Introduction to what it means to be a patriot in society. Patriotism - why is it so important to instill a sense of patriotism

INTRODUCTION

Recently, more and more often in our country there are tragic incidents associated with terrorist acts, the death of a huge number of innocent people. Young people organize their groups to kill people of a different nationality or race. These guys are called skinheads (“skinheads”, from the English skin - skin, head - head). Considering themselves patriots (and quite sincerely), skinheads are carrying out a “cleansing” in our Russian ranks. As such, there are no serious organizations in this movement, but small groups of 4 to 10 people are widespread throughout Russia.

The ideology of “skinheads” fills the aimless time spent and the emptiness in the heads of irresponsible teenagers and a seemingly goal, a value system, and even “comrades in struggle” appear. They derive pleasure from the fact that they force others not only to reckon with themselves, but to fear, feeling their impunity. Practice shows that only a few are brought to criminal liability. Meanwhile, it is young people who are concentrated in these groups, and during the trial, the jury does not see anything terrible in their actions and most often issues a not guilty verdict. I wanted to understand this difficult situation of the current state of affairs and answer the question of who can be considered a patriot. And do all these people have anything to do with such a concept as “patriotism”, do they really do all this because of their great love for the Motherland.

I believe that such a topic is not only interesting for research, but also relevant. Bernard Shaw, the famous English playwright of the 20th century, wrote that “patriotism is the belief that your country is better than others because you were born in it.”

Motherland! This word expresses the greatest and dearest, deepest and strongest feeling of any person. And I think, especially for Russians.

Historically, Russia was almost always in danger, and it needed strong and courageous people who could defend it. The history of Russia is the history of a great military feat. Not a single state in the world has endured as many wars in its history as Russia has had to endure. Numerous tribes of nomads, Mongol hordes, Napoleonic armies, the German Wehrmacht - they all sought world domination. For all of them, Rus', Russia, our great country, stood in the way of him. And one can’t help but be proud of this. I am also proud that I was born and live in Russia. But does this give anyone the right to humiliate the human dignity of other people, beat them and even kill them just because they are OTHER? Another faith, race, nationality, origin, skin color, place of birth, finally? I think no. And a true patriot cannot fail to understand this.

By choosing this topic, I sought to understand and comprehend the topic of patriotism, the significance of which is eternal for Russia. Whether we like it or not, today's Russia inherits yesterday, it grows out of it. But tomorrow can only emerge from today’s affairs, and it is impossible to break this unity of times. But it turned out that there are directly opposite points of view on this phenomenon of our life. Some believe that patriotism is an innate feeling, others that it must be instilled, and still others, including the famous television presenter V. Pozner, are convinced that such a concept does not exist at all. He wrote in the newspaper “Escuiqe”: “And again: is there a patriotic program embedded in us? I doubt. Love for parents - yes, it exists at the genetic level, love for the country - hardly” (7.4).

Patriotism concept

What is “patriotism”? And what kind of person can be called a patriot? The answer to this question is quite complicated. In the explanatory dictionary of S.I. Ozhegov the following meaning is given: “Patriotism is devotion and love for one’s Fatherland, for one’s people.” We also find a detailed definition in the encyclopedic dictionary: “Patriotism is love for the Fatherland, for the native land, for one’s cultural environment. With these natural foundations of patriotism as a natural feeling is connected its moral significance as a duty and virtue. A clear consciousness of one’s duties towards the Fatherland and their faithful fulfillment form the virtue of patriotism...”

Modern concepts of “patriotism” connect a person’s consciousness with emotions on the manifestations of the influences of the external environment in the place of birth of a given individual, his upbringing, childhood and youth impressions, his formation as a person. At the same time, every person, like hundreds of his compatriots, is connected with nature by thousands of threads. With the nature that is unique to it, flora and fauna, with the customs and traditions of these places, with the way of life of the local population, with its historical past and ancestral roots.

The very essence of patriotism has been enriched and continues to be enriched with new content with the development of civilization and man himself.

Thus, the breadth of understanding of the borders of one’s homeland, the degree of love for one’s countrymen and compatriots, as well as the list of everyday acts, all this determines the degree of patriotism of each person and is a criterion for the level of his truly patriotic consciousness. The more daily actions a person performs for the benefit of this land and its inhabitants (his home, yard, street, district, city, region, region and country), the greater the patriot this person is, the higher and truer his patriotism.

A true patriot stands for those and for what strengthens and develops his homeland and against those and for what destroys it, causes it this or that damage. A true patriot respects the inhabitants of any other territory and will not harm in any way. In his homeland, he, together with other fellow patriotic citizens, fights against those who cause harm to it, and these can only be non-patriotic fellow citizens with a low level or defects of consciousness. In this regard, it is very easy to understand how unpatriotic we are those who sow hostility towards their compatriots, oppress their fellow citizens, use foul language, litter, poison the environment, poach, and lead an unhealthy lifestyle. A fight or enmity with a neighbor, unfounded attacks by members of one party on members of another, fans of one football team on fans of another, alcoholism, drug addiction, hazing in the army, corruption, embezzlement - all these are elements of the manifestation of various forms of unpatriotism in Russia.

Nationalism. The difference between nationalism and patriotism

Patriotism is a conscious and proven love for the Motherland, while nationalism is an unconscious hatred of its perceived enemies. In Russia, the concept of “nationalism” most often means ethnonationalism, especially its extreme forms, which emphasize the superiority of one particular nationality over all others. This is what is written in the modern explanatory dictionary. There is another point of view. “A true statist approach comes from the unity of the country, the unity of the Motherland, the unity of the nation, which in themselves represent a common value and heritage. At the same time, he certainly takes into account that a nation is formed not only by individual people (“atomic individuals”), but also by peoples. And solidarity at the national level is achieved, including ethnic and interethnic solidarity. Thus, state patriotism and state nationalism ideally absorb ethnic patriotism and nationalism as components, leveling out contradictions and preventing a slide into extremism. Having recognized all this, we finally recognize that a true patriot is a nationalist and a true nationalist is a patriot.” This is the point of view of Vitaly Ivanov, director of the Institute of Politics and Public Law (2).

Ways to form patriotism

In modern conditions, there is no task more important than the task of forming patriotism. At the same time, no task is more difficult. After all, love for the Motherland is largely an instinctive feeling, as the Russian philosopher Ivan Ilyin said. “Patriotism lives only in that soul for which there is something sacred on earth, and above all the shrines of its people. It is the national spiritual life that is what and for the sake of which one can and should love one’s people, fight for them and die for them. It contains the essence of the Motherland, the essence that is worth loving more than yourself” (3).

Therefore, it is necessary to awaken dormant patriotism in a young man. It is to awaken, but not to impose. It is impossible to either fall in love or stop loving the Motherland by order.

It must be taken into account that people come to understand patriotism in different ways: one through the nature or art of their native country, another through its history, a third through religious faith, and some through military service. Probably, there are as many ways as there are people.

Academician D.S. Likhachev wrote: “Patriotism is the noblest feeling. This is not even a feeling - it is the most important aspect of both personal and social culture of the spirit...” (5). In other words, there is a relationship between culture and patriotism: by forming a patriot, we form a cultural person.

We need to constantly turn to the images of our great ancestors and, through their moral example, comprehend the spirit of Russia. Here we are talking about outstanding statesmen, politicians, military and naval commanders, ascetics, such as Sergius of Radonezh, Admiral Ushakov, Field Marshal M.I. Kutuzov and others. For example, it is worth remembering only one call from Alexander Suvorov: “... please follow my example, be faithful to the Fatherland until you die.”

Start studying our great history, including military history. This is the most important area of ​​work. It's very easy to confuse people if they don't know the history. And again let's listen to authority. N.K. Roerich: “To love Russia, you need to know it.”

Use the greatest achievements of domestic cultural, scientific and technical thought. Every nation is proud of its successes on a domestic and planetary scale. In any encyclopedia in the world you can find the names of our compatriots: Mendeleev, Glinka and Tchaikovsky, Pushkin and Dostoevsky, Korolev and Ulanova. It was the Russian sergeant Egorov who hoisted the Victory Banner over the Reichstag, and his fellow countryman Gagarin was the first to open the way to space for humanity. The Russian writer Chekhov wrote plays that have not left the stages of all theaters around the world for a century. Modern humanity reads Sholokhov and looks at the television screen lit by the Russian inventor Zvorykin. And this is not vanity, not ambition, but a natural sense of dignity of the people, nation, country, and it needs to be developed in every possible way.

Conclusion

Today, much of our country's past is being reassessed. The modern era breaks, turns over, forces us to take a fresh look, to reconsider views and beliefs that seemed indestructible until recently. However, respect for the past of your country, region, city where you live remains unshakable.

A little research

I was able to conduct a survey among students in the neighborhood of our school and find out what patriotism means to a modern teenager.

The survey was conducted among 50 students in grades 9-10. Of course, I understand that such a survey cannot be called a sociological study.

But this is the opinion of a certain part of almost adult people, whose opinion can be listened to.

So, they gave the following answers to the questions posed:

1.What do you understand by the word “patriotism”? The answers were:

1Love for the Motherland - 35

2.Love of nature - 5

3.Defense of the Fatherland - 5

4.Loyalty to the Fatherland - 4

5.Respect for laws - 1

Despite the different answers to this question, in principle they are similar and reflect young people’s understanding of their relationship to the Motherland.

2. Do you consider yourself patriots?

“Yes” – 33 people answered

Not every teenager considers himself a patriot, but perhaps they understand that they have not yet done anything for society, for their country, to consider themselves such.

3.Your attitude towards work

Work is just a habit – 7

Labor is a heavy duty – 13

Labor should be avoided – 3

Labor is the basis of life – 26

Work is pleasure – 1

Most understand the necessity and importance of work for the development of society. But almost a third of students do not really want to burden themselves with obligations, considering work to be a heavy duty. They probably think that all the well-being of the world can result from idleness.

4.What is your attitude towards people of other faiths, nations, races?

Friendly – ​​18 people

Indifferent – ​​13

Tolerable -15

Negative - no

I have nothing to do with them - 4

It’s nice that no one feels particularly negative towards people of different origins, but at the same time there is a tendency to some rejection.

This is the picture of the results.

Bibliography:

D.A. Algazin Education of young patriots. M., 1979

V. Ivanov On patriotism, nationalism and national extremism “Vzglyad” - Business newspaper - April 18, 2006

I. Ilyin “Our tasks”. Articles about patriotism. Digital library

E.L. Kuzmin World state: illusions or reality? M., 1969

5 D.S. Likhachev Letters about the good and the beautiful M., 1989

6 I. Solovyov On patriotism - electronic library

On May 9, all of Russia celebrates a great holiday - Victory Day. We're going in the car. We listen to the radio. The program talks about a survey among the population conducted in honor of the holiday. To the question “What does it mean to be a patriot?” most people responded that this means that one must believe that Russia is a great Power. And a minority of the population surveyed added that you need to know the history of your country well. And then I thought deeply about the given topic - what does it mean to be a patriot of your country. For many years, starting in 1717, we lived behind the “Iron Curtain” and honestly believed that “we are ahead of the rest,” and that we have the best, fair and great country in the world. And what began to become clear when “perestroika” began and both the archives and the Iron Curtain itself were opened? That the country's economy is in a rather backward position, with the exception of a number of industries such as the defense industry. That only African countries are inferior to us in terms of living standards. And so on, and so on, and so on... We have long been accustomed to the idea that “even a cook can run a country.” Therefore, the majority of the country’s population has historically become accustomed to knowing the answers to all questions, from raising and treating children to resolving all economic problems on a global scale, habitually commenting on this on holidays at the table with friends. But why then do we still live so poorly? Why is the standard of living of the average Russian still much lower than in any developed country? Probably, this is where we can return to the question of what it really means to be a patriot. If you just blindly believe that your country is the greatest Power and do nothing except desperately boo those who say that it is not so. Then the country will remain the greatest Power only in our dreams. It would probably be more logical to call someone who is really trying to make life in their country better a patriot. Those people who have the wisdom and courage not to remain silent about the shortcomings that we have, but to speak honestly about them, offer solutions and not be afraid to express their opinion to the government (and not to friends in the kitchen) if you think that it is wrong about something. After all, people also sit in the government, and people tend to make mistakes. If you are a miner, then who better than you can know how miners work. No one except the teacher knows what specific tasks and problems teachers encounter in their daily work. And, if the school does not have enough decent teachers, because there is no decent salary, then you should not be afraid to say so loudly and publicly. Otherwise, our children, who will build the future of our country, will remain poorly educated and uneducated. To build a decent civil society, each of the citizens of this society must be socially active members. And not just know the history of your country well, but also be active participants in building current and future history. Do not blindly believe that we are the greatest Power, study our bright pages and turn a blind eye to mistakes and shortcomings. And live every day in such a way as to know that you are really doing everything in your power to correct these mistakes, eradicate shortcomings and so that your country ultimately truly becomes the greatest Power. Probably, some “patriots” will say after these words that I am not a patriot at all. Well, everyone, apparently, has their own concepts of patriotism and the greatness of powers. It’s a pity, because we really would like for us to become a great Power.

On the eve of the holiday of February 23, Defender of the Fatherland Day, it’s time to talk about the patriotic education of youth. What do the concepts of “patriot” and “patriotism” mean these days, for example, for modern schoolchildren? The article contains the opinions of the guys themselves.

If for you such concepts as “patriot”, “patriotism”, “feeling of patriotism” are an empty phrase or cause irony, irritation, etc., try to think about this unusual question: is it profitable to be a patriot in our time?
This question is especially appropriate to ask schoolchildren, among whom there are many cynics, in order to get them thinking about a difficult topic. And this can be done on the eve of a class hour or any other event dedicated to instilling a sense of patriotism.

Such questions can attract children to a serious and constructive discussion. At first glance, the question “Is it profitable to be a patriot in our time?” seems rather strange, but it is precisely as a result of this approach (as practice shows) that even a cynic can be forced to think and express his “thought-out” opinion on this matter.
It would be nice to organize a competition for the best answer to this strange question from the guys’ point of view. Let everyone share their opinions.

To the questions “How does patriotism manifest itself?” and “Is it profitable to be a patriot in our time?” The students gave very interesting answers. After generalization and systematization, they look like this.

• Patriotism is manifested in respect for one's country, its past, and the memory of ancestors; in interest in the history of their country, studying the experience of previous generations. And this leads to finding out the causes of many events, which in turn gives knowledge. He who is armed with knowledge is protected from many failures and mistakes, does not waste time correcting them, goes further and overtakes in his development those who “tread on the same rake.” Knowing your history and the experience of previous generations helps you navigate the world, calculate the consequences of your own actions, and feel confident. At all times, people relied on the experience of their predecessors. Without the historical past, neither the present nor the future is possible. According to many classics, “Forgetfulness of the past, historical unconsciousness is fraught with spiritual emptiness both for the individual and for all people.” It is the understanding of the failures and mistakes of the historical past that leads to the achievements and merits of the present, and helps to survive in difficult times. Therefore, it is beneficial to be a patriot.


• Patriotism is manifested in the ability to appreciate and take care of one’s homeland, the desire to change it for the better, to make it cleaner, kinder, more beautiful. For example, it is more pleasant and convenient to walk on clean, repaired roads. Shoes last longer and are less likely to fall. It is also much more pleasant to deal with decent people, rather than with boors and scoundrels. It's nice to enjoy the beauty of nature and human creations that are not at all difficult to preserve. If a person learns to ennoble himself and the area around him, life will become happier, psychological comfort will appear, which will allow him to spend his mental strength more effectively, enjoy life and achieve a lot. Therefore, it is beneficial to be a patriot. True patriotism is manifested in the ability to be a moral person who creates beauty and goodness around himself.


• Patriotism is manifested in the ability to be faithful and devoted to one’s country, one’s cause, one’s family, one’s views and ideas, one’s dreams. A patriot does not shout at every corner about his passionate love for his homeland; he silently does his job well, remains true to his principles, ideals and universal human values. Thus, he really helps not only his country, but also himself. A person who studied hard, gaining knowledge, and as a result got a good job, became socially active, built his future, created a full-fledged family, works honestly - has done much more for his country than the one who walks around with slogans, chants for patriotism and verbally defends the prestige of his country. People whose sense of patriotism is not developed have no future. They will destroy themselves because they do not develop and do not have a strong “core”. This is the law of life. Patriotism is needed for personal development, for survival. Therefore, it is beneficial to be a patriot.

I really want everyone to understand the following: “ Patriotism as a political, social and moral principle reflects the attitude of a person (citizen) to his country. This attitude is manifested in concern for the interests of one’s fatherland, in readiness for self-sacrifice for it, in loyalty and devotion to one’s country, in pride in its social and cultural achievements, in sympathy for the suffering of one’s people and condemnation of the social vices of society, in respect for the historical past his country and the traditions inherited from him, in a readiness to subordinate his interests to the interests of the country, in an effort to defend his country, his people. A patriot is one who works conscientiously for the good of his country and encourages those around him to do the same, who helps his fellow citizens improve. Without caring about others, you risk being left alone.”

— Father Nektary, why do you think they are talking about patriotism now?

— If you observe the relationship between reality and slogans proclaimed through the media, you will notice that often an active discussion of something is associated with the complete absence of what is being talked about. Now the situation is such that we talk a lot about patriotism. And it’s clear why: there are problems in relations between states on the world stage, in international politics, and there are serious problems within our country. This is where the topic of patriotism comes up. But if we look at how work aimed at patriotic education is carried out in Russian regions, we will see that the funds allocated per year for this work amount to tens of thousands. Although, for example, in Kazan, as I heard, millions are spent on this. Apparently, someone is interested in patriotic education being developed more in Kazan, and not in the Saratov region. Why? It's difficult for me to answer.

As for fashion, patriotism, as they say today, is a kind of trend. On the other hand, those who are actually involved in patriotic education today can refer to the president’s statements and relevant documents, thereby justifying the need for what they are doing, and this is important.

Everything is generally ambiguous. It would seem that the law “On Patriotic Education of Citizens of the Russian Federation” is being prepared for adoption, and even at the stage of its preparation, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Education and Science cannot decide which of them should be involved in patriotic education, shifting this responsibility to each other. And at the same time, in Russia there are military-patriotic clubs, in which the leaders and teachers are enthusiasts who have found the time, energy and means to carry out this work, often in the full sense of the word, on a voluntary basis.

— Do you think the sudden interest in patriotism means that things are bad in society with patriotic feelings?

— Just look at the statistics: many people are leaving the country. If in the 1990s people left in search of a better life or were hiding from responsibility for crimes committed, today they are leaving out of despair, the desire to live according to the law and have certain guarantees. And this is scary, because, as a rule, it is not children or pensioners who emigrate, but young and active people. By the way, when many people talk about Russia, they increasingly call it either “this country” or use other names. Rarely does anyone say “Russia”, even less often - “Motherland” or “Fatherland”.

— Tell me, who should be involved in educating patriots?

- First of all, the power to which the people have entrusted the management of the state and which must implement the trust. But, of course, parents should educate and teach at the same time, without waiting for their children to be taught by the school, the street, the computer, or the TV. But, in essence, there is no one to expect patriotic education from, except from patriots. You just need to turn to them for help. We have heroes, wonderful people, languishing in obscurity after the wars in which they fought. They need to be involved in the work, especially since they themselves would like it. But this is not happening yet. There is a saying: “Words edify, but deeds attract.” So today slogans disgust, words irritate, and only actions really attract people.

— How much is the state doing to educate patriots? Is it being done at all?

— Various events are held periodically, usually for show. But if you think about it, what do they have to do with patriotic education? What do they teach and what do they give? To achieve results, you need systematic work. In children from the first grade, the concept of the Motherland should be formed in their minds. But this is not the case. If a child does not have certain established priorities, then he will not pay attention to them and will grow up as a person with different principles and aspirations.

In the Soviet Union, the schoolchild had the idea that his country existed, it must be loved and protected. And this was a given that no one thought to challenge. It was considered sacred. Naturally, in a healthy society there is a healthy attitude towards patriotism, and in a sick society there is a corresponding one. Today there is another reality: did you earn and buy? So you are successful. Otherwise you are empty space. This is the ideology of modern Russian society. We criticize Americans for many things, but for them patriotism comes first. They have different forms of patriotic education, which, although they seem funny, stupid, and artificial, work. They have pride in their country and love for it, perhaps of a pragmatic, utilitarian, selfish nature, but it is there.

What is happening here? Here's an example: people who returned home after fighting in Chechnya. They had to kill, their comrades died before their eyes, they were seriously injured, and around them there was a society that did not understand them at all. No one has taken care of them and no one is going to. And this is the real crime. Therefore, our patriotism is really bad. But it's not hopeless. The Russian people themselves are patriotic people, possessing an amazing ability to recover from the shocks they have experienced. We have not yet reached the point of no return, although they are diligently leading us to it.

— You mentioned the concept of the Motherland. What do you think, what is the Motherland for us, because it, its face is constantly changing?

— A person’s face also changes with age: it becomes decrepit, wrinkles appear. Sometimes a person in old age is not very similar to himself in his youth or childhood. But the soul remains the same. When we talk about the Motherland, we need to keep in mind not the face and other external signs, but the soul inherent in it. In order to recognize this soul, you need to thoughtfully and carefully study our history, which is made up of the destinies of specific people, and understand that the time in which we live is also part of it. Each of us has a certain place in history. And the answer to the question of what the Motherland is for us, what it is and what it will be, can only be found in oneself.

— But still, what do we need to love?

- When a person loves, he himself determines who the one he loves is for him. Here is a young man who loves a girl and sees something in her that others do not notice, because he looks at her with the eyes of love. The same thing happens when a person looks at his country. It is impossible to tell what his country is if he does not understand it in his heart. What is his country? In Soviet times they said: “One sixth of the land.” But, in addition, this is history, glorious military victories and bitter defeats, the history of the Russian Orthodox Church, art, literature. The more a person learns about his country, the closer he comes to becoming a patriot. Because being a patriot without knowing anything is somehow strange.

— Why do you need to be a patriot? And is it even necessary?

— The question itself contradicts the essence of patriotism, which lies in selfless love for the country. Why do you need to love? If you read what the Apostle Paul says about love, then you need to love in order to give, sacrifice, forgive, not demand anything and maintain love, no matter what happens in response. It turns out that loving and being a patriot is unprofitable, since a person is required to be willing to give his life for his homeland, despite the fact that she may not take care of him. On the other hand, a person who does not love is an inferior person, because sacrificial love is something natural to our nature. Therefore, to be a patriot is necessary in order to be a real person. Why be a real person? To think, feel and experience the life God has given us differently. How many people live who seem to have everything except happiness: they are not able to rejoice, love, give and receive warmth, since there is no place for it in their hearts.

— Is it difficult in our time to be a patriot, and therefore a real person?

— But it’s difficult to be a patriot at all times. For example, the Roman hero Gaius Mucius Scaevola, refusing to betray his people and state and showing that he was not afraid of torture, burned his own hand in front of his enemies. A patriot is a person who must always be ready to sacrifice something, and this is very difficult. But there are victims who impoverish us, and there are those who enrich us.

— Can faith, in particular Orthodoxy, raise patriots?

— A believer, by definition, must be a patriot. Nowadays, within Orthodoxy, such a direction as uranopolitism is developing. In my opinion, this is a false ideology, the main idea of ​​which is that since our Fatherland is the Heavenly Fatherland, we should not concentrate on love for the Earthly Fatherland. But the Lord gave a person to be born into some family. And this is not always an ideal or just a good family. But nevertheless, we are given the commandment to honor our parents. This commandment also implies honoring the country in which a person was born. We call the country Fatherland or Motherland, because here we were born, here we have a family connection with our history and people. If a person does not love his parents, then I have great doubts that he is a believer. Accordingly, if a believer does not love his Fatherland, then, probably, there is a big flaw in his Christian self-awareness and worldview. Faith teaches a person to be a patriot. And the believer must be ready to lay down his life for his friends, that is, not only for his family and friends, but also for the country, for the entire community of people in which the Lord brought him to live.

— What do you think will happen to a state that has no patriots?

“Hitler wanted to turn many countries into territories where it would be possible to engage in agriculture, extract minerals and organize some kind of production. When a state lacks such a concept as patriotism, then it becomes such a territory.

Interviewed by Daria Khokhlova

What, according to our fellow citizens, does it mean to be a patriot and how does true patriotism manifest itself? On the one hand, according to sociological surveys, the number of Russians who believe that patriotism is, first of all, love for the homeland has increased. On the other hand, in recent years, citizens of our country have become more tolerant of those actions that were previously considered unpatriotic. What is the reason? According to experts, in this case it is still impossible to talk about a significant decline in patriotism. Rather, we are talking about the erosion of ideas and norms of the Soviet era.

It would seem that everything is simple: it is patriotic to love your homeland. It is unpatriotic to evade military service, not vote in elections, not pay taxes and not know the national anthem, native coat of arms and flag. However, as data from the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) shows, everything is much more complicated.

For example, being a patriot for the majority of Russians means loving your country, and over two years this opinion has become more popular (71 percent). However, much less often our fellow citizens began to see patriotism in defending their country from various kinds of attacks, working for the good of the Motherland, or striving for a real improvement in the state of affairs. 19 percent of Russians believe that being a patriot means believing that your country is better than others. 18 percent - tell the truth about your country. In the minority are those who believe that loyalty to one's country lies in not seeing its shortcomings (five percent).

As experts have found, over the past two years, Russians have begun to more often define patriotism as love for their country (from 65 to 71 percent) and the opinion that their own country is better than others (from 16 to 19 percent). However, our fellow citizens are less likely than before to believe that being a patriot means striving to improve the state of affairs in the country (from 36 to 26 percent) and working for its benefit (from 34 to 26 percent).

Young people, for the most part, unfortunately, prefer to love their Motherland in words rather than in deeds. So, for example, 18-24 year old respondents are more likely than others to believe that being a patriot simply means loving your country (75 percent) and believing that your country is the best. But 35-44 year olds typically understand patriotism as a desire to improve the situation in the country and work for its benefit.

According to polls by sociologists, in recent years Russians have become more tolerant of those actions and situations that are traditionally considered unpatriotic. Thus, our fellow citizens are demonstrating increasing loyalty to working abroad, immigration, ignoring voting in elections, and even leaving the army.

True, some actions are still considered unacceptable under any circumstances. However, to a lesser extent than before. This, for example, concerns tax evasion (from 65 to 57 percent). But ignorance of state symbols seems increasingly unforgivable to Russians (from 48 percent in 2006 to 60 percent this year).

The director of the Institute of Globalization and Social Movements, Boris Kagarlitsky, explains the decline in patriotism identified by sociologists quite simply: by the erosion of the model that emerged during the Soviet Union, or, better said, the understanding of the essence of patriotism.

“In my opinion, what we are seeing now is not the disappearance of patriotism, but rather the erosion of traditional ideas and norms established in Soviet times of what should be considered patriotic and unpatriotic,” the expert notes in an interview with Pravda.Ru. “That is, a whole range actions that the Soviet state consciously sought to present as unpatriotic, they are still widespread today, but not widespread enough.”

The expert names a trip abroad as an example of an “unpatriotic action.” “They explained to us for a long time that a Soviet person should not want to go abroad. As a result, a Soviet person really wanted to go abroad. And as soon as the border was opened, everyone rushed to travel, and some even left,” explains Boris Kagarlitsky. - T. That is, the question is not whether people love their country, but what the state understands as the norms of patriotism.”

According to the political scientist, we are faced not with the fact that the people of Russia have become less patriotic, but with the fact that formal ideas about what can and cannot be considered patriotic have changed. At the same time, the political scientist is convinced that a new set of ideas about patriotism has not yet emerged. And the problems in this case are not with the population, the expert believes, but with those who are trying to define the concept of “patriotism” without taking into account the realities of modern life. “This does not mean that people have become less patriotic. It means that the old assessment system does not give us the real picture,” concludes the director of the Institute of Globalization and Social Movements.

The editor-in-chief of Literaturnaya Gazeta, Yuri Polyakov, calls patriotism “the immune system of the people.” “And its weakening is extremely dangerous,” a famous writer tells Pravda.Ru. “And the collapse of states, and the disappearance of peoples, and the loss of self-identification, and dissolution in foreign cultures begins precisely with the loss of patriotism.”

“As far as I know - and I travel quite a lot to different countries - even in the countries of united Europe there are extensive programs to maintain their language, their culture, to develop their own version of history,” Polyakov notes. “Naturally, each nation has its own stories have dark and heroic pages. However, they try to write history in such a way that the bright and heroic pages are in the foreground, and the dark ones in the background. And this is correct, because (youth) need to be educated by a patriotic example."

In Russia, there is a weakening of patriotic consciousness, says the editor-in-chief of Literaturnaya Gazeta. And, as a result, reverence for one’s own state. Moreover, antipatriotism is propagated and instilled, paradoxically, at the expense of the state, Polyakov believes. “Unfortunately, our media intelligentsia - especially those who came after 1991 - are all brought up in the spirit of, if not anti-patriotism, then such an ironically dismissive attitude towards this property of human consciousness,” the writer sums up.