Nationality Vs Humanity

Photo by Tim Marshall on Unsplash   

    I don't exactly remember but I might have written something about this topic before. This is something I always struggle with. For most of you, this might not be a thing to ponder. However, I find it quite unconvincing. Well, I'm referring to our feeling towards nationality. It might seem quite obvious to you that you should be proud of your nationality. And maybe it's reasonable to an extent. However, I always contemplate why our identity is so much tied to nationality. We have other identities as well, but we don't tend to be liberal about while talking about those sides of us. On the contrary, nationality is something we tend to take very seriously when it comes to the matter of identity. I wonder why we tend to be that way.

    There are white people. And there are black people too. There are people from African descent. And there are Asian people too. Many people follow caste system. Many of us belong to certain ethnic groups. Some of us have our own indigenous culture. Some of you might be following Christianity, and some of you are Buddhists. And the thing I have noticed about these identities is that people are flexible to talk about whether to stick to these different identities or not. In fact, if we emphasize certain aspects of such identities, we end up being called racists. But nationality seems to be completely different from all aforementioned identities. It's a matter of pride and dignity to many of us.

    I assume that developed countries are relatively different from the least developed countries, since they have cosmopolitan cities where we can find immigrants from dozens of countries. In most of the developing countries, nationality is a big thing. Not a lot of foreigners apply for citizenship in these countries, because of which people from only certain communities are the actual citizens. In such a scenario, you can treat a tourist with great respect as guests but not as your fellow citizen. Maybe because of this situation, we develop a very close and emotional connection with our compatriots but not with the foreign people. However, my concern is about the modern concept of nation. The emotion connected to nationality is so deep and strong that we are always reluctant to separate ourselves from this identity. I wonder if it was the same from our ancestors.

    I have already mentioned that we have many different identities - religion, race, caste, ethnicity, etc. However, these identities aren't as strong as the identity of nationality. I have read, heard and seen that people fight against each other in the name of religion, race and ethnicity, they are discouraged, criticized and condemned by scholars, celebrities, political and religious leaders, human right activists and general public. On the contrary, when it comes to national interest, the scenario changes completely. You tend to support your country regardless of who is right and true. There are chances that your government could be bullying the government of a smaller country, trying to establish influence and control over them. But it won't matter to you much, since you belong to your country, and you are not supposed to show any sympathy for the people of another country. So, although I find it obvious, it somewhat sounds not so convincing to me. You might be justifying your hatred towards your neighbours, failing to recognize the fact that it's the same biased feeling of pride towards one's own nation that is making you hate each other without being rational.

    Nationality is in such a priority that I feel we are not interested in humanity anymore. You could be a doctor whose responsibility is to save anyone's life regardless of their nationality; you could be a teacher who must share knowledge and wisdom to anyone without thinking which country your students are coming from; you could be a comedian who has the responsibility of making everyone happy regardless of your audience's identity. However, when your nationality overpowers humanity in you, the scenario can be completely different. You might let someone die just because s/he is not from your country; you might deprive someone from being educated  because s/he doesn't belong to your country; and you might end up making someone cry, assuming that someone not from your country doesn't deserves being happy. 

    There's nothing wrong in being happy and proud of your country. But the way we have glorified nationalism is something I immensely fear. Don't you think that deep-rooted nationalism could be fatal to humanity?