"The Measles of Mankind"—10 Stand Out Quotes on Nationalism

[Scuba]

http://www.progressive.org/news/2016/03/182908/measles-mankind%E2%80%9410-stand-out-quotes-nationalism

"The Measles of Mankind"—10 Stand Out Quotes on Nationalism



Today's political discourse is afflicted with virulent strains of fear-mongering and isolationism. As an antidote, here are 10 quotes on nationalism from some of history's strong progressive voices.

1. "Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind."
—Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

4. "Imagine there's no countries. It isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for."
—John Lennon (1940-1980)

5. "The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren and to do good is my religion."
—Thomas Paine (1737-1809)

7. "So we draw lines around our property, our counties, our cities, our states, our countries. And, boy, do we act as if those lines are important. I mean, we go to war. We will kill and die to protect those boundaries. Nature couldn't give two hoots about our national boundaries."
—David Suzuki (1936-)

[Jackie Wilson Said]

1. Agree.

[Herman4747]

2. "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." -- Samuel Johnson

[bhikkhu]

3. I agree, and it is hard to reconcile some things

Most of the opposition to open trade seems to me based on nationalism, as the simple removal of protective laws can allow the products of poorer nations to compete with our rich nation. Is it more complicated, or is it the desire to maintain a very unlevel playing field? The desire to limit immigration also seems like nationalism, foreigners who would take "our" jobs, "us" being just the people who happen to be here, with US citizenship. Perhaps I wouldn't see it that way if I were directly affected, though I have been quite poor at times.

[ZombieHorde]

4. Kick. nt

[The2ndWheel]

5. Nature couldn't give two hoots how progressive anyone is either

Nature doesn't care if you kill anyone, or 100 people, or if you die, even if it's in the gutter. It doesn't care if you're good or bad, because concepts like good and bad don't mean anything outside of the human mind. It wouldn't even call nationalism infantile, or a disease. Nature doesn't care about human rights, or human progress, both of which are as real as national borders.