It’s difficult at most times to describe exactly who you are as a person.
You wake up in your own mess and pick it up from there most mornings.
The acceptable way of living is to honour your country in the best way that you can, regardless of where you’re born.
Whether you’re born in America, Ireland, Norway, Australia or the UK it’s the same old story.
You’re born into a country where you’re taught to love rituals and a culture that ultimately don’t bear any real significance to your day-to-day life.
But you do it and it shapes who you are.
You honour shit for the sake of it. For if you weren’t to honour it, then you’d be seen as a bad person in the eyes of your community.
And so it goes.
I live in a place where nationalism is seen as a virtue.
I’ve long since realised that regardless of where you’re born you’ll subscribe to the dialogue where your country is right and why the other countries are wrong.
It’s completely arbitrary as the place of your birth is an accident of birth.
Most people tow that line in life. It shapes their very being. They become it.
Then when people attack that line of thought and they see it as an attack on themselves. If the person takes their country to heart then they’ll see it as a personal attack.
Nationalism is blindness
I’ve always been happy to be from where I’m from. We have an excellent health service and our living standards are great.
But at the same time I’m not a nationalist. I’ve done nothing to better my country. To take heart in other peoples accomplishments is arrogant and presumptive.
I think that all great countries stand for the same core values; decency, democracy and the truth. It’s all too common to lose those values in flags. People mistake the flag for what the flag is meant to represent.
Why not cut to the fucking chase and embody the core values in the way that you conduct your life?
When you lose yourself in the symbolism, it’s hard to find your way back. It’s like writing ‘TOAST!’ on a piece of paper with a marker pen and eating the fucking sheet for breakfast.
It won’t fill you up.
I’ve no interest in culture, heritage or belonging. Culture only forms when something dies. A country should be judged by what it has to offer now, not by events that happened several centuries ago. Culture, heritage and tradition try to foster belonging on unsteady ground.
You don’t need a sense of belonging to live a life of conviction.
I take pride in running as it’s my own.
The only area that I feel any pride in is my running. I’ve accomplished very little with the sport but at least my achievements are my own.
Being proud of something you had no part in is ridiculous.
That’s why I’m only proud to be a runner.
No related running posts.
by Matt the Angry Jogger
Matt lost 70lbs through running and has ran 13 half marathons and 4 full ones. He hates health freaks with a fucking passion and loves cheese and cider.
I like this blog. Well written you angry fecker !
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Amen.