Why do you feel you have a responsibility to your homeland?
Maybe it's because I was brought up to believe that politics is a personal responsibility and I'm capable of making a difference if I try.
Or, to put it another way, maybe it's because you were "brought up to believe" (ie, indoctrinated) that you have a special responsibility to the tribe into which you were born through no choice of your own.
I don't see it so simple as that.
Is civic responsibility nothing more than indoctrination into a "tribe"?
It is not obvious to me why one would automatically feel a responsibility to his "homeland."
So are you getting hung up on the word "homeland"? Is that it?
Perhaps that was a poor choice of verbiage on my part. I certainly did not mean to imply that I feel some spiritual connection to the dirt under my feet. I would hope that's obvious given the overall tenor of my posts on this forum.
What I'm talking about is a sense of social responsibility to the people among whom I have lived my entire life.
At this point in time, in the country which I call home for better or worse, a concerted attack is being waged against certain segments of the population. The attack has come in the form of a racist and classist social movement which has gained so much popularity that outspoken bigotry has become a viable political platform for political candidates. This movement threatens the livelihood and well-being of many of my family and friends.
Given that situation, I have two options. I can stay and fight with vocal opposition, community organization, and political campaigning. Or I can leave in disgust, immerse myself in the day-to-day culture and politics of another country, and mitigate my effectiveness by opposing the situation from afar.
The point I was trying to make is that I'm part of the racial and cultural majority, hence I'm in a (somewhat) privileged position. I'd incur less danger than if I were, say, a Muslim, Latino or member of some other targeted minority.
So if I exercise my privilege to freely pick up and leave, am I not just running away, shirking my civic responsibility, and leaving the less fortunate to their fate?