National Pride is to align oneself with a government's rhetoric. To forsake all other ethnicities and cultures, and to stand in favor of your own. There is nothing wrong at all with being proud of your country and people. However, beyond that is the danger of Nationalism, and it is a whole other animal. When a government crafts nationalistic policies, it elevates itself above all countries. It adopts a permanent superiority complex, which is to say that it considers all other ethnicities and cultures to be substandard. It compares the ideals of its own to the shortcomings of another country and feels justified in pointing the condemning finger. This would not be such a terrible thing for other countries if a superiority complex was the only symptom. But history shows that once this insidious idea of being superior takes hold, it is hard to shake because not only do the political leaders adopt this strategy, but its people can, too. And if the citizens are in support of exclusionary policies, then terrific momentum can pick up, like a rock rolling downhill, and it is hard to stop such a machine.
Where do these ideas of superiority come from? Why do politicians espouse nationalistic agendas? Because it elevates its citizens in the eyes of the world and this appeals to fragile egos who are starved for self-esteem. Citizens should stop to ask themselves why nationalism appeals to them. But they jump on the band wagon without giving it a second thought as it feels so wonderful to be part of the "in-group." People who have difficulty defining themselves without a job or religion telling them who they are and what they should believe are easy pickings for fanatical political movements if it has a strong and charismatic leader. However, not every tyrant is a nationalist. He may call himself a Communist. But if the rights of the citizens have been taken away such as the right to free speech, then the rights of the state have been pushed forward and individual rights have been pushed back. When government rights trample individual rights or another country's rights, that is nationalism.
To an extent, every country has nationalistic tendencies, but they normally fall on the side of national pride. For example, a national anthem is sung to unify a crowd at athletic events, so they feel more like one people getting behind "their" team. A national flag flies above the capital building to symbolize "one country under God." Coins, currency, and stamps are country-specific, bearing the language and beloved historical heroes and heroines. There are many such emblematic symbology of a nation and they are recognizable and beloved by its citizens because they hold a special meaning for them.
But a line is crossed from pride to arrogance once a nation declares a group of people less valuable. And arrogance turns into danger when less-valued groups are designated as sub-human. So, at what point should you begin to worry? Always ask yourself: Is this pride in a country, or does it devalue a group? If it takes away rights of the group for no substantial reason, if it is restricting rights and privileges because a political party does not approve of that group, then the group has become less valued in society for simply being themselves, and that is dangerous. It is dangerous to you because at any time you may be in a group that the political party finds objectionable due to your religion, your skin color, your gender, your sexual orientation, or for any other reason, and there goes your rights. A democracy extends the same rights to all people regardless of their differences because it recognizes their intrinsic worth as human beings. Always ask yourself why rights are being taken away. Has the group done something injurious that harms others, or has the government done something unfair to its citizens? Failure to ask yourself these simple questions can allow a nation's superiority to grow unchecked.
Once the line of superiority is crossed, the law is mangled to enforce cruelty against foreigners or those labeled as the enemy. Justice stops being the standard, and fairness is ridiculed as weakness. The military does not protect rights but enforces punishment. The society quickly devolves into a heartless, sadistic monster where violence and murder are tolerated or condoned. This is the point at which other nations will combine forces and rise up to fight the monster. I hope you never know a world war. If you do it means the line from national pride to nationalism was crossed, and I hope that nation's own citizens will have the courage to stand up against it. If they are complicit, history teaches that the results can be disastrous for the whole world.
No comments:
Post a Comment