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Forum in Novosibirsk on Patriotism and World Peace
Written by UPF - Russia
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Novosibirsk, Russia - At the office of the youth organization CARP, the Philosophy Club held a meeting on February 24 related to the Day of the Protector of the Fatherland.
The event started with introduction of participants; afterwards, the coordinator of UPF-Siberia, Dmitry Oficerov, took the floor. At the conclusion of the meeting there was a lively discussion between participants.
Dmitry Oficerov spoke about patriotism and the UN Millennium Development Goals that were adopted by representatives of 189 nations in the year 2000. Such notions as patriotism and service are closely interconnected.
It was found out that three participants had never heard before about the UN Millennium Development Goals.
Discussion was live and fruitful, many of the audience considered new aspects of the notion of “patriotism.”
Also participants discussed limitations in patriotic education of the population.
First of all, it was noted that there are two types of patriotism: one towards the state and the other towards one fellow-citizens. It happens often that people love their state, but feel no love towards the people living in the state; and vice versa, people love their fellow-citizens and hate the state.
Secondly, in the Russian system of education the issue of patriotic education has been rather neglected.
Thirdly, people often tend to unite in confronting a third party. This usually causes strife, misunderstandings, and conflicts.
Participants of the meeting in the club came to the conclusion that patriotism is a multi-faceted notion, and therefore they expressed their determination to:
Love their fellow-citizens and show their love in active ways.
Based on this, never divide people into “patriots” and “non-patriots”; serve for the benefit of their motherland treating each person as a patriot.
Take responsibility for well-being of the motherland.
Manifest courage, fortitude, creativeness, initiative to reach a higher purpose than personal interest.
Remember that patriotism begins with personal education, proceeds with building strong and harmonious relations in the family. Only after that, it comes to be expressed in love, care, and respect for one's the fellow-citizens. Therefore, people should focus on developing their character and deepen their understanding of patriotism.
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