The Tricky Subject of Nationalism

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The first six weeks of the semester have revealed plenty of new perspectives and various different subjects. Notable subjects that have been covered include: Ethnicity, Nation, and Religion. I’ve found these to carry the most interest and have the largest synergy of the topics presented. Ethnicity was the first big idea the class discussed. It was an especially fortunate topic for myself, as I had just recently completed an Anthropology course which has helped define my thoughts the subject matter. Ethnicity is often used to organize and label other people. Other people. These labels help categorize others. It emphasizes the differences in people. It’s been used for many sordid actions such as social classes based on race, also known as “ethno classes”. These “ethno classes” cause unsavory discrimination amongst that aren’t based on merit, but rather are based appearance. The use of ethnicity to label others creates an “us vs them” mentality. This mentality can lead to justification for many cruel, discriminatory actions. This is not to say that ethnicity doesn’t ...

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