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Nationalism is, indeed, a scam, but it has proven to be a remarkably successful and resilient one.
National identity is an artificial construct; no one is born with it, as it is not biologically
ingrained. As such, people are inculcated at an early age with the belief that they belong to a
distinct national group, with set characteristics, shared values and a unique past. There is nothing
actually wrong with this, except when one's national identity goes a step further and the group
starts to believe that their nation is superior to others.
Believing in this superiority and then being willing to wage war because of it is, indeed, a
terrible scam. Had the individual nationalists who bought into this actually taken the time to
explore cultures and peoples other than their own, they would surely have realized that there is
nothing inferior about them, and they would have also gained a better appreciation of the world's
diversity.
I would, however, point out that prior to the French Revolution, people in Europe did not fight in
wars out of a sense of nationalism. Europeans had no real sense of national identity back then.
Instead, they fought out of loyalty to their rulers. |
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All soldiers say in heated battle they don't fight for their country....they fight for their close
buddies they are fighting with. The real question is...why do they join the army to begin with? |
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Have to agree, when the chips are down it will always be my family. |
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Absolutely right. Families live longer then countries. |
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100 percent correct. Family first in my book. That's what lives forever. Not some country. |
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The topic of Iraq carries a lot of baggage and draw get the discussion away from the issue. Although
I really don't agree, I'll agree for the sake of argument that Iraq should never have happened, and
we should get out as quick as possible. With that agreed upon, are you saying that IF there were a
valid threat against your country, you would ignore it because your family is more important? |
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16 Jun 2008 00:33
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