Confused Sense of Nationalism
As I have progressed throughout this class, there have been so many things that I have learned that I know I wouldn't have learned if I had never taken the class. My mind has been completely expanded from what it previously was. I can relate this to the meaning that I personally took from Neruda's poem. The message that I took is partly one of a journey of realization, one that takes a person away from their daily life, a life that is arguably full of a lot of ignorance. This can be related to how I feel about this class, because it has taken me out of my previous mindset and put me into one that is completely different - one that is more aware of the reality of things, rather than just the reality I am fed during my day to day life. This expansion of knowledge has also created a confusing clash of ideas and feelings within myself, and that has to do with my sense of nationalism.
I didn't grow up in a particularly patriotic or nationalistic household, but throughout the K-12 education that we receive, we are told only of the good that our nation does (which to be fair, makes sense, at least for people of a young age), which creates a sense of nationalism because we are never shown anything bad about the United States as a nation. This is something that I had unknowingly carried throughout my life and into college. This class, however, has completely changed my perspective. For once, we are learning that the United States isn't the "humanitarian hero" that they portray themselves to be. We are learning that the United States put themselves in places that they arguably had no right to be, and only to protect their own interests, both economically and politically. We have learned about it happening in countries ranging from Cuba to Chile, and that is something that I would never have learned had I not taken this class. Learning this has gotten me riled up and has made me question my sense of nationalism. So have the issues plaguing today's society in the United States, like gun control issues. It makes me feel like the United States is the bad guy, and question how I could stand by a nation that is hypocritical and stands by their values only superficially. I get so riled up by this but then I think of how blessed I am to live in a society where I'm not desensitized to a military presence (like it happened in Chile), or where I can enjoy a leisure activity like going to a sporting event. I feel so blessed yet blindsided at the same time. I was wondering, do you guys feel this same confused sense of nationalism? Not that it is necessarily a bad thing, but it is just prevalent in my life. Are we just at that confused age where we haven't made sense of all our values and sorted through the facts, or do you think this is something that other Americans feel?
I didn't grow up in a particularly patriotic or nationalistic household, but throughout the K-12 education that we receive, we are told only of the good that our nation does (which to be fair, makes sense, at least for people of a young age), which creates a sense of nationalism because we are never shown anything bad about the United States as a nation. This is something that I had unknowingly carried throughout my life and into college. This class, however, has completely changed my perspective. For once, we are learning that the United States isn't the "humanitarian hero" that they portray themselves to be. We are learning that the United States put themselves in places that they arguably had no right to be, and only to protect their own interests, both economically and politically. We have learned about it happening in countries ranging from Cuba to Chile, and that is something that I would never have learned had I not taken this class. Learning this has gotten me riled up and has made me question my sense of nationalism. So have the issues plaguing today's society in the United States, like gun control issues. It makes me feel like the United States is the bad guy, and question how I could stand by a nation that is hypocritical and stands by their values only superficially. I get so riled up by this but then I think of how blessed I am to live in a society where I'm not desensitized to a military presence (like it happened in Chile), or where I can enjoy a leisure activity like going to a sporting event. I feel so blessed yet blindsided at the same time. I was wondering, do you guys feel this same confused sense of nationalism? Not that it is necessarily a bad thing, but it is just prevalent in my life. Are we just at that confused age where we haven't made sense of all our values and sorted through the facts, or do you think this is something that other Americans feel?
Emily, I think that this is something that many students feel when they begin to learn about the real history of the US. For me this was a little different since I was born into a strong nationalistic Mexican family. Once I began to learn about the mess that Mexican politics were I began to feel disappointed in my country and my nationalism died a little. I then shifted my attention so my new home and country. I can't really say that my nationalism grew a lot for the US since I had a different perspective of it. I realized this was not what I was taught in Mexico or what my parents taught. So whenever I took a history class I began to take in everything with questions in my mind. As this class has progressed I can't help but question why history is taught to us using secrets and false claims. It has kinda led me to believe that we as American have a false since of what the US really does. We're proud because we are taught to be. For example, we are back to back world war champs! How many other countries have that? Yet when it comes to hearing about all the things we've done in our history were taken back. We're surprised because we have taught that the US is a model nation and that although it is so young it has accomplished so much. As students I think that we should be taught our true history. We should be allowed to learn about over international involvements and our bombing of countries like in Chile. Although ignorance is bliss, it leads us to false perceptions of our reality.
ReplyDeleteHey Emily!
ReplyDeleteThis is a late comment because I forgot to comment last week :).But when I read this blog post I was very impressed and could also relate to the things you were saying! I too did not grow up in a particularly patriotic or nationalistic household, but in school I was taught similarly: The United States was the most powerful nation that had done so many great things, and we were taught to be proud of what it did for the world. I now know that it would better be said the United States fought for its own intentions while saying to fight "for" the world. And just like you, its hard for me to find a balance because its easy to forget the horrible things we did and only remember the good things, and vice versa. What I feel is my responsibility now is to not to think of The United States as better than other countries--not at all. We messed up too, but we are too good at hiding it. People have told me I've become more cynical about the United States, but I tell them I've just become more realistic about our country rather than idealizing it. Because what's better: learning from our mistakes and using our voice to address issues (like gun control) or just living in an idealistic bubble? Ignorance might have been bliss, but now we now. And maybe now, we can be the generation that changes this?
Becky :)