First I think your article is well written and I agree with it. We are however also in an era where people make assumptions and plays upon the words you state. For even though you clearly stated and defined what you were calling nationalism and patriotism in the article, I have zero doubt some people would read your statements on nationalism and instead of listening to what you say they will say "See, Globalism is the way to go" which is not what you said, or implied anywhere in that article. Yet, I assure you it will happen. Words are so clear, especially when someone takes the time to identify/define them like you did. That does not stop a largely irrational world from ignoring parts of what people say and taking the definition they want and acting on it.
Yet, I suspect those people are not your primary audience. I suspect you were reaching out to those rational people that will listen to you and not then hijack your words to satisfy their preconceived bias.
I could be wrong, as I often am. ;)
There are a lot of different things going on in the world today. I believe you have described one of the conflicts.
There is also the conflict between those that treat feelings like proof that something is true, and those that require actual proof.
There are many things clashing.
I have never spoken to you before as I only found about you the other day I believe from @richq11 but I've written a number of anarchism/voluntaryism posts since I joined steemti. I too strive towards this...
I tend to approach it as a long term goal. I do not believe it will work in my generation, perhaps not even the next.
Freeing peoples minds, teaching them critical thinking, etc so they understand how to argue (the good kind) and view it as a good thing rather than a bad thing. Critical Thinking so they can notice when someone is using Appeal to Authority, Appeal to Tradition, False Dichotomy, Red Herring, Haste Generalization, Ad Hominems, etc against them. We get better at recognizing such things, and reducing our own use of them with practice. If we have those tools then the majority of the current media narrative quickly falls apart.
Yet I do think these tools are also critical to helping us be lead by reason based around facts as opposed to emotions and what "feels" right to us. I personally believe that the majority of the population would need these tools before anarchism could really work. Though that does not mean impossible. Quite the contrary. That gives a goal to strive towards.
Well put (as always). In the words of Rage Against The Machine: "It has to start somewhere...What better place than here...What better time than now?" We're here to plant the seeds. You're right, it won't happen in our lifetime (not mine for sure), but we can get things started. The more of us that write, the more that read. I've become optimistic about the Millennials... they're waking up. They're tired of the corruption and the status quo. They're looking for direction. The whole counter culture/collectivist movement began as an "underground" movement. It went on beneath the surface. I believe the Anarchist movement will happen the same way. Keep writing...the more of us that get the truth out there, the bigger the movement will become.
Yes, it just will take time and effort. The hard paths are generally more rewarding.
As to millenials. It is sad that their true education tends to begin when they realize they were not taught that much. They were not equipped with the tools education should have provided them. Once they realize this they often become excited and begin to learn at a rapid pace. The internet is an amazing tool for this. It goes far beyond simply having a library at our finger tips at any time. If people have the desire they can learn most things thanks to it. Though critical thinking is something that doesn't always come to mind. History, Psychology, Philosophy, etc are all great things. Science as well. Yet without an understanding of critical thinking it can prevent dialog and understanding. It also makes us susceptible to logical fallacies if we have not learned to identify the techniques.
This is why I speak about them often. That is me doing what I can. I am far from an expert on critical thinking and logical fallacies, but I get better the more I talk about them. I am more prone to notice when I've used one myself, so while trying to help others I am also helping myself.
One of the reasons that I homeschooled my 4 kids. My wife and I sacrificed a lot financially, she worked days and I taught at a community college at night. My boys were reading Plato and Aristotle at 12 and 14. Critical thought is the one gift that I gave my kids and have made sure that they pass it on to my 13 grandkids. Lamentably, the public education racket stifles thought...this is the biggest hurdle we must overcome.
I was surprised how little I actually was exposed to Critical Thinking and I graduated in 1989. In high school they barely touched upon it. I encountered it in two classes in College. TWO. These were classes easily avoided and most people do not take them.
The first was an Argument and Conflict Resolution class. It didn't focus on it a lot, but it did reference some of it.
However, there was a required Public Speaking and Critical Thinking class that a lot of people seemed to put off until their 4th year. I kept hearing people say "don't take professor Johnson", as he was an older guy and supposedly that class was one of the hardest in the entire curriculum if you took it from him.
I took that class, from him. It is perhaps the most valuable class in my entire college studies.
He was brutal in a very good way. I had two things when I left that class. Prior to that class I had a lot of problems with public speaking. I never really did have problems with speaking in public again after that.
The second value was the intense exposure to critical thinking in an extremely personal way.
We would not only give speeches in this class. While we gave them he would outline them on a blackboard. At the end if you used Haste Generalizations, or other logical fallacies to support your claims he would eviscerate you using that outline and explaining WHY it was a fallacy in front of the entire class. I had this done to me, but not too bad, but I also witnessed it done to others many times.
The best way I can describe it is mentally we are taught that our tools are memorization and rocks. If you want to hammer something together pick up rocks. If you want to hammer something apart hammer it with rocks, or perhaps be advanced and use a stick and a rock to form a lever.
His class was like suddenly learning about hammers, prybars, pullies, saws, etc. We are as a society largely not being given the tools that are perhaps some of the most important tools we can have.
I do think that is largely deliberate. It is easier to control, and divide people who do not know how to use these tools. Propaganda that is lies does not work too well on people that have these tools.
So if your goal is to control the population, then this is one set of tools it is advantageous to limit exposure to.
Hitler said: "Give me control of a nation's youth and I'll own the nation." (Or something to that effect) I had a similar experience in college with Dr. Stengren who taught The History of Philosophy. On the first day of class he said "If anybody tells me how they feel, they fail the class. I'm interested only in what you think." He wound up being my favorite professor. His son was the one who told me to avoid his classes!