The Cheapest Sort of Pride Is National Pride
By Sumit Paul, New Age
Islam
16 August
2024
“The cheapest sort of
pride is national pride; for if a man is proud of his own nation, it argues
that he has no qualities of his own of which he can be proud; otherwise he
would not have recourse to those which he shares with so many millions of his
fellowmen. The man who is endowed with important personal qualities will be
only too ready to see clearly in what respects his own nation falls short,
since their failings will be constantly before his eyes. But every miserable
fool who has nothing at all of which he can be proud adopts, as a last
resource, pride in the nation to which he belongs; he is ready and glad to
defend all its faults and follies tooth and nail, thus reimbursing himself for
his own inferiority.”
― Arthur Schopenhauer
Though it
may sound outright blasphemous to those who wallow in the toxicity of
nationalism and swim in the muddy waters of patriotism, there's no denying the
fact that the cheapest sort of pride is national pride.
Love for
one's own country is okay. It's natural. But it often limits us and puts
barriers on the spirit of universalism or internationalism.
In my brief piece, 'Is Freedom a Numen? [H1] ' in The Economic Times (August 15),
I've argued that freedom is much more than a mere word or an idea. It's an
individual spirit (numen) that snowballs into a universal spirit (numina).
A free and
evolved mind rises above all petty isms and doctrines. It doesn't belong to a
specific place, province or country. It belongs to the whole universe. Even the
world is not enough for an all-encompassing and loving mind. "Ye Duniya Kitni Chhoti Hai Iss
Kaainaat Ke Aage/ Phir Bhi Ye Zid Ke Ye Mera Mulk, Mera Sooba Hai "
(The world is so small when pitted against the universe/ Yet, we insist that
it's my country and my province).
Why should
one be so proud of one's country? Have you chosen it? Have you earned it? It's
an accident of birth like your caste and creed. You condition yourself to love
a country you were born in.
You would
have been a Pakistani if you were born in Pakistan, a country routinely
condemned by the 'patriots' and nationalists in India. The same can be said
about an average Pakistani who curses India with every morsel and every breath.
A free
individual, unfettered by all these shackles and manacles, will love all people
of all hues and from all countries. Such an emacipated person will never
confine himself / herself to a particular nation and notion. "Main Tamaam Rishton Ko Ghar Pe Chhod Aaya
Tha/ Phir Us Ke Baad Mujhe Koi Ajnabi Na Mila" (I left all my
connections back home/ After that I never found anyone as a stranger). Hatred
and Otherness are often the by-products of nationalism. "Zindagi Saari Jis Ki Guzri Ho Qaid Mein/ Unsiyat Ho Jaati Hai Use
Qaid Khane Se (Who spent his entire life in a prison/ Eventually falls in
love with it- jail). Come out of this stifling prison, called nationalism, and
embrace the whole world and all people.
------
A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in
comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed
articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including
Persian.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/cheapest-pride-national-pride/d/132949
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