On Nationalism

Nationalism and what is referred to as “patriotism” have been used throughout history to manipulate the minds of the ignorant masses and to further the political agenda’s of countless regimes. This concept of undying support for your country or support with minor critique depending on your definition of patriotism is used in the same manner regardless. It has been used to coax whole nations into world wide conflict and caused countless wars to occur. This very idea can only be described as detrimental to humanities advancement and survival as a species.

Nationalism has a long history of usage in America, and has long been a favored tool of our leaders to string us along into conflicts. It’s a brilliant tactic really, as it instills a feeling of unity amongst us and puts aside all of our “petty” differences in the name of America’s protection or whatever the current reason is for the government. It’s an interchangeable excuse for any foreign or domestic issue really; be it the threat of communism or terrorism the concept remains the same. People fail to see its usage though, and fail to question that it could possibly be unjust or wrong. This can only be described as pure indoctrination to get people to blindly follow such a inherently flawed idea.

This idea of patriotism is forced into our feeble and susceptible minds straight from childhood with such displays of loyalty like the “Pledge of Allegiance”. Kids don’t think about what it means, but merely learn to accept it as being the morally just thing to do. It puts a feeling of unity and moral righteousness into us from such a early age, makes us feel a part of something bigger then us. Children care not what they are supporting with this pledge merely that they would become social outcasts and cease to be a part of the heard if they didn’t go along with it.

But all of this brings us to the inevitable question of “What’s wrong with nationalism?” Well, to put it as simply as possible, it makes people think that they, along with their countrymen, are better then other members of the world. The sentiment implies that because of ones nation of birth or residence, they are therefore better then all other nations which may have a disagreement with them. How anyone can logically look at this idea and think it to be morally justifiable? How can people sleep at night knowing that while they live a comfortable middle class life others are suffering due to their excessive lifestyles? How can people seriously be made to believe that they are better then other humans due to such trivial differences?

Propaganda; this is undoubtedly one of the leading causes in this phenomenon of what can only be described as a distinct lack of morality in first world nations. It gives people a feeling of nationalism; being right, with little reasoning behind it. And with information disputing this distinctly unsupported ideal all but unavailable to the public unless sought after this trend in America is undoubtedly doomed to continue for the foreseeable future.

To be fair though and reduce bias, the capitalists behind such propaganda do have some rather well thought out arguments that are used when need be. Such arguments including “America is the greatest country on the planet, lets keep it that way”, “We represent freedom and democracy, and are merely spreading our good fortune to the world”, and the like worded in countless different ways but all the same boil down to the same basic points. This first point can be quickly refuted, though the point in itself is correct in many senses. America does enjoy a quite high standard of living and other assorted advantages over other nations, making the point to, in all actuality, be correct in many senses. Though we must look at it through the spectrum of morality rather then cold hard facts, is it really fair that we exploit other nations at our benefit? It is obvious and well known that first world countries exploit weaker nations in nearly every possible way, and to cite every such instance would take a nearly endless amount of paper, but based off this accepted fact that first world corporations openly exploit developing nations in countless ways, this question holds its validity. As for the second “defense”, American acts of imperialism across the world are certainly not based off the spread of democracy or anything of the like but rather in pursuit of its own foreign policy. Such excuses are merely a poor guise to conceal the country’s true darker motives. Do not ever think that American foreign policy has anything to do with the spread of freedom; this country has supported dictatorships and monarchies around the world as long as they gave us their economic and political support, or benefited them in some other way.

Another explanation for the flourishing of nationalism could very well be the rampant consumerism of first world, westernized nations. The copious amounts of entertainment we are allotted keeps our feeble minds so very busy, and with little time for politics and the like. As long as our lives are great, and the lives of our peers are too and they all think the same as yourself, why should you want change of any sort? Why should you be bothered with watching the news and worry about such petty things like charity beyond a means to better your self image? Of course such people as described there would not admit to any of this, but it is so painfully obvious when the situation is observed from afar.

Any self respecting human being should denounce nationalism and see it for what it really is; blatant discrimination based only off national borders. Any human being with a sense of morality should fight against this indoctrination and advocate for its complete abolishment. This idea can only harm the proletariat of the world and only benefit the bourgeois. It is necessary for the advancement on mankind and for socialism for this dated practice be completely abolished.