(I have no idea if this belongs on this mb, MPSIMS was as close as I could come, maybe gd…)
Right now I’m at a multicultural event, 60 students from 16 different nations and every province of Canada. Each day we have speakers who come in and talk to the group on an issue. Today was nationalism and the world community.
Our speaker was a former judge who had a very evangilitical (sp? or is it even a word?) strategy to his speach. He had the group saying “hallelujah, I’m a(n) American or Canadian or etc…”
Everyone was very into it, jumping up and saying their nationality.
After we discussed our thoughts.
I said that right now, thanks to the events on September 11th, 2001 and the “I am American” kickass POV we took on, now someone from the middle east is looked at with grave suspision, someone who doesn’t look the same as the average american is looked at as “one of them”. Looked at as one of those terrorists, someone who must be eliminated, pushed out of society.
World War One was started much the same way, the powder keg was the intense nationalism people felt, if they’re not from our nation they suddenly become one of them. The alliance system the same way, “if you’re not with us, you’re against us.”
I say instead of “hallelujah!! I’m an American!!” we should be saying “hallelujah, I’m a member of the world.”