(For myself) I've never thought of the military as serving a particularly noble purpose. I mean, I don't dislike them either - I am neutral on it. Essentially, I'd expect and hope that the military is never needed.
Paramedics and firefighters... well they do their job. Firefighters sit around a lot and get paid well for doing very little, if you ask me (in AU). They have a tough union. Paramedics can be a real pain to deal with, so I guess I respect nurses and aged/disabled care workers more. Not glamorous work - they get less pay and respect for what they do. Still, I give respect to individuals more than groups...
On province (called "state" here) vs country. Well, I've never thought about that either. Country first definitely. I've only really considered the matter after visiting another state and finding that some of them have a rivalry/superiority thing going. (Hmm, likewise, I guess I was more patriotic after working overseas.)
Overall I'm not very keen on nationalism either, to be honest. I wouldn't wave a flag, particularly these days, with Australia diverging somewhat from UN forums and global agreements. Flags really bother me actually. I hate seeing the national flag flown on cars, houses etc. It reeks to me of small mindedness, militarism and isolationism.
I'm more interested in general ideals, the stuff that one might hope is universal, but which probably isn't.
[For the record, I live and was born in Melbourne Australia.]
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