With today's (good) sensitivity to not letting ethnicity guide us to whether someone is a friend or an enemy, the rise of the nation state can seem like a bad i

With today's (good) sensitivity to not letting ethnicity guide us to whether someone is a friend or an enemy, the rise of the nation state can seem like a bad idea. However, it should also be kept in mind that prior to nation states emerging, ethnicities were combined in states through the force of Royal or Imperial power; Bourbons, Hohenzollerns, Angevins, Carolingians DnGAF what nations they were ruling over, just as many as possible; and often times there still were ethnicities with greater power at the center who simply wanted to take your mind off of that. then of course, prior to the age of empires, nations formed where there were geographical boudaries between them and their neighbors, and they did exist as nation-states. The modern rise of nation-states took place in the context of the downfall of nobility/aristocracy. Democracy and free speech do, by their nature, unlock the expression of vulgar passions.