This, they believed, made them the legitimate opposition.
At that moment, the public was not yet very clear what “patriotism” and “being a patriot” meant. What political activists understood by these terms was not of interest to everyone, since ordinary people had come to terms with the court henchmen who were in charge of parliamentary decisions. The opposition considered them a threat to the common people and sought to shift the focus to the ministries as more trustworthy. Bolingbroke became the author of a new ideology. His works were published in the 20-30s of that century. Among the particularly interesting ones is a letter addressed to the Prince of Wales about royal power and patriotism.
Not a patriot means schizophrenic
In the USSR, where, as we know, there were no political prisoners, psychiatrists developed the most interesting concept that any person who criticizes his state is mentally ill. This theory was recognized as the only correct one, and there are still psychiatrists who strongly share these beliefs. Here is how the famous psychiatrist, representative of the “old school” Tatyana Krylatova explains the situation: “Love requires great emotional costs. And a schizophrenic has big problems with emotionality. And they begin to reject what is most energy-consuming for them - love. This internal conflict causes aggression. The same thing happens in relation to the Motherland. Here again there is rejection, a person stops including his macro-society in the category “mine” and has a negative attitude towards the Motherland.”
Patriotism
And now, forgetting what we’ve been drilled into at school for years, let’s see what patriotism really is.
First of all, the ideology of patriotism is promoted in support of military action. People are beginning to be convinced that someone has done something very bad for their native country, and that this people should not, but are simply obliged to go and fight with them, to hate and despise them, whether they are German or French - there is not much difference in that No.
Our consciousness, in its overwhelming majority, begins to paint picturesque pictures of human courage in battle, incredible efforts and overcoming obstacles - all for the sake of the fatherland. Thank you very much, the Russian patriotic novel has done a great job on this topic, and now the film industry can also be included here. But let’s be honest, “war” does not always, or rather, almost never equal “valor”, “courage” and “courage”, in reality the situation will be like this:
...drowning out the despair in their souls with songs, debauchery and vodka, people, hundreds of thousands of simple, kind people with murder weapons in their hands, will wander, torn away from peaceful labor, from their wives, mothers, children, to wherever they are driven. They will walk, be cold, starve, get sick, die from diseases, and finally they will come to the place where they will begin to kill them in the thousands, and they will kill in the thousands, without knowing why, people whom they have never seen, who have nothing to them have done and cannot do anything wrong. L.N. Tolstoy
Modern understanding
Political scientists, scientists, and philosophers of our day propose to separate rhetoric and ideology. The first is a method of speech formation aimed at achieving a specific task. The second includes a fundamental set of aspects that can motivate a person to some action. Patriotic rhetoric was relevant during the revolution in France. This is clear from the fact that the key slogan of that time was: “The patronymic is in danger!”
In our country, according to researchers, patriotism was not a generally recognized and used term until the nineteenth century. At first, such words were used only by people interested in educational publications. The Decembrists regarded patriotism as an aspect of nationalist discourse. The elite, thriving at court, were believed to be betraying the identity of the people.
Features of patriotic education in Russia
Russia is the largest and most multinational country in the world. Therefore, one of the priority areas of patriotic development is the formation of a positive perception of representatives of other nations and religions. In addition, the following tasks are considered priorities:
- formation among citizens of patriotic values, respect for their homeland and its history;
- creating conditions for the participation of citizens in jointly solving all kinds of problems;
- instilling respect for the Coat of Arms, Flag and Anthem of Russia;
- instilling respect for the Constitution and laws of the Russian Federation, as well as generally accepted moral standards;
- formation of national and religious tolerance among citizens.
An important feature of the education of patriotism in Russia is also that it is necessary to take into account the specifics of each subject of the federation. Therefore, the tasks of patriotic education are divided into various areas, and in these areas their own programs are developed for each region.
What is it about?
From dictionaries you can learn that patriotism is not just love for one’s native area, but also respect for the region, as well as all related phenomena and objects, including the natural world, society, its characteristics and features. Patriotism presupposes a willingness to serve the interests of society and the country, to protect the state and work so that its benefits increase. Equally, a person should make efforts to improve the material well-being and spiritual wealth of the country and its inhabitants.
Patriotism is also a person’s ability to rejoice at the achievements of his country and individual representatives of its nationality. A patriot is a person who is capable of making efforts to overcome social difficulties; he participates in the fight against collective troubles, struggles with difficulties, even if for him personally they are less significant than for society as a unit.
At the same time, patriotism is usually interpreted as a political conviction determined by responsibility, loyalty, and awareness of one’s duty to one’s native land.
Justifies the deterioration of life in the country
At all the crossroads that I passed, they held, wishing me happiness, the steel embrace of my homeland, my neck and wrists.
Igor Guberman
Patriotism introduces the idea of abstract “superiority of the country,” although it is unclear in what exactly. Setting a goal, for example, to achieve the highest standard of living in the world is possible without patriotism. But if, let’s say, the nomenklatura needs military superiority in order to threaten other countries, and, like a street “gopnik,” extort something from them (and also have forces at hand to suppress their own citizens if something happens), then such a task is already you can’t put it straight - citizens may not want their taxes to go towards tanks instead of building hospitals. This is where patriotism is needed. He says that the “superiority of the country” is good, but he does not explain in what exactly this superiority should be manifested. And citizens believe that many tanks, the highest national income, the largest gold reserves are good, because this is the superiority of the country and its “development”. Although the lion's share of the national income may be concentrated in the hands of the nomenklatura and big capital, the majority of citizens are also in no way allowed to access the gold reserves. But, just like Rubinstein, he will be proud that their master has a high house.
And citizens are asked to endure some hardships for the sake of this “superiority.” Thus, Nazi propaganda offered its citizens to choose between guns and butter20. Deceived citizens immediately heard the “correct” answer - the choice in favor of guns, but often silently approved of it, mistakenly thinking that it would benefit them since it was “patriotic”.
A patriot can turn a blind eye to the fact that his salary is being reduced, that his relatives were taken to the NKVD, or that the retirement age has risen, if he hears that “but the world fears us more than the Americans” or “but our GDP is growing the tallest in the world."
One example of the negative impact of patriotism is the failure of the Provisional Government to withdraw from the First World War. Instead of stopping the war, as the situation demanded, it declared that “the Russian people will not allow their homeland to emerge from the great struggle humiliated and undermined in its vital forces”21, and Minister Pavel Milyukov additionally reported that “the Provisional Government , while protecting the rights of our homeland, will fully comply with the obligations assumed in relation to our allies.”22 As a result, this led to catastrophic failures on the fronts, the collapse of the Provisional Government, and the escalation of social conflicts. And we have not yet mentioned the betrayal of the patriotic wing of the Social Democrats, which thwarted the decisions of the Stuttgart, Copenhagen and Basel congresses, which obligated the socialists to respond to any war “started by the bourgeoisie and governments” with an intensified preaching of civil war and social revolution23, which actually supported the senseless the massacre and murder of millions of people.
Patriots go to the Maldives, Patriots go to Thailand, Opera divas from La Scala show their talent to Patriots, Patriots, strengthening their bonds, Donate to churches without skimping... And Semyon Kuzmich is an agent of the State Department! - In his outback he stirs up mud, curses at the government like crazy, argues about politics with his wife. He, the scoundrel, is rocking the boat. At least he's alive.
Andrey Shigin
Business patriotism - what is it?
In the 21st century, the feeling of patriotism has begun to reach a new level; calls for the formation of groups of business patriots are beginning to sound louder. It’s not just about giving preference to domestic goods; the Russian Association of Entrepreneurs for the Development of Business Patriotism recently proposed its own strategy. Its leaders see the main task as comprehensive support for entrepreneurs, since the share of small businesses abroad is several times larger than domestic ones. We need conditions for growth in several directions:
- Education. Development of youth entrepreneurship, holding master classes.
- Support in the implementation of plans and promotion of commercial growth.
- Business club. A place where you can exchange experiences, contacts and best practices.
Tools
And here we can take a brilliant example of modernity, which has reached simply terrible proportions, namely, cinema dedicated to military events. There is hardly a country that will surpass Russia in producing, at least over the last three years, films on similar topics. Here it is, that same tragic memory of the bloody years, embodied in the best spirit of patriotism. This is exactly what you can call this brainchild at first glance - especially looking at the tear-stained faces of the audience after watching it. If you dig deeper, you can see a rather clumsy manipulation of public feeling. And it’s true that this spirit of love for the homeland has become very shaky, if you look at the progression of such creations.
And now it’s all alive only because a person continues to believe. The system rests only on public opinion, there is no doubt about it. And when, finally, everyone realizes that public opinion is formed by the people themselves, and not by the government, then maybe changes will come.
If only people would say what they think and not say what they do not think, then all superstitions arising from patriotism, and all evil feelings and violence based on it, would immediately disappear. The hatred and enmity of states against states and nationalities against nationalities, fanned by governments, would disappear; the praise of military exploits, i.e., would disappear. murders, the main thing would be respect for the authorities, giving them one’s labors and subordination to them, for which there are no grounds other than patriotism.
SMART
Related terms
When formulating the definition of patriotism, one must not lose sight of nationalism. This word is formed from the French root "nationalism", meaning people and which, in turn, appeared from the Latin word "natio". Nationalism is a complex phenomenon that unites political views and ideological postulates that require putting national interests first. Only behind them come those associated with the sphere of economics, politics and the public. Nationalism calls for a closed nation. One of the main features of this ideology is localism. People who hold such beliefs are characterized by an inability to trust representatives of other nationalities. It is known from practice that nationalism quite often becomes the foundation of conflict between representatives of different nations.
When analyzing what patriotism is, it is worth paying attention to citizenship. This term denotes the level of awareness of oneself as a citizen of a certain power. This understanding entails specific behavior aimed at improving the status of one’s country and people. Citizenship includes a person's ability to contribute to social development and growth and the willingness to expend personal effort and resources to do so.
