I am a
nationalist. More specifically, when people ask about my ideology I
tell them I’m a national conservative – as the name implies, a combination of
nationalism and conservatism. I’ve written several articles on immigration, on
the failures of free movement in the EU, and on the threat of federalization.
However recently it occurred to me that I've never written an article outlining exactly why I am a nationalist.
That’s what
I intend to do in this article. Hence, without further ado: This is why I am a nationalist.
Because nation-states are not artificial.
This is a
favourite claim of the radical, multiculturalist left: That nations only exist
in the head, that they are “illusions”, and that borders are artificial limits
on human freedom.
I will
concede that nations exist in the heads of the people living in that nation.
However, I fail to see how this makes nations as a concept something worthy of
ridicule. After all, love only exists in the head – love, when you break it
down, is just a chemical reaction in the brain. It’s a feeling. Does that make
love “artificial”? Does that mean that we shouldn’t respect romantic
relationships, since the bound between the couple only exists “in their heads”
(they’re not conjoined twins after all)? Of course not!
And just
like you cannot suddenly decide to love another person than the one you
currently love, I cannot decide to not be Swedish or feel a different national
identity than the Swedish identity. I cannot suddenly decide to feel that I
have just as much in common with people from Bulgaria or Spain as I do with
fellow Swedes, just like I cannot suddenly decide to fall in love with someone.
That is not to say that national identity cannot change (assimilation is
perfectly possible), only that trying to force (as the EU is doing) people to
feel like they have an identity (a super-national European identity) that they
don’t have is as futile and harmful as a parent trying to force their child to
fall in love with the suitor the parent prefers.
Because without nation-states, worse types of
division will occur
It is
impossible to understand this point without examples, so let me give you one:
Northern Ireland.
What was (still
is, to a lesser extent) the problem with Northern Ireland? Some may say that it’s
religious division – a protestant majority but with a significant catholic
minority. However, that doesn’t really answer the question as there are several
countries with similar demographics (Germany for example is majority protestant
but with a significant catholic minority).
No, what
sets Northern Ireland apart is the lack of a common national identity. There is
no such as “Northern Irish”. There are Irish, and there are Brits, but there is
no such thing as “Northern Irish” (other than on paper).
When people
lack a common national identity, they turn to other things to identify
themselves instead. Globalists pretend like the alternative to nationalism is a
universal embrace of diversity, but both history and current events show that
this is not the case: Where there is no nationalism, people instead define
themselves based on tribal and, in the case of Northern Ireland (and many other
regions), sectarian lines. There is no such thing as “Northern Irish”,
therefore instead of being “northern Irish”, the people in the six counties
that formed Northern Ireland became Protestants and Catholics instead. While in
Germany, while there are millions of Catholics and millions of Protestants,
they are all German first and foremost. That’s the beauty of a functioning
nation-state: Whatever our differences, we all unite under one banner.
Northern
Ireland is an artificial construction that never should have existed in my
opinion, an early example of how de-colonialism can misfire. Real,
non-artificial nation-states don’t struggle with the problems that Northern
Ireland struggle with, because they are based on history and on a common heritage.
Every artificial nation-state – or super-state that attempts to act as a
nation-state (see; European Union) – will however run into these sorts of
problems.
Northern
Ireland is far from the only example. When Africa was divided up between
different colonial powers, no consideration was given to the cultural and
ethnic differences between different regions in Africa, and so when the
colonies later gained their independence, we ended up with a bunch of countries
full of people who have no sense of national identity. No-one identifies as “Somali”
– they identify as whatever tribe they happen to belong to. Same goes for most
countries on that continent.
Why is that
a problem? It shouldn’t have to be spelt out, but here it is: National identity
is why we sacrifice for one another. A man from Stockholm is willing to pay
taxes to provide welfare for an unemployed man in Gothenburg, because
Gothenburg is part of Sweden. In fact, a man from Stockholm would be willing to
throw on a uniform and fight to death to defend Gothenburg’s right to freedom. Because
Gothenburg is part of Sweden, and when you’re in the same country, that’s just
what you do – you stick together and you leave no one left behind. Our
Stockholmer however would not be willing to pay taxes to provide welfare for
someone living in Berlin, or fight for the freedom of some guy in Athens,
because those are different nations. When you lack national identity, you also
lack the necessary incentive to sacrifice. And mutual sacrifice is what keeps
nation-states, and in the end civilization itself, together.
Also, on a
smaller note, we should remember that nations have the structures necessary to
deal with conflicts peacefully, for example through ambassadors and diplomats.
Religious denominations and tribes however generally do not, which is why
conflicts on that level are so much more prone to lead to violence.
Now, you
may be wondering: Why can’t we just learn to “connect” with everyone the same?
Why can’t this guy in Stockholm learn to give his life for the guy in Athens?
Now to be fair, there are two countries which have learned to do that, though
usually without receiving much in terms of gratitude (hint; both their names
start with United). But even those countries would ever treat non-citizens the
exact same as citizens. Essentially, European federalism is neo-marxist in its
approach to human psychology: Humans are to be redesigned. Marx wanted to
redesign humans not to be greedy so that his socialist system could work
(because basic human instincts and flaws cause it to unravel), and communist
states set up massive “re-education camps” for this purpose. Federalists want
to redesign human beings into no longer connecting more with some people than
with others, because that’s what it takes for their vision of a Europe united
as one super-state to work. What they both have in common is that both of them
come up with a vision first, and then try to change humans to fit into that
vision. And that, dear reader is why no true conservative can support the
European Union: Our ideology by its very definition is realistic, anti-utopian,
and cannot accept such redesigning. Politicians should study human nature and
build a society based on that nature. If reality does not agree with your map,
you change the map.
Because
nation-states are the only thing standing between us and tyranny
That
statement must come off as somewhat hyperbolical, but please let me explain.
Most of the world today is pretty horrible, in particular for women. It’s easy
to forget, but there are places in the world where feminists are (legitimately)
concerned with real problems like women not being able to vote, being denied
education, being denied the right to drive etcetera and not first-world
problems like man-spreading.
If we were
to hold a global referendum on women’s rights – well, a series of referendums
as it would have to be – women would lose most of them. A majority of the earth’s
population disagree with equal pay for equal work. A majority of the earth’s population
believe that women go out at night have themselves to blame if they get raped.
A majority of the earth’s population believe that men should be prioritized
when it comes to being given higher (or even basic) education. A majority of
the earth’s population believe that a woman who has pre-marital sex dishonors
her family, but does not believe that a man doing the same thing is just as
serious.
So how come
women have any rights at all? How come the women where I live – in the Republic
of Ireland – get to pursue a higher education? I see hundreds of them on campus
every day. The simple answer is that Ireland is a nation-state, with borders.
And what that means is that it doesn’t matter that there are only 4.5 million
Irish and that there are tens of millions of people in the Middle east who
would disagree with the rights granted to my Irish female friends, because these
people in the middle east don’t get to vote, because they are not citizens,
because that’s how nation-states work. Therefore, even though we the people in
what can rightfully be called the civilized, free part of the world are a
minority as a proportion of the world’s total population, our rights are
secure.
That is,
unless we allow tens of millions of people from the Middle east to come here…
Because immigration can change a nation, even
without immigrants overtaking the majority
Immigration
changes nations. That is something everyone can agree on when we study history –
the US today would not be the same without the Irish immigration wave during
the 19th century (no Kennedy presidency for starters). Strangely
however, multiculturalists and federalists like to deny that this still holds
true today.
By studying
the culture of a certain ethnic group, we can more or less predict what will
happen if this group were to immigrate to another country: A mass immigration
of Italians to Finland may cause the Finns to put down the vodka and learn to
appreciate some nice wines. If there were to be a mass immigration of French to
England, the English may learn how to cook. And if there were to be a mass
immigration of Swedes to Ireland, the Irish may finally learn how to win the
Eurovision.
The
cultural changes in the US that came with the mass immigration of Irish men and
women in the 19th century were not unpredictable: The immigrants
came from a catholic country that celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day and had a fondness
for Guinness, so naturally the countries they immigrated to became more
catholic, adopted Saint paddy’s day, and saw an increased consumption of beer
so bitter I can’t believe anyone drinks it voluntarily.
None of those
changes were harmful, but it’s easy to see how they could have been, had the
Irish brought with them a fundamentally different belief system with no regard
for many of the rights that we call human rights. And that brings us to today’s
immigration from countries the likes of Syria, Iraq, Libya and so on. What will
these immigrants bring to the table? Probably some delightful Middle Eastern
& north African cuisine I’m sure, but what else?
How about
wife-beating, honor killings, female genital mutilation and just theocracy in
general? As much as we may sympathize with the refugees from those parts of the
world, all those things are just as deeply ingrained in their cultures as Guinness
& Saint Paddy’s Day was in the culture of the Irish immigrants who fled
during the Famine.
But then
you might say; so what? They’ll never be a majority anyway; we’ll always be in
charge. And it’s not like they’ll be able to convince us to start acting like
they do. And while it’s true that Europe is nowhere even remotely close to
being majority Muslim, again we only need to have a cursory look at history to
realize that immigrants don’t have to outnumber the original population to
change the host nation’s culture: To go back to my previous example with Irish
immigration to America, we note that millions of non-Irish Americans today
drink Irish beer, whiskey, and celebrate Saint Patrick’s day. Yes, overall, the
Irish became a lot more American than the Americans became Irish, but the
immigration of Irish to America undeniably added an Irish flavor to the
American melting pot and brought Boston closer to Dublin. The question is; do we
want Dublin, Stockholm and London to be closer to Mecka? Do we want our cultures
to move closer, value-wise, to the cultures of the Middle East? If not, we
should be wary of welcoming large numbers of immigrants from those cultures,
and even more wary of policies that encourage them to preserve their cultural
heritage rather than assimilate. This will undoubtedly pull society as a whole in
the direction of theocracy and totalitarian rule.
I believe
that moving even one inch closer to the theocratic ideals of the Muslim world
would be a tragedy. I believe the only way we can avoid this is by assimilating
the immigrants who come to our countries; and the only way we can realistically
assimilate them is if we don’t allow too many of them to enter in the first
place.
I believe
we in the West ought to celebrate our cultures, defend our nation-states, take
pride in our heritage and history, protect our borders and preserve our
traditions. That is how I define nationalism, and that is why I am a nationalist.
John Gustavsson
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Great read John. It's obvious to me that the EU is engaged in Immigration run amok. It's America in 10 years if we don't smarten-up.
ReplyDeleteBegin with a marxist vision, then attempt to change human beings to be a figment of the Leftists' imagination. This is progressively stupid and just old fashion monarchy.
ReplyDeleteNice case built here for nationalism, but Ireland is the way it is for good reason. If you're a Protestant in England and you prefer to not be beheaded by catholic fascists then this 'artificial' Ireland makes perfect sense.
There are certainly some similarities between the way the left approaches illegal immigrants in the US and the way the European left approaches immigration to the EU in general. The motivation is clear: Votes. Muslims are as prone to vote left in Europe as Afro-Americans and latinos are in the US.
ReplyDeleteWhat's harder to explain is that most of the European right supports mass immigration as well, but what I've realized is that to the right, immigration provides a source of non-unionized labour which is hard to come by in western Europe. So, one side gets votes, the other gets workers. And the working class ends up paying the price.
Anonymous, I can see the justification for the partition, the big problem is that NI ended up being much bigger than it should have been - encompassing several Catholic, nationalist strongholds such as Armagh, instead of just the staunch loyalist areas. Basically, britain tried to hold onto as much as possible, instead of being pragmatic. Lots of problems could have been avoided had NI only been smaller.
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