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I am living in Germany. Most people I know are very happy to live and/or have German citizenship. Most people I know here do care for the collective, want to im
by 488643689 6y ago
I am living in Germany. Most people I know are very happy to live and/or have German citizenship. Most people I know here do care for the collective, want to improve things (or rather fantasize about it). Why do you need to dumb this down into nationalism/patriotism, inviting all the hostility towards others as it always has?
Germany is rich and shares the wealth quite a bit with its people, the amount of suffering and existential threat is low compared to most other countries. For some people the lack of purpose, selfefficacy and the overwhelming complexity of the modern world is becoming a problem... Maybe we do need some national identity to fill that gap. Maybe around the Grundgesetz and solidarity. Either way patriotism/nationalism doesn't help there since, the "WhatsApp" idiots are happening everywhere.
- badrabbit 6y agoSorry, I forgot some people see nationalism as a bad thing. Why would you be offended by that. I would be very proud of my country if I was german.Like you said you care for the collective as a nation. In the US most people care for their "tribe" at most when they see themselves as a collective. I was contrasting with that, I know that even with immigrants Germany is very open but expects them to assimilate and become proper German. In the US whatever your native culture is you bring it with you and to the most part that's it, we don't even have a national language or ID. Again, I think my wording has caused a misunderstanding and I do apologize. Also,I don't know what the "whatsapp" people are.
- 488643689 6y agoMost people I know see nationality as the low hanging fruit of identities. You did nothing, no achievement, no struggle, you feast on other people's work. As I said people here tend to be grateful to be born or at least live in such a rich and somewhat sane country. I may be proud of actions done by the larger collective, but "being proud of the nation"... Does this include all the wars, weapon exports, economic extortions, environmental crimes, racism, ... ? Nationalism is blind on one eye and flirts with exclusion with the other. It's the feeling of agency for those fearing complexity and diversity. Europe also is different than the US in terms of borders: they changed all the time. They are obviously artificial constructs. I asked you what good does nationalism serve? Don't you see the inherent danger at all? In Germany all the right wing/covid19 conspiracy/... Bullshit is spread in WhatsApp groups. I think it's more important than Facebook for spreading "hate over facts".