My Take on Nationalism

In recent times, the feeling of one nation’s superiority over another has come to the forefront. The term given to such a concept is ‘NATIONALISM.’ This feeling has often had adverse effects in a broad sense. Nationalism has replaced Patriotism as the ideal up to which all governments strive. This however has not had much of a positive impact. Patriotism is often having respect for one’s own country and symbols whereas Nationalism is more to do with proving one country’s superiority over another viz. a method by which another country and it’s individuals are seen as inferior. This has led to a feeling of mutual hatred between countries and its inhabitants. It is important at this juncture to analyze what we have brought upon ourselves.
The whole concept of a nation and national boundaries is imaginary. Very often, in an attempt to simplify things we tend to give nomenclature to concepts that are beyond our perception. The concept of a Nation is one such concept. Physical landscapes know no boundaries, why then do we as a ‘superior race’ try to simplify things according to our convenience? This is one of the important questions that need to be addressed while dealing with the concept of Nationalism.
Nationalism has effects with far reaching consequences. Time and again, Nationalism raises its ugly head which usually results in violence of high proportions. The instances where Nationalism has propagated violence are numerous and the effects are there for everybody to see. If an ideal or concept generates violence, why then is it practiced at all?
Another major problem I see with Nationalism is that it causes loss of identity of an individual. In giving prominence to the country, the individual’s identity gets merged into the country’s identity. This is not a good thing as individuals are an integral part of society and their identity is as important as a country’s identity. Surprisingly however, not only does Nationalism create a loss of identity but also becomes the cause of identity crisis. Modern day Terrorism and Fundamentalism are living testimony to this. There is a fear amongst a group of people that their country’s culture is under threat and that they are the ‘chosen few’ who are to uphold the country’s traditions and its culture.
In a ‘developing’ country like India, it is tragic to see the extent up to which Nationalism is practiced. India still faces problems in feeding her entire population. At one end of the spectrum, there are people going hungry while on the other end, there is violence generated by people practicing their country’s superiority. In an attempt to colonize, prove our superiority and develop, we as a race have pressed the self-destruct button way too often. In today’s world, there is a rising feeling that the thing humanity values the least is human life itself. Sadly, all other things have been given higher priority. It is important for us to wake up as a race. The deep slumber we have been in has blinded us to our own atrocities. The time has come for us to swear our allegiance to the human race and develop characteristics of generosity and compassion towards one another. Else, the ‘supreme race’ would become the one that inhabited the planet for the least amount of time.
The latter part of the 20th century and early part of the 21st century are witnessing violence of high proportions. We live in fragile times. Bloodshed happens at the slightest of provocation and with the huge arsenal of weapons of mass destruction at our disposal, we are indeed plunging into disaster. The signs are ominous, but probably there still is a last ray of hope. Being a part of this bloodthirsty era, it would be safe to say that the quicker we let go of Nationalism, the better it is for us as a race. After all, Peace is not merely the absence of War.