Growing Wants And The Desire Of Power
What are the two reasons? As per me they are the insatiable and ever growing wants of the individual, and the exertion of national power. The wants of the individual. Human beings are selfish by nature, and deep-rooted patriotism only fuels that selfishness. What is patriotism? What do countries, chain-link fences as borders, and physical divides determine? Why are we so loyal to one place; one among 195 others just like it? What good has this place done for us, that we are willing to pledge our lives to it?
Patriotism is essentially a population only willing to only look after itself and no-one else; the conviction that only they matter and they are superior. exertion of national power? Patriotism is an important cause of interconnectedness (not the good kind) as a patriotic individual feels it is not only their need but their requirement to demonstrate their nations ability, power and dominance over everyone else. This demonstration is so deeply set in them that they stop for nothing on their course to alert every one of their nation’s brilliance.
Examples of this are littered throughout history; from British conquests to US involvement overseas, everyone seems to be driven by an insatiable desire for personal gain. This inset selfishness spreads to not only narcissism, but demand; an individual who believes themselves to be affiliated with a country wants not for the collective, but for the country or rather for the individual and their direct surroundings. Here comes slavery, exploitation, theft & fraud at international levels, and conquering of land among other crimes. The most fitting example of this criminal desire to occur after the slave trade is of course Germany during the second world war.
The obsession with the idea of ‘Germany the Aryan state’ became so great among its people that they refused to question the morality of their actions, or rather they dismissed it in the name of the motherland. They spread their system and their beliefs all round, and where they were not accepted they forced their way in. Patriotism and a belief in national superiority in this case led to genocide and the invasion of other countries purely because they spoke the same language. There are of course positive examples of demand as well; the silk trade, tea spreading and so on.
