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Patriotism and consumption, do they come hand in hand these days?

COVID-19 shut down international borders all over the world.

COVID-19 shut down international borders all over the world. While some countries are gently easing up the restrictions and are trying to reopen the borders to the citizens of less affected states, most of the globe so far tries to stay within their own country limits.

Many Canadians are eager to see the US-Canada border operating as it used to, but millions are pretty skeptical about visits from people from the neighbouring country where the pandemic remains quite intense. While politicians are discussing future plans, some experts expect borders to remain closed at least until the end of the year.

This, plus the fear around the novel coronavirus made domestic travel pretty much the only option for 2020 holidays for almost everyone in the world, which prior to the pandemic was getting close to erasing state borders. Struggling economies along with the absence of broader opportunities turned many states towards the rise of patriotism.

The governments are talking about investing in the promotion and development of local travelling, and the citizens consciously or unconsciously are following the trend. They talk about shopping locally, and we do so. The statistic shows that despite the downturn in economies, many people still find means to travel, and while they can’t go abroad, they find places within their own provinces or country.

The changes in accents and consumer’s behaviour made me think about the underlying motivation that I feel is used to stimulate consumption during the crisis. In other words, it made me think about the entire idea of patriotism and the connection between the two.

Patriotism is something that I hardly ever questioned in my life. It’s something people are usually raised with. You learn the history of your country in school and you are taught that you must love it simply because you were born there. The love for the country is praised in poems and novels and often transmitted to you by your family.

Curiously, but the word that assumes love often comes up in conversations about wars. To be a patriot means to love your country, but I realized I have many questions about it.

First, why the country? Why not the region, city or even your neighbourhood. Those, unlike the entire state, you at least know better and can have some real feelings for. Or the other way around, why not the planet or the continent?

Second, what does it mean, at all, to love the country?

Patriotism is not about paying taxes or voting, it’s about your feelings towards… But towards what? The people? The land? The culture? Can your love towards just some of those sides be considered patriotism?

In my case with Russia, I always thought of myself as somewhat of a patriot. I sincerely believed and still believe that I love my country. However, as you could notice I’m not very keen on our government and the state as a system. It’s too corrupt.

There are many great people I know there, but I’ve seen a lot of miserable and broken people as well. The land is beautiful here and there, but I’ve hardly seen anything outside of St. Petersburg, Moscow and a few other areas within a 1,000-kilometre reach from my hometown. And a lot of it didn’t bring up any feelings.

I definitely love culture and language. But, despite what I feel, it doesn’t get me closer to understanding what it means to love the country.

Here in Canada, I see a lot of support and pride when it comes to domestic products, service, culture, etc. That support is often interpreted as love for the country. And now the call for that support has significantly grown. We hear a lot that now we need to be strong and stick together to make it through the crisis, we need to support the economy and we need to be patriots.

So if we shop and travel local does it mean that we love the country? Or do we love and support the people and businesses around us? Do we just like the gorgeous nature Canada has? But if so, why before the pandemic did many of us chose to go somewhere else for vacations?

We do need to do our best to make it through the economic crisis. But what comes first? Is it the crisis that opened some local opportunities when the free global market as we’ve known it shut down and we now have nothing left but to rely on what we can do and what we have here? Or is it now practical patriotism that navigates our consumption decisions and choices? I guess it depends on how you look at things. But I definitely see the rise in both.

What do you think about patriotism? Do you love your country? And what does it mean for you?