Whether nationalism can be harnessed positively to address the mass immigration problem in Europe depends on the nature of the already thin premise of nationalism.Ethnic nationalism, like any identity tribalism, is treacherous.Class or populist nationalism is no different.The only type of nationalism that can be positive is a multicultural community partisanship or solidarity nationalism.People can bond through shared experience and common struggle in common space, even if they are different ethnicities, religions and any other arbitrary identity grouping.
In diverse cities in the US one could go to a bar or a carnival and witness the multicultural American nationalism at peak cohesion. Parts of New Jersey or Florida where there are Jews, Christians, Muslims, atheists, blacks, whites, Asians, Latinos and communities of eastern European and Mediterranean immigrants come together rather easily.The American immigrant communities retained their cultural identities to a certain extent but assimilated more and more with each generation.
Europe has sold themselves on the idea of a European version of the American melting pot as if it were a 'cash and carry' policy to be applied at will.The cosmopolitan aesthetic and multicultural make up of the United States was achieved over two centuries, but it hasn't been smooth sailing by any means. Assassinations have been commonplace and polarization ebbs and flows from one period of tumult to the next. We had a civil war over slavery and there have been many smaller bloody conflicts in nearly every region.These events gradually fade from memory due to the unique character of the American ideal and immigrants the American dream attracts.
America is a nation unlike most others because it is based on not just ideals but radical enlightenment ideals specifically, rather than most other nations based on kinship.Solidarity nationalism has survived in this country due to the optimism and spirit of immigrants and natural born alike, but it cannot be maintained if there is mass immigration, and segregated tribal ghettos.When disparate cultures who think with their blood or superstitionIf you consider old world wounds from the last century, to say nothing of the preceding 20, the only way other countries can achieve civic cohesion is slowly and with emphasis on soft indoctrination.I'd love to see dependency states in Europe and elsewhere achieve American type cohesion and better, but the rush job to attract immigrants just wasn't done wisely at all.
People from all over the world wanted to come to America because it is the only nation in which one can become not just a citizen but an actual American.If I moved to France or Vietnam I could become a citizen but I'd never become French or Vietnamese.There were unique circumstances that made this possible.It is worth mentioning also that the waves of immigration to the United states came from European countries and colonies with similar cultural DNA and the combination of deliberate propaganda and word of mouth made this egalitarian new world a destination for people who were seeking the solidarity nationalism experience of the American dream.
The "universal eligibility to be noble" still attracts new and future Americans, but Europe was simply in too big a hurry to attract sinew and didn't do the necessary ideological propaganda to westernize the newcomers.Though it has been relaunched in recent years, it was a mistake to shut down radio free Europe/radio liberty after the fall of the Soviet Union.The cold war ended, but the campaign to advance universal civil rights and human solidarity should have been pushed harder not withdrawn.We are in for one bloody hell of a century.
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