I know people don't care about my opinion but I share it anyway. What's an opinion that you keep a secret?
Nationalism is fed to us just like religion and caste feelings. We are made to feel superior. We connect to the symbols, audio visuals etc and get a sense of belonging. We believe ours is the best culture. And the spirit (emotion) is invoked each time those power centers need our support for justifying their actions.
Long thing short, nobody really has time for religion and nationalism. We all are running without any guidance, to achieve things and status we don't really need.
And the most important part is that those corporate houses and political parties know how to arouse such emotions. It's not new.
If you read "Julius Ceasor", you know the power of speech over masses. The very people wanting to rebel were convinced that Ceasor was killed for good.
I don't feel nationalist or patriot anymore. I feel it is just a gimmick to suppress the general public. Why on earth are they forcing nationality? I understand anti tobacco adverts in a multiplex but what is the need for national anthem in theaters? Tomorrow they'll go play the national anthem in some ICU and will kill the patients who couldn't stand up owing to their illness.
Where is that nationalism when calamities occur? A popular leader said it was not the first time children died in August. If you know kids are more vulnerable in rainy season, why didn't you make sure systems were in place? Why do we have floods every year? Where does all that planning and development go? Under water. Why? Because we are interested in relief packages rather than focusing on precautions.
We'll sell dried up flood plains to builders, earn from that. And then when water reclaims its space, we are more than happy to announce huge relief packages so that we get a cut out of that every year.
Are there no permanent solutions like interlinking rivers, backwaters, and keeping flood plains out of habitation? There are many ways. And many schemes approved too - on paper.
I now understand this system. They keep you engaged in pseudo nationalism and religion while making hay for themselves all the time.
Sorry if I said anything wrong or hurtful. It's not against you or anyone else. It's against the whole system, be it India, Saudi, or the US. All of them use same tactics.
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AK