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Natalia
Joined: Oct 9, 2006
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Is Nationalism a good thing?
March 4, 2008 - 10:08 AM
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I understand the concept of national pride, and the social weight of feeling that one has a place of one’s own. But I can’t help thinking that nationalism, as an abstract term, does more to strip one of that sense of belonging than anything else. It corrupts and distorts the idea of belonging by rousing an ethnocentric view of reality; the national equivalent of an ego trip. I think people should disconnect themselves from abstract terms and embrace an understanding of being that centers on humanity as a whole. Not mine and yours, but ours. National borders are abstract concepts as well. There are no physical lines separating one country from another (except in those sad cases of walls being erected), and when there is no conflict cultures tend to blend peacefully around these borders, mixing one tradition with another, one language with another. There is no specific cut-off point between them and nations seem more like rivers flowing into one another. I come from a small Town on the Easternmost border of Poland, neighboring Belarus. In this region people speak a language that is both Polish and Belorussian, and they identify with the Belorussian people in the same way Polish communities on the southernmost border identify with the Slovakian people. The abstract idea that there is a border separating us, that on the other side of that border live people that are vastly different, and perhaps even threatening to one’s own culture, is a concept that seems designed to inspire fear and isolation. The simple truth is that we are all more alike than we are different, and our goal as global citizens should not be to segregate and limit people into specific nations and communities (that is a narrow understanding of the human condition), but to seek peace and strive for the unification of all people in pursuit of that common goal. In the end, it seems that radical nationalism is among the greatest obstacles to peace.
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Sandy Mae
Joined: Jan 19, 2007
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Re: Is Nationalism a good thing?
March 5, 2008 - 03:08 AM
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Good point there. I think one of the causes of conflict is the feeling that your nation is better or greater than another. In that case, I would agree that nationalism would not be a good idea.
On the other hand, I would embrace nationalism in the context of people working together for the progress of their nation.
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George C. Owens
Joined: Jul 3, 2006
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Re: Is Nationalism a good thing?
March 5, 2008 - 06:55 AM
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Me,
iam ashamed but it is my fault the world is so messed up.
bye, george.
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Merlyn
Joined: Sep 6, 2006
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Re: Is Nationalism a good thing?
March 5, 2008 - 08:43 AM
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The byword must be "humanism" not "nationalism," while before belonging to any nation we belong to human species. Without adghering to humanism, we cannot and must not adhere and nurture any nationalistic feelings, for it would be trying to construct a house by putting bricks on a non-existent foundation.
Nationalism only must be conspicuous in countries where moral values are more than words and where social ties and family bonds are solid and self-sustainable. this said, it excludes most of the West and other parts of so-called developed world from having such feelings.
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kaswii
Joined: Dec 1, 2006
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Re: Is Nationalism a good thing?
March 5, 2008 - 10:59 AM
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yes and no,we take pride in our culture and in our roots but the problem comes in when ethnocentrism (the belief that one's culture is superior than another's)comes in.globalization is taking place and we might just have to forget our nationlities for peace's sake...this is a problem in africa too where we have many nationalities in one state.leaders take advantage of this and pitt tribes against each other......hopefully we'll all learn to co-exist.
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Shannon Monn
Joined: Jan 22, 2008
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Re: Is Nationalism a good thing?
March 5, 2008 - 03:05 PM
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I think its good to have pride in where you are from and the key is to celebrate our differences instead of condemning each other for them, to learn from each other and our experiences. To me, nationalism after all is just a word. Getting rid of the word won't change the sentiment. There will always be some people that twist a positive concept into bad but that's part of human nature. It seems much more probable to retwist those people than to develop a whole new concept. Country borders don't really matter either. The majority of my family lives in upstate New York and the neighborhoods are segregated by ethnicity but by choice and not in a bad way, but for support systems. Many of the ethnic communities have their own stores and churches where their language is spoken and they are kept close for convience and not to try to keep others out. Now a days, there's a lot of mixing in the neighborhoods of ethnicities but its still referred as the Irish neighborhood or the Italian neighborhood or the Croatian neighborhood, and so on. I like this becuz to me there's a much greater culture experience and remarkably the older generations can't pick out each other based on ethnicity but not in a negative way. More so as to find a way to relate to them and not offend them by something they might say that'd go against their beliefs and even use it as an ice breaker. My grandma used to ask everyone she met what nationality they were, talk to them in their native language if she knew it, trade recipes, and so on. Like many of us can tell the difference between skin color, I've found that the older generations in my family recognize other more detailed features about people to discern ethnicity which I think it is neat. When I see people I just see a bunch of faces and don't make much note of them. I think nationalism is a gateway to learning experiences and getting rid of it won't accomplish anything because people will just find a different difference to hate people over. Hence, i think the focus should be loving ours and others differences, not try to get rid of them.
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