This is one of those topics that is likely to piss a few people off. It is controversial and it strikes at the core of identity. There will therefore be many people who will have an adverse response to this post.

National pride frightens me. There, I said it.

I’m no more proud of being Australian than I am of being human. Or a female. Or having brown eyes. Or any other of those labels and traits.

I consider myself blessed to be living in this country, yes. But I also acknowledge that there are plenty of other countries whose way of life may be just as blessed as our own. I am thankful that I live here because it is all I have known and there are many great things about this country. I am grateful to be living in a place where I don’t have to walk miles to get water, my children aren’t starving, and I have a roof over my head.

To paraphrase a number of Feri Tradition teachers, true pride is recognition of our own self-worth, without the need to compare ourselves to another.

So what then is Australian pride? Or national pride in any form?

There are plenty of things that aren’t so great about this country too. Am I proud of that? No.

Am I proud that our living conditions can be considered much better than that of other countries. No.

I’m thankful. I’m grateful. And I’m damn lucky in many ways. But what we should be proud of is what we have achieved together to make this nation great when not comparing it to any other. So to say I’m proud of being able to get clean water from my tap makes no sense to me. To say I’m proud of being part of a community who has worked to give us all the ability to have clean water, well yes, I’m proud of that (although not every Australian is afforded this luxury). But in saying that I am suggesting that I have played a part in enabling us to have this way of life. I am saying that I am proud of contributing.

Yes, I’ve contributed. I have contributed to various causes, held jobs and participated in the free markets that keep our economy running. We can be proud of our contributions. But we should also be mindful of those things that we are contributing to that are not healthy for this country. And we should also be aware that many, many of the people who have directly and indirectly contributed to our way of life were not born here. Those people who are supposedly “taking our jobs” are the people who built our roads and railways, expanded our markets and introduced us to many of the cultural delights that we currently enjoy.

So it frightens me when I hear people refer to “Aussie Pride” who will make a racist remark about the nextdoor neighbour without even blinking. It frightens me when the discussion about our country’s flag comes up and someone makes the comment, “But Indigenous Australians have their own flag”. All too often, the people who are the most fervent flag wavers are the ones who litter this land’s beautiful beaches with cigarette butts and hurl rubbish from moving cars.

And many, many Australians do not seriously acknowledge what “Australia Day” means to those people who were here long before us.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard someone say that immigrants should assimilate and fit into our way of life. Yet they are often the same people who baulk at the idea that we should change the date of Australia Day or consider changing our flag to represent all Australians. They are also the same people who do not consider how we would feel if Australia was invaded by another country – a nation who raised their own flag, split our blood, took our children and said we should be thankful for Government assistance while simultaneously accusing us of not helping ourselves.

To say you are proud of being Australian feels to me like saying you are proud of being born at Sunshine Hospital. It is irrelevant. Where you were born is irrelevant. What matters is who you are and what you have contributed and are contributing to make this country a place that we can all be proud of. Truly.