he/him

  • 1 Post
  • 23 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
Cake day: July 23rd, 2023
  • Ace@feddit.uktoAsk Lemmy@lemmy.world•Are other countries as nationalistic/"patriotic" as the US?
    131·
    2 days ago

    My sample was not random because I went to populated areas where people/tourists are likely to go. I wasn’t saying it’s literally true that you cannot go anywhere without flags. But it was striking to both me and the person I was there with the sheer number of flags that seemed to be everywhere. We joked that there must be an unspoken rule that a business without a flag would be snubbed and seen as as an enemy of the state.

    I’m sure random google maps locations don’t necessarily have flags, but if you visit you can’t deny the overwhelming prevalence of them in e.g. malls/high streets/the beach/in restaurants/etc.

  • Ace@feddit.uktoAsk Lemmy@lemmy.world•Are other countries as nationalistic/"patriotic" as the US?
    994·
    2 days ago

    No.

    Americans don’t realise how strange this hyperpatriotism is.

    From the outside, “pledging allegiance to the flag” is cult behaviour; it’s seen as brainwashing.

    I visited LA last year and you almost cannot exist in any space anywhere in the city without having at least one american flag visible. Often there are dozens of flags visible from any given sightline. This is not usual. Most countries will fly a flag over important buildings, or maybe in any given city there will be a few national flags in key locations. If the city has a good flag design, maybe the city flag is displayed frequently, such as in Amsterdam.

    But outside America, people don’t have this need to express how much they love their country. In America it looks like a competition as to who can adore their country the most. That’s really not healthy citizenship as imo it discourages criticism.