Sometimes I get remarks from people on my social media that I am a traitor. Telling me that they are patriots and I have betrayed my motherland by moving to New Zealand. But what is patriotism and how does it fit in the current day and age where we are moving towards globalisation? And is it really patriotism they speak of or nationalism?
I have always been a hard-core patriot of my country. I am so proud of being Russian and belonging to a great culture of outstanding musicians and writers. Russia has its own spirit and its unique culture that is well summarised by the poet Fyodor Tyutchev:
You cannot grasp Russia with your mind
Or judge her by any common measure,
Russia is one of a special kind –
You can only believe in her.
Fyodor Tyutchev
And I believed. As a teenager, I thought I could change my country for the better. And then I grew up and realised that it doesn’t want changing. But I remember when I was at uni, I refused to go on a work & travel programme to the US, because I did not want to work for a foreign country, instead I’d rather stay at home and do something useful here. But was it patriotism or nationalism? This question keeps bothering me.
It’s not a secret that Russians are quite conservative and nationalistic (let’s be honest here). Whilst people in Europe move around freely between countries, finding jobs in different corners of the world, living here and there for a few years, in Russia we have a saying “Grow where you are planted”. Moving to another city is often too much of a change, let alone to another country. I’d even go as far as to say that some people stay in the same suburb their whole lives.
Is this really what patriotism is? Or is it simply the type of culture we are – collectivist, adverse to change. What is patriotism? The standard dictionary definition reads “love of one’s country”. But I think it’s broadly understood as not only love, but a commitment as well.
But how does it work in our rapidly changing world that is becoming increasingly interconnected as a result of massively expanded trade and cultural exchange? How does it fit with globalisation?
New Zealand welcomes immigrants. People here believe that bringing other cultures into the workforce improves the practices and processes, as one can only obtain a vast amount of knowledge by moving around the world and experiencing different ways of living and working. Does that mean New Zealand is promoting desertion and encouraging people to betray their counties by moving overseas?
Does it mean the whole world is swaying away from patriotism by becoming more inclusive and interdependent? Or are we simply getting rid of nationalism without taking away patriotism? Can you still love your country when you leave it? Can you still be proud of belonging to a certain nation but live somewhere else? If you maintain your culture and teach your kids about it, ensuring that they grow up experiencing as much of it as you can expose them to, keeping the language and traditions alive, is that not patriotism?
Patriotism is important, as long as it doesn’t become nationalism. I have met people who hate their motherland, which I will never be able to understand, because no matter what, it will always have a special place in my heart. But only by moving overseas was I able to see how different people’s mentality is around the world. And should we stay confined to the places we were born, or follow the words of Thomas Paine?
My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.
Thomas Paine
Natalia Ma 