gbaji wrote:
I think most of you are mis-defining nationalism. Not your mistake, since Nobby started with a very narrow (and IMO "wrong") definition himself.
Nationalism is simply a recognition among a group of people as being a part of a "nation". This can mean anything. A commmon language, a common culture, a common history, anything. There's nothing inherently good or bad about nationalism by itself.
I think what Nobby was trying to aim at is the difference between patriotism and blind patriotism. Neither have *anything* to do with nationalism, since both can exist whether one is a member of a nation state or not. If anything, one can argue that nationalism tends to reduce the occurance of blind patiotism. A soldier in the employ of a king, but with no sense of national identity would owe his allegence only to his king, and perhaps to some small amount to his local town (presumably under control of that king). He'd have absolutely no compunctions about indiscriminantly killing random people in another city on behalf of that king if so ordered. Contrast that to the difficulty to get modern soldiers to kill people they identify with as part of their nation.
Was your Mom smoking Aids-Pole while she breast-fed you, di[Azure][/Azure]ck-wad?
Nationalism by any connotation implies an assumed superiority of a nation or race. (Quick! Go scuttle off to a dictionary and find some denotation that to your simplistic mind argues against this. You know the difference between denotation and connotation, right?)
I feel a swell in my chest when I see the Union Jack flying over Buckingham Palace, when I see our soldiers marching immaculately in line at the trooping of the colo
Ur or a state event, or see an Olympian weeping as their nation's flag is held above them when their national anthem acknowledges their victory.
I also acknowledge that if my Pakisatan-born neighbour sees the white crescent on a green flag he feels the same. He can feel a warm reminder of where his ancestors are from that made him the man he is. We're both happy citizens of a country that allows us to celebrate our heritage.
I was touched to see Amir Khan (A devout Moslem with a broad Lancashire Accent) hold up his Athens Gold Medal draped in two flags that mean a lot to him; the Union Jack and the Pakistani Flag. A Great Englishman indeed.
But when I see the Union Jack waved by neo-*****, the bile rises in my throat, just as it does when I see the Palestinian Flag wrapped around Suicide Bombers, or the Stars'n'Stripes waved by pointy-hatted cross burners.
I hear Moe getting all misty-eyed and Viking about some scandinavian who uprooted a few generations back, Joph waxing lyrical about the former glories of Poland, and Flea'lo expounding the joys of Peruvian cuisine and culture. That's cool.
As Ian Anderson sang: "Everyone is from somewhere, Even if they've never been there". I know what he means.
But flag-waving jingoistic bastards who can justify torture, invasion and subjugation under the "my flag pwns your flag" rule make me wanna blow chunks.
Once again, you've missed the point entirely and proved yourself to be the Arsylum's Global Village Idiot.
Your *** is my plaything, simpleton!