I Hate Monday

And you know what else I hate? Nationalism. I bet you do too. But If I use a related word and say I hate patriotism, I might have a few arguments on my hand. But in rebuttal I say this: nationalism and patriotism are among the most divisive and polarizing forces at work in the world. The same people who say we are all brothers and trumpet the family of all mankind will say that “our” country is the greatest, or that “we” live in the greatest country in the world. Meanwhile, the citizens of other countries are hearing and saying the same things. Patriotism, said George Bernard Shaw, is your conviction that your country is the greatest – because you were born there. Imagine that scenario being played out on your street: arguments breaking out over whose family is the best; simmering disagreements about who has the best yard, big fights about who has the nicest house. That’s all patriotism is, except on a bigger scale. As someone once said, “Patriotism is arbitrary veneration of real estate above principles.” So I don’t offer this video clip (pardon his French, by the way) as fuel for the flames of patriots, although many will take it for that. I offer it as food for thought that patriotism and nationalistic fervor is a divisive and destructive force. As Shaw also noted, “You will never have a quiet world until you knock the patriotism out of the human race.”