There is what I consider to be a lot of circunstantial evidence pointing towards an actual lack of capability of the general masses in fully accepting and supporting the rather ambitious concept of sovereign nations that democratically elect their own representatives and cooperate both internally and externally to attain better living conditions (or, for those more right-wing oriented, better individual prosperity).
Witness, for instance, how casually we fell from the general international good will of the after wars to the current silent acceptance of the need to outright kill whole movements and at least arguably nations.
An example that I find most revealing is the current popularity of a fictional character, Stannis Baratheon of the "Game of Thrones" TV series and the books that spawned it. While he is presented considerably more sympathetically in the series, which deviates from the books perhaps most of all for Stannis, even there he is a self-proclaimed "true King of Westeros" that thinks nothing of resorting to betrayal of his word and religious terrorism in order to further his ambitions.
Yet, because many see his claims of true blood claim as well-supported (and it may well be, although the evidence is somewhere between fully circunstantial and impossible to fully establish), he is perceived by many as justified in his barbaric actions. The fans simply take his claim of being a rightful King at face value, apparently satisfied by the notion that he is the true heir according to the letter of the law, regardless of his actions.
A similar situation is from the very widespread general perception that war and the supposed "defense" of a "nation" (a very artificial concept at the best of times) justifies remorseless killing.
Such perceptions are very plainly incompatible with the idea that nations are supposed to have consideration for their own people and for those they deal with.
Maybe we are simply not collectively capable of sustaining the huge populations of today without feeling homicidal and suicidal itches and hoping for the destruction of our rivals, or failing that our own, in "glorious" battle, be it in person or by proxy.
There are those who proposed that we seek better ways - the Pakistan/India conflict that led to the separation and the efforts of Badshah Khan and Gandhi to avoid its full manifestation come to mind - but to this day people seem to stubbornly refuse to even understand their message, much less cooperate with it.
Thoughts?
Witness, for instance, how casually we fell from the general international good will of the after wars to the current silent acceptance of the need to outright kill whole movements and at least arguably nations.
An example that I find most revealing is the current popularity of a fictional character, Stannis Baratheon of the "Game of Thrones" TV series and the books that spawned it. While he is presented considerably more sympathetically in the series, which deviates from the books perhaps most of all for Stannis, even there he is a self-proclaimed "true King of Westeros" that thinks nothing of resorting to betrayal of his word and religious terrorism in order to further his ambitions.
Yet, because many see his claims of true blood claim as well-supported (and it may well be, although the evidence is somewhere between fully circunstantial and impossible to fully establish), he is perceived by many as justified in his barbaric actions. The fans simply take his claim of being a rightful King at face value, apparently satisfied by the notion that he is the true heir according to the letter of the law, regardless of his actions.
A similar situation is from the very widespread general perception that war and the supposed "defense" of a "nation" (a very artificial concept at the best of times) justifies remorseless killing.
Such perceptions are very plainly incompatible with the idea that nations are supposed to have consideration for their own people and for those they deal with.
Maybe we are simply not collectively capable of sustaining the huge populations of today without feeling homicidal and suicidal itches and hoping for the destruction of our rivals, or failing that our own, in "glorious" battle, be it in person or by proxy.
There are those who proposed that we seek better ways - the Pakistan/India conflict that led to the separation and the efforts of Badshah Khan and Gandhi to avoid its full manifestation come to mind - but to this day people seem to stubbornly refuse to even understand their message, much less cooperate with it.
Thoughts?
