Nationalism, and how it affects us as citizens

The term Nationalism has many flavors, from the fanatacism of those who served Germany's Third Reich, to the child waving a small version of "Old Glory" at a Fourth of July parade. Like those in service to Hitler, there comes a point when Nationalism rings with "My Country, right or wrong!" This can actually be detrimental to the national health of the country, as the people lose any sense of objectivity and allow those in leadership to take them in directions that are diametrically opposed to the rest of humanity.

They place the well being of their country's citizens above the well being of all others, human or otherwise, and in fact, are in danger of treating others as non-human, especially if there is a campaign afloat that lends to that type of behavior, as exhibit the Hitlerian treatment of Jewish, gay, the mentally disturbed and all others who did not fit into the Reichsfurer's definition of the Übermensch, of "superman". His treatment of the Jews was purely vile, and must be presumed to have been out of a deep seated jealousy toward intellect and business acumen.

This particular phenomenon also has some balances on the other side of the fence, so to speak. Remember I mentioned the child waving the flag at the parade. Nationalism can lead to a simple pride in the accomplishments of one's fellow citizens, as in the return of the soldiers after WWII when the job of liberating Europe from the bonds of Hitler's horrors had been completed. Our entry into that conflagration had been necessary, as Hitler was in danger of overrunning all of Europe and Asia, then turning around and coming after us.

However, remember that whenever one comes to the "rescue" of another, there are dynamics at play in the human psyche that, though difficult to understand, do indeed play an important role. The phenomenon to which I refer is the Trauma Drama Triangle. The example given at the link is of children in day school, yet this particular perpective is valid in translation from children to nations. If one considers the consequences carefully of such a drama, it is not difficult to understand then, why the US became the "bad guy" in the minds of many Europeans. And, considering the way our Government went about "fixing" so much in the affected nations of Europe, while yet unable to satisfy the needs of those countries, we bacame the "Ugly American", and our citizens, not understanding why they were held in such contempt, began to act out in similar fashion.

Of course, there is no easy way to break that cycle, and it cannot be argued that Europe would have gotten out from under Hitler without much suffering, so to say the US should not have gone to the rescue is much too simplistic an answer. However, had we had a better handle on the dynamics involved, it is possible our leaders might have handled the aftermath somewhat better. Who knows, there are so many things that were not understood, and so many things we have yet to understand about the human mind, we might still make such mistakes in the future. I truly hope not.

Su