Humanity vs Patriotism
August 17, 2019
By NZB3
Where does an Anarchist place his allegiance? Does the nation come first or humanity?
Indian thinker Rabindranath Tagore made his choice. In a time of Indian Dignity Culture he was a celebrated figure but was left behind as the Moral Culture turned. His contemporary Mahatma Gandhi, master of Victimhood Culture, became the power and is the more famous man today.
“I will never allow patriotism to triumph over humanity as long as I live”- Tagore; Indian Express¹
Human conviction is being torn all sorts of different ways, lobbied by all the parts that make us up. Our DNA wants one thing from us, our reptilian brain another. Our cells demand one thing, our genes something else.
As an organism you want to be preserved but your species might want you dead for its ‘greater good’. Your tribe might ask you to kill members of your species, your memeplex may say to kill or stifle your own kin. Make a choice!
Being made up of every layer, from atoms to memes, the human is the most ambivalent object in all creation. We are constantly being called to serve this or that side to our nature and shun another. Here are some statements expressing a hierarchical preference…
“I will never let the species level triumph over the organelle level”
“I will never let the DNA molecular level triumph over the species level”“I will never allow patriotism to triumph over humanity” <- Tagore said this one
Individualism is the moral choice. Not to live for one’s DNA or one’s tribe or one’s nation but for one’s own chosen values. Let one’s tribe, country, body, species, etc. revolve around the locus of your spirit and be profited thereby. Be a virtuous individual and make the world a better place rather than choosing this or that collective group to be cannon fodder for.
So far as I’ve read, Tagore’s humanism was individualistic not collectivistic. He had to live through jingoistic/patriotic/Dignity Culture times that, while grating, would almost be a refreshing change for New Zealanders in 2019. All our collectivist oppression is r-selected and Politically Correct puritanism and Victimhood Culture these days; We can hardly remember what it’s like having K-selected jackboots bossing us around!
India knows, they’re ahead of New Zealand in the Moral Culture cycle. What would Tagore think about the nationalistic Goverment of India today? As of 2016 they require (as NZ once did) movie theatres to play the national anthem and the audience to stand on pain of arrest. Foreigners too. This is specifically to enforce “nationalism” and “patriotism.” India’s anthem is the one composed by Tagore himself.
Tagore would be very sad that what went around in his day has come around again. Also that this Honour Culture is leading to war as nationalistic India moves further into controlling Kashmir and antagonising their friends in the nuclear weapons club, Pakistan.
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1 Guess Indian Express are re-publishing this now in light of the Indian occupation of Kashmir. Subtle dissent
Ref. India’s risky Kashmir power grab, explained; The move is part of Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist project; Ward, Vox
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