What is nationalism? Its an idea that a 'nation', a piece of land with borders is controlled, and populated mostly by the people who share a historical and cultural relationship with the specific piece of land. It is designed to preserve and protect that land in the interests of its inhabitants, or the larger demographic at least. Thus the major segregation of people allows nations to have their own political sphere, own law, their own identity, a sense of identity and relationship with the land and fellow countrymen. Thats all fine and dandy if only it was that easy. The rise of nations mostly brought on by industrialisation and increased intercontinental trade which allowed the segregation of the world an easy platform through which nations could easily exploit their people and environment efficiently. Thus establishing speedy competition with neighboring nations or further abroad. Thats where it all went wrong. Its obvious that as nations formed and reformed geographically, different areas of the world (which today constitute nations) contained varying natural resources, their people varied in wealth as certain nations through historical conquests and endeavors had accumulated gold and valuables over time which hightened the overall wealth of the people. Populations varied in number as they do today, some areas had dense populations whilst some didn't, which impacted hugely upon a newly created nations ability to establish, sustain and develope further. The climate varies from land to land thus impacting on a nations capability to properly maintain its population. There were nations that were just achieving independence as a people, those such nations had people who were somewhat culturally of a different age and therefore had trouble competing with a far more modernised western world. Many other factors also led to further hardships for some countries. That huge inadequacy between different areas of the globe that geographically constituted the recently formed nations, had left masses of people suddenly disadvantaged and impoverished as their governments uprooted them from what was their peasant life, struggling with the establishment, modernisation and industrialisation needed to sustain their borders and thus retain the control of those borders.
This therefore allowed certain nations who were far better off initially than most other nations to exploit their position. To exploit their own people through far more advanced industrialisation in order to build a greater infrastructure economically, militarily, politically, educationally and socially thus embedding an image of their nation. An image of superiority was ingrained into the minds of its people. This mentality had over time become the backbone of many nations. It fueled and justified demonization, prejudice, hatred, racism, religious persecution and ultimately become the precursor to the two world wars, which claimed at least 90 million lives between the two wars. Such a mentality it was, that nationalists saw themselves better than anyone else, people thought of themselves as supreme culturally and racially, that they should control other people (nations), that your people should control more land thus taking other peoples land. The idea that other people are inferior even sub human was the direct evolution of the seemingly peaceful concept of nationalism. Thus it gave way to movements like fascism, nazism, islamo-fascism, zionism and many movements all which had the same aim and that was to control, enslave, imprison, suppress, plunder and kill people who don't make up their nationalist ideal of what was considered the acceptable normality, the building block of your nation and its notion of pride. The culmination of nationalism is thus unjustified war and imperialism. The need of a nation to forcibly assert its ideology, law and power onto an independent sovereign nation. This is exactly what the US is doing today. This is exactly what the Soviet culminated as under dictatorial control. This is exactly what the EU is aiming at today. It's more or less, peacefully or not, modern day conquest. Its empire building!
That is what nationalism ultimately stands for. It's a seemingly peaceful idea of cultural preservation that is bound for failure because of its very nature. This is a proven fact, it is not disputable! If you support this failed ideology then you ought to have a really good look at your values and re-evaluate your current morals. Don't confuse the separatist, racist and hateful ideology that nationalism stands for, with PATRIOTISM. They are two very different ideologies. Im a patriot, both Serbian Yugoslav and Australian. It means that i have a huge love and respect for my nations and their achievements. I support my nation's ways of life and peaceful values. I would gladly fight to protect either two of those nations. What i won't do is blindly and arrogantly support nor follow my nation if by any chance its the aggressor. I can also acknowledge if either one of my two nations are or were at fault in the past, and i would accept it and do my part, be it through protest or voting, to mend its mistakes. So if you are like me, then be very proud of yourself because despite the primitive idea of a 'nation', it's that land itself despite its leadership that you share a bond with. So if you vote for nationalism, or uphold its values, which is only a form of underdeveloped fascism, have a real good think about what it implies. Have a really good look at yourselves and ask yourself, maybe, just maybe you are further adding insult and pain to this planet and to your fellow man by supporting a movement which has claimed more lives over the last 100 years alone, than all the other wars in history of mankind combined had managed to achieve in our collective history. Be a Patriot not a fascist, brainwashed and hateful nationalist! The world has enough of those idiots! :D
