“Nationalism is our form of incest, is our idolatry, is our insanity. ‘Patriotism’ is its cult.”
– Erich Fromm
“Nationalism is an infantile disease, the measles of humanity.”
– Einstein
People often confuse between patriotism and nationalism so let me start with describing how the two are different.
Patriotism is love for ones country, willingness to sacrifice for it but accepting that it has its faults,
Nationalism is the doctrine that your national culture and interests are superior to any other. It believes that the love of ones nation above everything, even our own humanity, above morality, and sometimes above common sense. Nationalism is often disguised as patriotism, or starts out as patriotism. But in reality it is the corruption of that pure word.
Nationalism is an evil. It causes wars, its roots lie in xenophobia and racism. Its a tool of the Fascists which clouds one’s judgment by masquerading its evil actions as ‘Patriotism’. It is the entity that justifies mass slaughter, genocide, violence and crimes against Humanity.
I do not get scared easily, but the word Nationalism and Regionalism sends out a shiver down my spine. If these Nationalistic/ Regionalistic are given a free hand, they will destroy the entire civilization (and maybe even the entire world). They will divide the nation into 26 different nations which will be fighting bloody and expensive battles against each other for generations to come.
This is how they will work:
1) They will make you feel proud about your culture, race, ancestors, history etc.
2) They will boost your self confidence by making you believe that your race is superior than anybody else.
3) They will define what being an Indian, Marathi, Kanatika or Tamil means.
Once they have achieved all the above 3 stages of mental conditioning, the Satan starts revealing itself.
4) They will make you perceive the entire world in black and white. You will see all actions/developments/events as Hindu/non-Hindu, Indian/non-Indian, pro/anti Marathi, Tamil, Telgu, Kanadada etc.
5) They start clouding your judgment. They will make you believe that your culture and identity is under threat. The unpatriotic are plotting and scheming against you. They will make you feel cornered, insecure and provoke you to fight for your existence. A common man that has never hurt even a fly in his life, will pick up arms and start killing/terrorizing all those whom he feels are different.
6) First it starts with isolated incidents, non-physical bouts, but soon the malaise will spread to the entire region. Mobs will roam freely on the streets and cull freely and mercilessly.
7) In this anarchy, the proponent of Nationalism/Regionalism would eliminate all opposition and systematically destroyed the Democracy.
8 ) Then the same person will come forward as a symbol of peace and try to show that he is trying to restore the law and order. In the process, he would come to power. (usually an authoritarian rule)
If you want to know what follows, read Mein Kampf.
Nationalism is an evil. It causes wars, its roots lie in xenophobia and racism. Its a tool of the Fascists which clouds one’s judgment by masquerading its evil actions as ‘Patriotism’, and spreading lies and propaganda. It is the entity that justifies mass slaughter, genocide, violence and crimes against Humanity.
Please don’t let the evil divide your country.
——
Also Read my previous article on Cluster of Enclaves.
12 replies on “Nationalism is Evil”
“The mob is the mother of tyrants”
To effective these guys need first need a bunch of people. This is easily done by being a good orator or by having deep pockets. (Most of idle people will immediately congregate, I believe) Once you a mob all you need to do is spread panic and rumor. The rest mob and media will take care.
It is wonder how people get carried away by these propaganda? What conditions do they really become dumb and loose their sanity?
Only way to prevent this from happening is having counter movement in available media. But who is going to do that?
//It is wonder how people get carried away by these propaganda? //
Read
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius_Gracchus
Gracchus Brothers were the first guys to use mob rule as an effective tool to a gain political powers.
about media esp yellow journalism….
they r the only ones in the world that make a profession out of dishonesty.
all things be equal there wont be nationalism
all people would be world citizens
u oversimplify things … these can be ideals but reality is something different
but mob rule starts when there is a sense of displeasure- a sense that u have been dealt unfairly … or u dont count..
why did hitler make it so big ? because germans thought that the war terms were unfair and they were …
the entire indian press is yellow some a tad bit less
//u oversimplify things//
i agree i am a very simple person….
i start with a simple idea… find flaws in it… then modify the theory to suit it accordingly…
yet complicated ideas like cosmos, religion, mythology etc r too complicated for my simple mind
//but mob rule starts when there is a sense of displeasure- a sense that u have been dealt unfairly … or u dont count..//
all i am saying is that if all of a sudden a common man starts committing heinous crimes against humanity, he is either under the influence of Satan or Nationalism.
//why did hitler make it so big ? because germans thought that the war terms were unfair and they were …//
i have read hitler’s writings.. and trust me they r scary…. i could relate a lot of his words to India and Hinduism… and if it could seduce a indian, then it could really play havoc with germans.
Personally, I don’t know if it’s been over simplified by Ankur or the reasons why people start committing heinous crimes. There are many reasons, politicians have their own axe to grind and every person in the mob have their own reasons.
Whatever the reasons, such crimes need to be dealt with firmly. The guilty need to be punished and examples need to be set. And our country needs to enforce laws strictly. Maybe I’m over simplifying things here 🙂
And as Ankur mentions in the post, I’m skeptical as to how long India will remain one country. Looking at what’s happening around us it wouldn’t be a surprise if we end up needing Visas to visit our relatives in the independent country of Tamil Nadu, or Maharashtra or Karnataka….
@roshan..
good to see u back 🙂
in india mob lynching is common because people know u cannot identify and arrest 40-50 .. and most perpetrators can escape by saying they were mere bystanders or they did it in the spur of the moment.
when indian states introduce a visa system, i wonder where would i belong to 🙁
Nice to be back…what was happening in Maharashtra forced me to write about it. I felt so strongly about it. I just might disappear again till something like this comes up again..just been a bit busy. 🙂
life is always busy, but one has to take some time out to pursue ur hobbies…
esp if its like urs… discussions on contempery topics
true, this is what happens when ‘zero’ political parties go on a publicity drive!!
There is a widely accepted reading of recent history which puts the blame for such disasters as World Wars I and II squarely on the shoulders of nationalism. This might be true and it might not. It is convenient for some because it removes blame from a certain murderous internationalist ideology, which famously ran aground some ten years ago. More importantly, it removes blame from the institution which made possible – or indeed demanded – world wars, mass murder of marked class or ethnic enemies, and so-called “totalitarianism.” That institution, as Martin van Creveld teaches us, is the modern, abstract, bureaucratic state. The modern state is implicated in many bloody social “experiments” of the 20th century, and not just world wars, which is one reason I allude to our late friends the Soviets.
The Soviets did most of their killing in times of international peace, as did the regime of Chairman Mao. Hence focussing on crimes of nationalism, or even fascism, leaves out fully half the important cases, as A. James Gregor said a couple of years ago. Nationalists have tried to use states, but states likewise used nationalists and their “ism,” and it seems likely that states got more out of the deal. Blaming nationalism for the 20th century seems a rather incomplete explanation.
//There is a widely accepted reading of recent history which puts the blame for such disasters as World Wars I and II squarely on the shoulders of nationalism.//
i would totally agree to that but would differ on the time lines.
Napoléon Bonaparte used Nationalism as a tool to find recruits for his wars. Before that soldiers fought only for loot/glory (a lot of people would differ on that though)… he found that by instilling a feeling of nationalism, the number of recruits increased many folds.
However the concept was still in its infancy. Bismarck who defined what German means and united them, never skirted with the idea of Nationalism. Even in the WW1, feeling of Nationalism was not widespread. For ages British and French felt they were the superior most race, but the feeling never made them forget Humanity (expect in the colonies, whose inhabitants were not considered as humans anyways)
However only during the Depression when the morale went low did nationalism started emerging… Not only in Germany, Japan but also in the rest of the developed Europe.
@Peter..
thanks for dropping by. You have some really wonderful inputs 🙂
//Martin van Creveld //
i love his analysis of wars…
esp when a very strong state fights a very weak one… the strong state will always lose.
//it removes blame from the institution which made possible //
i agree, but then i cannot agree that democracy is bad.. because nationalism is usually prevalent in lands where common man has large participation in the govt and policies (either in making it or implementing it and turning a bold vision into success.)
Soviets btw is a great example. It tried to impose russian culture, values and ideas into people who have nothing Russian about them. Hence the moment the democracy was introduced, the entire state crumbled. and the hostility was so much that a several armed intervention were required.
China surprisingly is not going down this path.. maybe because of the rapid growth is overshadowing all the faults… but a Chineese recession might really disturb the political peace of the area.