If I were ever going to write a post that would pretty much ensure I never receive the nod to run for President, this would be it.
I think Nationalism is dumb. There, I said it. I’m not talking about rooting for your favorite athlete in the Olympics; I’m talking about the belief that America and Americans in general are a superior breed of human than non-Americans.
This doesn’t mean that I am an anti-American fanatic. In fact, it’s just the opposite – I love America and I live here by choice. While I won’t go as far as the wicked media and tell you that America is the greatest country ever (how would one even begin to quantify such a statement?!), I will admit it’s a pretty sweet place to live, work, and raise a family.
(Clip from ‘The Newsroom’)
That said, the idea that an American is somehow inherently better than anyone else on Earth is ludicrous. It’s bordering on Nazism to think that one group of people is better than another, just because of how they look or where they hail from. Yet this constant talk of how great America is can’t help but instill an undeserved sense of entitlement to most Americans.
So how do we fix this? It certainly won’t be easy considering the USA has been self-proclaiming its greatness since the aftermath of WWI. The first step is for other educated, logical thinkers to renounce any notions that Americans are superior to people from other Nations. There are over 6 billion people on Earth and each one is born the same. Once we start to recognize this, we can begin working toward worldwide unity and acceptance, which will ultimately lead to world peace and a truly utopian society. Such an idealistic dream surely cannot be achieved with 300 million people claiming, for no reason other than regurgitating media garbage, that they are better than everyone else on the planet.
Discover more from logical thinking in an illogical world
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Good post, Nick. The comment I want to make is that maybe we’re not saying we (Americans) are better than anyone else, but we sure do live in a much better place, considering we can vote, have clean running water, most of us have enough food, etc., etc., etc., America sure isn’t perfect, we most certainly have our faults, but I still wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. This comment is pretty simplistic, so I hope you know what I’m trying to say.
LikeLike
I hear ya. But plenty of nations have those things: the right to vote, clean water, food, etc… but we are the only ones who self-proclaim superiority, no?
LikeLike
Ya, maybe, I see what you’re saying and that is wrong. I can’t get past my perspective which is that I’m not better than anyone else & I try to remember that nobody else is better than me…richer, smarter, luckier, for sure “maybe”, but not better because yes, we are all in this together.
LikeLike
A very old Kannada poet from India says, “Manukulam onde kulam, amnu kulam”
Humanity is the only Nation and Love is the only religion. In this light If we look at history, Nationality and Allegiance to a “land” has caused massive destruction. I feel it is to be shunned and we must focus on more important issues like Poverty and Health.
LikeLike
Most people in my neighborhood don’t believe that the U.S. is the greatest country ever. Exceptionalism is from my perspective actually really overblown.
LikeLike