The Perplexing Conundrum of Nationalism

I am not anti-American.

This should be obvious, because I choose to live here. If I was anti-American, I could easily hop the border to Canada or Mexico and be on my merry way. I, however have chose to stay here.

What I am not is a patriot. I will not be waving a flag in a parade, nor leading the national anthem at a baseball game. I do not hate this country, but I do not love it either. I find the very prospect of patriotism absurd.

I live in the United States because, at the moment, it has the most freedoms and is safer than any other country in the world, along with being convenient in the terms of work and education. It has an agreeable population, and is a generally tolerant melting pot of different cultures. If work had greater benefits in Japan, I would move there, and likewise for England. This holds true for everyone: if you can get a better job somewhere else, then you will go there.

I do, however, become anti-American, especially when people use being American as an excuse to not think critically and become bigots. Fox News is a prime example of this, with reporters often commenting that if one does not like it here (read: if one does not like the white conservative Christian plan we have for the country), then they can leave. I have two problems with this: the first, is, of course, that the United States is first and foremost not a white conservative Christian country. It may be a country of white conservative Christians, but, to paraphrase Barack Obama, it is also a black country, an atheist country, and a liberal country. The founding fathers specifically wrote the Constitution to make sure of this.  

The second problem I have with this is that as humans, we are essentially identical. We may be the most complex primate in known existence along with the most complex animal, but we are all equally as good (or bad, as Frederick Nietzsche and several others, including myself, would argue). There is no evidence of a superior race, or gender, or nation. There is no reason to be proud of your nation when the people in it are the same as the people of the next country over, and the next one ad infinitum. The contents of the country are all the same; nationalism has no basis.

Nationalism is merely a tool to manipulate the masses and disguise corrupted values in politics. It is one big ego stroking that is unnecessary. Proud that your country is free and gives women the right to vote? Good for you, your country just got basic government right. It isn't something to be proud of. Pledging your allegiance to a country that gives you the right to go wherever you choose is as equally silly. You are right there in the country; why do you need to swear an oath against "Godless" Communism, something that you could choose if you wanted to, as you've been granted the right to choose, when you are standing in a country that isn't Communist? 


Ultimately, on one chooses the country of his or her birth, so it's foolish to be proud of it.