I think the problem is that people conflate being proud of others with themselves. They take on the achievements of others as their own.

This dude was from my place and was great so therefore I'm great.

This is what nationalists, fascists, racial supremacists and other extremists do on the regular. They have no achievements of their own to be proud of so they have to steal somebody else's.

Needs to be narrower. Nobody should be proud of being from where they are from because they are from there. It's not inherently good to be from any particular place.

But you're allowed to be proud of your local community because of things they have done regardless of whether you were born there or not.

It’s less about accomplishment and more about being proud of the city or town itself. Proud of the people you called neighbors and their struggles and lives. Proud of the community banding together and supporting each other.

Thats at least how I always saw it

I think society would benefit if we all felt a sense of pride in our communities and people in a positive aspect

Came prepared to downvote this for being common sense, but judging by the comments it actually is surprisingly unpopular! Well played.

I looked up pride and one of the definitions was: *Pleasure or satisfaction taken in an achievement, possession, or association. *

For example: parental pride. Many parents are proud of their children regardless of the achievements or personal decisions. Pride can, I believe, sometimes be tied to a love for something/someone.

So being proud to come from some place is to me, saying: I love that I came from this place or "I'm thankful that I was born here"

This is coming from someone that doesn't really care much for his birth city nor country.

Agreed. Also genetic heritage. I literally didn't have any choice in any of it. And to pretend my genetic heritage is somehow something to be more proud of than any other genetic is literally racist.

This applies to all races equally.

I’d rather not be born in a place where this opinion is unpopular.

I feel lucky about where I was born. I won a birth lottery, but I believe there are other places that have bigger lottery jackpots.

Is this actually an unpopular opinion?

Same thing when I see people crying over their country's team winning an Olympic medal.

Get a grip - You didn't do anything except be born in the same geopolitical boundary as the actual athletes. Perhaps one 50th of a penny of your tax dollars contributed to the team athletic funding.

I told my children that pride is a product of hard work; in life, there's nothing worth boasting about unless you've earned it through effort.

I mean there are different types of pride. Being lgbt isn't a decision either, yet we have Pride, because being proud of who you are is often about more than just accomplishments, for many people it's about accepting and embracing the parts of you that you can't change. Just because you don't personally like that it includes that definition, it doesn't erase the fact that that is a part of the definition and has been for a long time.

I get so annoyed with people who are on tv shows, (like competitions, or reality shows) who claim they want to "make my country proud" and they don't want to let them down. Did everyone in your country send you there? Was there a vote? Are they paying you? No. You made a choice to be on the show, your entire nation is unlikely watching or cheering you on. When you lose Joanne, and you will, no one will care then either. And the people watching the show will not suddenly start calling people from your country losers, they will only know that you, Joanne are the loser, not all the other millions of citizens of your nation. **Joanne is a generic contestant for the purpose of this rant.

I would have expected to agree with you, but in thinking it through, I am proud of things I didn’t do, but not for myself, if that makes sense. I’m proud of my mom for getting through grad school with a small child (my sister, I wasn’t even born yet), and I’m proud of my dad for quitting drinking a decade before. Those are both very difficult things and I feel positive about them in a way that feels similar to how I feel when I understand a new aspect of my field and the same as how I feel when my niece learns a new thing. I would call it more of an indirect pride, I guess.

I can see extending that to more distant ancestors, especially if there’s been a consistent threat and various ancestors were instrumental or inspirational against that threat. It’s not a requirement to feel any sort of way about your forebears, but I don’t think it’s out of line to feel pride or shame. I also don’t think it really makes a difference if you’re blood related to the people or just culturally related (or anywhere in between), so I guess it would apply to a culture at large as well (generally geographically related).

I kind of agree, that it's idiotic to be proud in the sense of accomplishment, but I don't think that was the intended meaning when the term was originally used in this context. GRSM people say they're proud to be queer, because pride can also mean a rejection of shame. Of course there are people who will take genuine pride of accomplishment in their place of birth, but I ifgure those folks don't have a lot else going for them in terms of accomplishment, or perhaps don't understand the concept of accomplishment to start.

Doug Stanhope had a great bit on this in his 2008 special, No Refunds.

https://youtu.be/QsPDT5qHtZ4

I dunno... Being the first person born in space ought to come with some bragging rights.

Agreed. Nobody should be proud of their height, their skin color, eye color, anything they didn't work for. Happy, sure. Proud? No.

You can be proud about your country. You can be proud about everything that makes your country special. Your food, your traditions,... Why shouldn't you.

But then how do I do jingoism? /s

Ooh, ooh! There's a song for that!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kjBNy5AlNQ

Yep. People watching the Olympics while being obese sitting on a sofa eating big macs with extra cheese. The athletes did all the hard work, and the audience at home take the pride for whatever reason.

Humans have not evolved beyond tribalism. They still think in terms of borders instead of the planet.