Patriotism necessitates seeing other nations as somehow less-than, it is an exclusionary and othering mindset that inevitably leads to bigotry. Borders are fake and shouldn’t be celebrated.
Regional pride isn’t as bad as long as there aren’t significant barriers for association. Loving a local food or art scene, or preferring a particular environment or set of social norms, is generally harmless but people still find ways to fight about it.
Sorry for clearing out my comments. It seems like a prudent thing to do.
I still think it’s probably a bad long term strategy to completely ignore it-- It’s a powerful tool that leverages seemingly innate weaknesses in people, and the left has ceded its use to the opposition.
Patriotism and nationalism haven’t always existed so they are not a law of nature.There needs to be new thinking done. People instinctively try to identify with a group or tribe. We aren’t getting rid of that.
Control it and then seek to morph it into something new and more positive. Or at least try to control it temporarily until it can be destroyed so it’s a less effective weapon for the baddies.
It’s the like the One Ring: it was kept away from the enemy so they could not abuse its power over man, but ultimately it was destroyed because it could never be wielded for good nor kept from the enemy forever.
Not trying to make light of it with the analogy, but we can’t always live in doom and gloom.
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Patriotism necessitates seeing other nations as somehow less-than, it is an exclusionary and othering mindset that inevitably leads to bigotry. Borders are fake and shouldn’t be celebrated.
Regional pride isn’t as bad as long as there aren’t significant barriers for association. Loving a local food or art scene, or preferring a particular environment or set of social norms, is generally harmless but people still find ways to fight about it.
Thanks for the discussion!
Sorry for clearing out my comments. It seems like a prudent thing to do.
I still think it’s probably a bad long term strategy to completely ignore it-- It’s a powerful tool that leverages seemingly innate weaknesses in people, and the left has ceded its use to the opposition.
Patriotism and nationalism haven’t always existed so they are not a law of nature.There needs to be new thinking done. People instinctively try to identify with a group or tribe. We aren’t getting rid of that.
Control it and then seek to morph it into something new and more positive. Or at least try to control it temporarily until it can be destroyed so it’s a less effective weapon for the baddies.
It’s the like the One Ring: it was kept away from the enemy so they could not abuse its power over man, but ultimately it was destroyed because it could never be wielded for good nor kept from the enemy forever.
Not trying to make light of it with the analogy, but we can’t always live in doom and gloom.