Ernest Renan, once famously said, " A nation-state is not composed of a single homogeneous ethnic group (a community), but of a variety of individuals willing to live together." True to his words, France has always been accepting of people of any racial background as long as they agree to naturalize. Even during the colonial period, The people belonging to France's colonies in Africa were considered Frenchmen by the law. This concept, although seemingly ubiquitous today, was crucial and novel at a time when in many countries, citizenship was limited by race/descent. For instance, in USA, which is today cited as a foremost example of a multi-cultural society, full citizenship was limited to "free-white-people", until the third decade of the 20th century.
Although the concept of believing in the superiority of one's race is quite an inherent human trait, the appalling notion that racial make-up has anything to do with one's ability to blend into a society is condemnable. Although, human society as undergone a lot of "progress', one still can see instances of such behaviour. In today's society, although blatant displays of racism have been curbed, one still sees outbursts of xenophobia, hostility and contempt towards people belonging to minority sects. At this juncture, i cannot help but point out that the very feeling patriotism is a highly overrated and romanticized delusion. Drawing the line between patriotism and jingoism is something men throughout history have never been successful at perfecting.
The ideal notion that a nation is but an economic, political and administrative division, i feel, will be more easily achievable in a multi-cultural society. Although arguments exist that, a nation sharing a strong sense of cultural unity and pride would be desirable, I strongly feel that this is root cause of all the atrocities one commits in the name of one's country. Following this train of thought, here is a noteworthy anecdote: When the well-renown J.R.R.Tolkien was to visit Nazi-Germany for a book-reading, he was sent a letter by the Chancellor, Adolf Hitler, asking if he was of "Aryan" lineage. Tolkien's hard-hitting response, pointing out that "aryan" refers only to the speakers of the Indo-Iranian family of languages, never made it to the hands of the notorious dictator. After all these years, one can but muse over how far human society has actually come from such days. Opinions would definitely be varied. (At this point, i couldn't help but suppress a snide lop-sided smile)
Although the concept of believing in the superiority of one's race is quite an inherent human trait, the appalling notion that racial make-up has anything to do with one's ability to blend into a society is condemnable. Although, human society as undergone a lot of "progress', one still can see instances of such behaviour. In today's society, although blatant displays of racism have been curbed, one still sees outbursts of xenophobia, hostility and contempt towards people belonging to minority sects. At this juncture, i cannot help but point out that the very feeling patriotism is a highly overrated and romanticized delusion. Drawing the line between patriotism and jingoism is something men throughout history have never been successful at perfecting.
The ideal notion that a nation is but an economic, political and administrative division, i feel, will be more easily achievable in a multi-cultural society. Although arguments exist that, a nation sharing a strong sense of cultural unity and pride would be desirable, I strongly feel that this is root cause of all the atrocities one commits in the name of one's country. Following this train of thought, here is a noteworthy anecdote: When the well-renown J.R.R.Tolkien was to visit Nazi-Germany for a book-reading, he was sent a letter by the Chancellor, Adolf Hitler, asking if he was of "Aryan" lineage. Tolkien's hard-hitting response, pointing out that "aryan" refers only to the speakers of the Indo-Iranian family of languages, never made it to the hands of the notorious dictator. After all these years, one can but muse over how far human society has actually come from such days. Opinions would definitely be varied. (At this point, i couldn't help but suppress a snide lop-sided smile)
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