Nationalism of the dangerous kind | as easy as ABC

“If today, I stand here as a revolutionary, it is as a revolutionary against the Revolution.”

If you can be emotionally impacted by this moving quote, or feel it could be a strong source of inspiration, you may get chills if you learn that this is a quote from Adolf Hitler. He and his holocaust resulted to the slaughter of millions of Jews in a fashion unused even in the slaughter of fowl for food. He justified purging as an act of the most extreme form of nationalism called Nazism, the ideology that convinced many Germans in WWII era that they belong to the superior race. They believed that Germany’s economic crisis was caused by the Jews, a race they considered inferior even to other German-loathed races, and hence a race that must be eliminated as non-humans.

Why should we harp on Nazism when it will not be tolerated by any country today, especially when as an ideology it is passé- or is it totally?

When majority of the British people voted for Brexit, the real story is what went on during the campaign – the unmasking of sentiments, biases, insecurities, and a false sense of pride from a people of a prime first world country. Factual or not, leaders of the Leave went live, saying UK is the best country in the world and that London is the best city in the world, then they said immigrants would not be as welcome. They said immigrants would just be additional mouths to feed and thy would make the British people poorer (of course poorest in UK could be the richest compared to elsewhere in the world).

They did not say the vote was against race, and I believe it was not, but some small groups made unabashed parades displaying their Nazi tattoos and that for them, Leave actually was about race. What more proof is needed than the sudden change of fortunes and treatment of migrants already in the UK, now planning to return to their home countries after the Leave vote?

There is one thing the British people said loudly and clearly: British first. The vote was presented as a nationalistic agenda, and all economic impact, in Britain, in the EU or elsewhere in the world take a back seat. Nationalism anyway is quite moving, taking control is a salivating idea, not worrying about new immigrants is quite liberating. Never mind that the United Nations, of which the United Kingdom is a principal member, needs more active programs to help refugees and that the international organization stands on the bedrock of caring for humanity regardless of country.

Is it unfair to expect UK to carry some of the world’s load on the idea that to whom more is given, more is expected? Truly, it is a revelation that in a first world country, in the best city of the world, the debate never once discussed whether or not to leave was the most human thing to do. The Remain crusaders presented their case centering on the belief that staying is better for Britain economically, but even that is overpowered by the vote that emotionally says more clearly – British first.

North Korea is no comparison. It is a military state whose leader expressly idolizes Hitler, but its idea of nationalism is also in preserving national identity by not corrupting that identity with international elements. It fears diversity, and it enforces peaceable rule by ensuring an organic closed community.

Russia flaunts as one of its key achievements the annexation of Crimea, a legitimate territory of Ukraine. Putin’s government, always with a strong nationalistic fervor, annexed Crimea because allegedly, it was the best way to protect the Russians living there, never mind that Crimea is home as well to an ethnically rich and highly diversified population and that Russia suffers because of this with economic sanctions not only from the US, but even from its neighbor EU countries.

The vote to leave the EU to preserve Britain’s territory from immigrants and refugees, to be honest, is understandable. Terrorism brings self-preservation instincts in any human. How we need more of Oscar Schindler today. This human being who rescued 1,200 Jews said, “I hated the brutality, the sadism, and the insanity of Nazism. I just couldn’t stand by and see people destroyed. I did what I could, what I had to do, what my conscience told me I must do. That’s all there is to it. Really, nothing more.”

I want to believe there will be no global trend on unwholesome nationalisms. May God forbid the US to follow suit via Donald Trump. To be a “revolutionary” against the ongoing revolution of cultural diversity in a smaller world will not keep anyone safe and better economically. A spin-off from Gandhi’s idea- that countries must rise, so that everybody can rise – tells us of the only type of nationalism that can work for mankind and that can stand for all time.

It is a Sunday and we deserve reprieve from heavy issues, so let me part with lyrics from a musical hero, who said for us things we need to dream of today:

“Imagine there’s no countries; it isn’t hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too

Imagine all the people, living life in peace...

And the world will live as one”