Do you believe nationalism to be a mental illness?

Not based on statistical evidence. Just prejudices and eventually, one of the worlds primary causes for war..

Capitalism is also a "mental illness"...

Or the modern representative Republic which manages to make all political relations "free" and subject to "the people", while simultaneously exempting all economic relations from politics as simply private matters...

It's all kinda related.

Nationalism is completely nuts, but it ain't "personal". It is done to people; not by them.

The conviction that people "make" their own "systems" - now that IS a mental illness.

sense. One is better off if one can be proud of their home, community, school, and nation.

But there is also a pathology of faux nationalism that can be harnessed similar to religion to steer common people against their own best interests. War is a waste of resources and lives. Most lose and a minority benefits. Nationalism linked with military or religion out of proportion is dangerous.

A patriot can be proud of their country, without reference to other countries; a nationalist by definition must view other countries as inferior. Nationalism is always bad.

Not quite as silly as the "the mentally ill are all Republican" meme that's been floating around DU lately, at least.

vote no.

I voted "no" because I believe a mental illness is, as Wiki helpfully defines, a condition causing "distress or disability that is not expected as part of normal development or culture." Nationalism is an often harmful cultural phenomenon. Why is it "vile" to believe nationalism is cultural and not the result of chemical imbalance, brain injury, or developmental trauma?

God, I hate the tendency of so many people around here to use mental illness merely as a political slur.

emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups.


To believe in that you have to be totally fucked in your brain.

or do you think it's a spontaneously-arising result of chemical imbalance, neural development, or traumatic brain injury? If it's the latter, wouldn't it imply that nationalism should be roughly equal among all populations--from Swedes to Americans? And how would that account for nations and periods with extraordinary levels of nationalism, like China during the Cultural Revolution, or Great Britain during the Victorian era?

If it's the former, then how on Earth can you justify calling it a "mental illness?" Do you know what a mental illness is? Are you just using words because they sound cool?

Schopenhauer

A sentiment I fully agree with.

Personally, I have complaints about the Olympics because it encourages nationalism, and nationalism is a very close cousin to racism.

These "Rah Rah Rah USA #1" types are so proud that they happened to emerge from their mother's birth canal in this country due to random circumstance. It was nothing they did -- they were born here. Big deal.

And what is nationalism saying? Our country is so much better than other countries? Well, we are far down on many lists of qualities that make a country a desirable place to live. Plus, what is the point of competition with other countries?

Additionally, blind nationalism/patriotism seem to prevent people from admitting things need changing and working towards those goals.

I like to think of myself as a resident of the planet first and foremost.

As with the recent Hiney Flu semi-panic, their stocks would go through the roof.

What would the nationalism suppressant be called? Wraptinaflagagin?

:rofl:

otherwise you probably would find a new place to live.

Blind love though where you see no room for improvement is wrong and stupid plus disasterous for a country that you say you love.

Feeling a sense of pride over anything is natural, but it can be taken to an unhealthy level for some.

I suppose one could say that pretty much anything taken to an extreme could be considered a mental illness... or perhaps a symptom of one.

:hide:

Nationalism is perfectly normal since we evolved to work in and identify with groups. So nationalism is a natural expression of that. That doesn't make it a good idea, but it is a part of our nature.

In fact, the whole 'us vs them' dichotomy is innate to our behavior. You can even see it in the title of this thread seperating the normal, healthy, smart 'us' into the stupid, irrational 'mentally ill'. Which is offensive, but what can you do, its human nature. I believe a psychological study in the 60s on group dynamics found that people associated pariah traits with people they didn't like. You can find out alot about what a culture values by what insults they use.

The concept that people in our nation are worth more than people in other nations is destructive.

a human dysfunction. I'm not going to categorize it as "mental illness."