nationalism and tragedy


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Posted by harsh at isu224064.ilstu.edu on September 19, 2001 at 17:15:26:

kevin and others,

this is my first time posting. really, i thought i'd never post anything on here, because i just enjoy reading. however, your comments at the end of your most recent post on the tragedy bothered me. i thought that i was watching the bill fucking o'reilly show. your nationalist rhetoric is very troubling. i'm fine with being american, but not necessarily proud (see historical examples of where our government takes innocent lives for granted). i'm more proud to be a human. pledge my allegiance to the flag. you realize that i then pledge my allegiance to george w. i refuse to pledge allegiance to a government that is illegtimate and acts in the name of the few rather than the many (yeah, that's a sweeping generalization, but it can be backed up).

while i can appreciate the unity that nationalism can produce in order to help others in a time of need, i'm also very wary of the nationalism that leads 70% of the nation to support militant action, even if it kills other innocent humans (recent gallop poll). one only needs to look at the shit that those who are or are perceived as arab are getting to see the pitfalls of nationalism. the fact that any of are american is arbitrary; we did not choose this. the nationalism that you feel is socially constructed. i'm not jaded. i see much hope for humanity, and i hope that all humans can respond nonviolently to such crimes against humanity. i urge all people to consider that military action will lead to more innocent deaths (which is why we're upset in the first place, right?). i hope this post is constructive. i don't mean to shut off dialogue on such an important issue, but sometimes my words don't express such wishes. thanks for reading.



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