Demolishing the Nation-State

Hmm I haven't written anything since a long time
Well I thought i would make some use of my extended weekend

Elections are in full swing in India n we have all talks abt nationalism caste religion community blah blah.Sometimes I wonder why do we place religion n nation-state-both of which are man made institutions like the others, on a higher pedestal.

UN and other human rights agencies have rightly recognised discrimination based on race caste creed as a crime against humanity.However to even question the nation-state or religion is considered blasphemy.

I thought I would talk about nationalism which has been accorded a sense of legitimacy that is unparalleled in modern history
Isn't nationalism also to blame for many of the international problems plaguing us? Isnt it really the root cause of all military aggression that we see in the worldIsn't it absurd that you can't question the excesses committed by the nation-state 's legitimate aggressors- the miltary just because that would make you a traitor?
Aren't the the 2 world wars, nuclear weapons race, the cold war, the Indo-Pak standoff... all of them the bitter fruits of nationalisitc chauvinism?
n yet we have people demanding unswerving unflinching loyalty to the nation-state...

As Max Weber rightly said nation-state is a agency that monopolises the legitimate use of force. The definition lends itself to the fact that it is not a divine concept. It is a by-product of imperialism n colonialism. Sorry to say this but the concept of russia US or India did not exist 5 centuries ago. n frankly speaking all those lofty ideas of "it is not what the country has done for you but what you can do for the country"- I conside it a lot of crap
The origin and the legitimacy of the nation state lies in the social contract between the people n the state as espoused by Rousseau. If the nation-state fails to deliver then the individual has every right to disown it, terminate the contract.

Humans have always migrated in search of greener pastures. In fact isnt human civilsation's progress marked by periods of migration? Free movement of labour and goods was the norm until nationalism came along and now we are again trying to re-discover it through globalisation. For the same reasons I believe that every individual has the right to change one's nationality if that leads to better standards of living.

There is nothing remotely divine or absolute about any nation. No nation is superior or inferior. An individual's nationality is not something he or she chose but inherited through accident. In every nation right from childhood a systematic propoganda is unknowingly unleahed to make him / her have a dogmatic belief that he/she is part of the best nation-state, to make one look

The nation-state is presently one of the better systems of governance that we have at our disposal. Hence even if it is grudgingly one has to swear allegiance to a particular nation-state irrespective of whether its one's choice or not. However it is imperative we perpetually strive to find alternative means of governance. Change is eternal and it is absolutely essential that we do not lull ourselves into a false sense of belief that the nation-state is the best thing to happen to humankind. As Einstein rightly remarked "Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind."