Foxy

One of the joys of contributing to a site like this is that we all learn.. Um,, well most of us learn something new.

Serendiptiously, you have provided a wonderful lesson in what jingoism is all about and how easy it is to mistake for truly caring about your nation.

PS

Grated baby beetroot is a great summer salad - a bit of balsamic vinegar, yum. I think of it as my summer borsch.

Cheers

Dear Fractelle,

Thanks. I feel better now. And I do love baby beets
(I add sour-cream to mine)as a summer salad,
(along with buttered corn-on-the-cob,
especially with chicken, fried onions and fried mushrooms,
a pate of toasted capsicum + other ingredients ,
Yerring Station Wine-Bar, has a fab recipe that I plan
to steal one day - so far they're not parting with it).
But I'll keep on trying.

After all this Faris business, I sat down and had another
re-think about patriotism. I know that there are many
people out there that feel strongly about immigrants who
they see as being critical of our way of life. And they
want people to conform to what they feel is 'Australians.'
These people see their stance as being 'patriotic.' I don't know if these people are a minority. Somehow, I doubt that they are.

I personally feel that the benefits
of freeedom, democracy, and the rule of law belong to all
Australians, regardless of how they look, what they believe,
or any other arbitrary criteria. But, perhaps I am the one who's
a minority?

Look at the way Col jumps in when there is even a vague
suggestion of criticism of anything British. (Or of Maggie
Thatcher) - he takes it extremely personally - even to the
point of bringing 'cows' into the picture (what on earth was
that all about?) as a form of insult.

Why was he talking about cows to examinator(?). Unless of course he wanted to refer to his own 'expertise' in that area. "Mad Cow Disease" originated in the UK in 1986 and by 1993 there were more than 1000 cases per week. Perhaps he's had a bad experience?
That would explain it!

So I guess to Col 'Patriotism' means to stand by your country, and
Maggie. Fair enough.
(But 'cows' I still don't get it!).

Mmmmm sour cream, I'll try that. A touch of nutmeg perhaps?

Here's my take on the topic:

Patriotism is abused when used to discriminate. For example, describing someone as "unAustralian" just for having a different POV. Like not being at all sodding interested in the game of cricket. Although I do follow AFL.

Jingoism: well I think the Faric blog has cleared up how jingoism is used to abuse - like school yard bullies.

Col Rouge?, I think what you have described there is a prime example of Blind Patriotism. Can't see the herd for the cows... so to speak.

As for me, I am a patriot of planet Earth. Fantastic place; excellent oceans, continents and islands. Home to all my favourite life-forms.

Dear Fractelle,

"Can't see the herd for the cows, so to speak..."

Clever!

But in his case he seems to be more at home
with the lower part of the cow's anatomy...

Which figures!

I agree with you about the planet earth.

As I wrote in another thread,

We can only hope and trust that our ultimate choice
will be to enhance the life on this bright and lovely
planet on which all of us share our adventure.

Although my father-in-law, (going back a few years),
was very irate because at one of my dinner-parties
I had invited a mix of people (different cultural
groups). He was upset they weren't all people from
the Baltic States. And guess what, he called me an
"Internationalist." I Thanked Him for the Compliment.
Had to laugh, 'cause he meant it as an insult.

Foxy

Isn't there a saying that it is better to judge a person by their enemies rather than by the friends they keep?

Okay, I'm not suggesting that your father-in-law is your enemy, per se, but he clearly has his prejudices.

I think if Runner, Boaz/carp or Col Rouge treated me with courtesy and respect, I would spend a great deal of time in deep introspection along the lines of 'what I am doing wrong?' or keep a watch out for flying pigs.

"Internationalist" is indeed a compliment.

BYW, having been 'out of the loop' while I waited for my landline to be restored after fire damage, I missed Col's cow references and given the odious nature of many of his posts I'm glad. Generally I try to skip the posts of those who think insult is debate - doesn't always work though. Abuse tends to leap out like an ambush whereas courtesy gets missed? Human nature so very fickle.

To quote Bill & Ted:

"Be excellent to each other, and you know, party on dude"

Dear Fractelle,

Thanks for your insightful words.
My father-in-law died some time back, and we
did make our peace beforehand. He was a very
dictatorial patriarch - who saw everything in
terms of black and white (no shades of grey).

He began to rely more and more on me, as his
health began to fail. I was grateful for the
time we got to spend together.

Take Care.