Why do people take
pride in something as random as their ethnicity, creed, gender or the place
they were born in? Pride is a sense of one's own proper dignity or value. For
me I interpret this as conceit. It’s bizarre how somebody can take pleasure or
satisfaction taken in an achievement of something they had nothing to do with. Association
with a crowd contained by arbitrary borders is laughable.
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| How does it feel to worship a bunch of lines on a map? |
There's
the type of nationalism that stems from occupation/colonialism (as long as
people realise that it's a means, not an end) and a type of nationalism
rooted in tradition and local customs. The first is a struggle against
oppression and illegitimate authority, that needs to be supported as
authoritarian human relationships cannot justify themselves.
Struggles against national
oppression cannot be necessarily termed as nationalism, though it is sometimes
confusingly glossed over as "nationalism of the oppressed". It aims
to end existing oppression of the population (such as the oppression of
Palestinians by the Israeli colonial regime), not unite some imagined nation
against foreigners.
The
second kind adds extra artificial separations and barriers between the people
of each side. People find fraternity with other people belonging to the same
arbitrary division of societal order has forced them into, rather than finding
fraternity with their real natural ally. The very concept of a ‘Nation’ is a
very narrow one- it is used to create an illusion of unity; just because we
were born on the same patch of land does not mean I share anything fundamental
with the ruling class or the society of the country I was born into. What
Nationalism is in essence, is an irrational feeling of being united with a
group with the same characteristics - be it culture, cuisine, religion,
language or ethnicity. History shows us that new nations can be created any
time - nations, after all, are artificial constructs. Nationality can change
over time depending on conquests by 'foreign' powers, immigration, civil wars
etc.
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Nationalism
promotes the idealistic notion that the 'nation' (a cultural group that usually
defined by the ethnic, religious and racial make-up of the majority population
within the borders of a state) is something to be valued, and to take pride in.
As such, they see various groups that deviate from the homogeneous make-up
of the nation as threats towards it. Racism usually goes hand in hand with
nationalism.
One of the constant themes pursued by the ruling
class across the World is that the population should be proud of "their" country and if
necessary from time to time take part in wars to protect it. During two world wars millions of civilians died, often
because they imagined they had a country.
Conflict
comes about when people of different cultures/faith/ethnicity etc. fail to
integrate, and instead cling to their "own kind". People adopt a
tribal mentality and this is where people begin to exalt their race/religion/etc.
and conflict arises. The whole stick to your “own kind" mentality will
only serve to stunt your potential growth as a person by the repeated feeding of
the same idea from similar people as opposed to the introduction of new ideas
from outside sources.
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What Nationalism does within the society is to divide it deeply by means of divide and conquer-tactics. For example, if the workers from country A feel an unrest about the crisis (diminishing jobs and wage cuts), Nationalists tell them it is the fault of people from country X or have the colour Y. Soon enough the workers from A begin to despise X's and Y's. It does nothing but teach you to hate people you never met.
Never
underestimate the pure destructive power of raw idiocy. Exposure to nationalism
for extended periods of time or during formative years in children may cause
decreased cognitive and reasoning abilities, and in extreme cases, hatred,
bigotry and violence including, but not limited to fanaticism, murder and
genocide. It amazes me the amount of people that cannot discern right from
wrong on their own accord or common sense.
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| Nationalism in British tabloids |
Being
born in a country is not an achievement, it’s fine to be proud of what you have
accomplished and achieved not for just so happen to be born in a country along
with millions of others. People are proud of their country because they have no
sense of themselves and are looking for something bigger, more encapsulating
and symbolic to represent the potential they feel locked up inside but are
hardly ever able to realise. For instance, I have friends who are "proud
to be English", but if I ask them what "English" is they fall
back on bland stereotypes and so we don't get anywhere beyond, "A group of
people living contiguously who share random ideals". More often than not,
these are innate tropes and I question whether one can be proud of something
innate. There is nothing beneficial to your character if you care that deeply
which side of an imaginary line you're born.
The
most historically illiterate people in the entire world feel proud about things
they have absolutely no control over. One should be curious to find out about
their origins. But, it's not okay to pretend you're superior to others because
of that place. Why humans busy themselves with which
country is supreme, [when there are so many more worthwhile and intriguing
things to study and explore (for example, space)] is beyond me. At the
end of the day, it's a useless fight designed to divide the population; the
same way that religion and racism did.
