On Nationalism

[More Fire for the People]

I am somewhat new to the area of writing but I have too many thoughts to let them just go to waste, so I wrote this bit. I am afraid it is not as in depth as I would like but that will just leave opportunity for more parts.


In the hearts of Americans, there is this deep-rooted sense of nationalism. Not the
form of nationalism we commonly see that espouses racism and inequality, but the
form of nationalism that gives the common man a sense of pride in oneself.

Pride is a term Americans are all too familiar with, even if not directly said, most
Americans take pride in their cars, houses, families, and other personal property.

Why is this of importance?

This is of importance because if we are to envision a socialist America, we must
envision an international collaboration of socialist countries.

Nationalism is in direct conflict with internationalism, a love for one’s nation-state
cannot be compatible with a love for one’s international brotherhood.

What are we to do with this sense of nationalism?

As socialist, it is our task to educate the working class in the fields of economics,
philosophy, and political science. In doing so, we must help the our fellow working
men realize that pride for one’s nation seems so little as compared to pride in one’s
fellow working men.

We must help the Southern man realize that his Spanish neighbor is not his enemy
but his closest friend. It is our task to promote racial interaction and peacefulness so
that together we share Language, Arts, and Culture while still marinating our cultural
identity.

We must help the Northern man to realize that the Southern man, while holding some
lack in education, is not to be belittled and to be considered a 'redneck' or 'hillbilly'
and that religion is something of personal matter to the Southern man that it is no
man’s right to control.

Together, as united Mexicans, Brazilians, Americans, Canadians, etc. we may
overcome class oppression and overthrow the ruling class through the best means
possible. We can become one culture of proletarian and maintain a multicultural
society.

We can channel our misplaced nationalism into a sense of internationalism and love
of our proletarian brothers worldwide.

[Brennus]

We must help the Northern man to realize that the Southern man, while holding some lack in education, is not to be belittled and to be considered a 'redneck' or 'hillbilly' and that religion is something of personal matter to the Southern man that it is no man’s right to control.


That's kind of offensive in a subtle way. :P I understand your message, though.

[Colombia]

Good point but it seems you are addressing more of the issue on race then on nationalism.

[aberos]

We must help the Northern man to realize that the Southern man, while holding some lack in education, is not to be belittled and to be considered a 'redneck' or 'hillbilly' and that religion is something of personal matter to the Southern man that it is no man’s right to control.

while i understand what you are trying to say here, as someone raised in the soul, i find it very offensive. you might as well say, "we must tell our fellow white men that although black people are annoying, we must put up with them for the common good." i do not mean to seem rude, but i recently moved to the north, and the completely unwarranted stereotype of the ignorant hick southerner is one that runs entirely too rampant because of the portrayal of southerners in american pop culture. please open your mind a little bit.

BUT, i do not mean to detract from your point because it is fairly well stated outside of that one aspect. i disagree with you in saying that nationalism detracts from socialism, however, because in a true state of socialism, communism, etc. we would be one people, one state. in that case, internationalism would be just another term for nationalism. it is just making people see the necessity of looking at the world rather than their backyards that we are charged with.

[More Fire for the People]

How would you recommend I alter it so that it does not sound as if I were saying tolerating them for the better good?

By the way, I'm from a rural town in Arkansas so I know all about the South (everything
ain't to whichadigga to ya'll)

[aberos]

if you are speaking from the perspective of a southerner, why would you subvert the intelligence of your region?

i am not quite sure i understand your question as to ammending your statement. if you mean to ask how could you present the need for brotherhood despite differences in a better light than calling southerners slow, then i think it is just a matter of not drawing upon generalizations in hopes that they might appeal to sections of people. i am by no means an experienced theologian, but i would try to make my arguements more toward simply embracing one another because of what we can, and should, accomplish if we simply see the socio-economic castes do nothing other than retard our progress as a society rather than appealing to people's imbedded prejudices. but it is much easier for me to detract from your work than it is to come up with one of my own, so my criticisms can only be valid to a point.

all in all, i thought your concept had great merit built on beautiful ideals and i commend you for it. i just disagree with the appeal to divisionism that i got out of it is all.

[More Fire for the People]

Because typically I am surrounded by those who are so rapped up in dogmatic thought that they even reject that all objects fall at a constant rate on Earth.

And typically for the area I live in (Northwest Arkansas), most people only form stances on two 'political issues': gay marriage and abortion.

[Karl Marx's Camel]

You're good at rhetoric. Nice one. :)

I think you would be good writing speeches.

I agree with Brennus.

[aberos]

it is amazing how heavily those two political issues weigh upon the christian world is it not? forget how millions of people are starving to death all over the globe, including in the us of a. forget the gross social inequality present in nearly all countries, states/provinces, territories, cities, towns, neighborhoods, streets and avenues based on anything from the amount of money in one's pocket to the color of the skin rubbing up against that pocket. forget the brutal regimes that mercilessly kill thousands, if not millions, upon thousands of their own people to only further secure the survival of their corrupt junta. forget all of this and so much more because what is most important here and now is that those damned homos cannot benefit from all of the legal loopholes present in marriage because the bible tells us so, and that a man has the right to tell a woman must be forced to give birth to whatever is growing inside of her no matter what the circumstances may be. but, hey, the united states has never really given too much care to the people within its borders, so why start now right?