I'm briefly crawling out from under my heap of books to voice my opinion on this kneeling for the anthem controversy. I am South African, but have been subjected to endless discussion on this matter for days now.
Mentioning my nationality is the point. Being South African means I am not American, not Australian, not Chinese, not Italian...blah blah blah... However, I have opinions about much of what goes on in many countries. These kind of opinions can originate from two places. I could be noting how my otherness, all that differentiates me from, well, other countries. Or I could be empathising with our common human experience, no matter where a person is living their human experience.
I don't particularly have a problem with people choosing to kneel for a national anthem. I do have a problem with national anthems. National anthems, borders, wars, cultural diversity, racism create an us vs them mentality. We are all humans, and we are choosing to have these arbitrary definitions of nationality/difference imposed on us.
Maybe it is time to widen that focus lens.
@onetree
Well written. Yes we are one. I suppose there are some individuals that gain from the segregation. For instance in Nigeria where I am from, the political class like to make the people think that we are all different from one another and they divide the country along ethnic, political, and religious lines. This helps them to maintain control over the people. For instance, because the Muslim North has a greater population than other regions, all you need to win an election is to present the people with a Muslim from the Northern region and tell them that the other regions want to grab power to make you (the Northerners) suffer. They will vote the Muslim and it matters not how inexperienced, daft or incompetent he is, he wins and all is punished. If only the people knew that there is no other division in the country except the rich and the poor, they would make better decisions about the people they elect into office and that alone would be enough to bring about the much needed development and alleviation of poverty.
Thank you for sharing.
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There is one of the main problems of having government at all in a nutshell. It is astounding how we allow ourselves to be manipulated. Thank you for your insightful comment.
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Excellent comment. Where I live (the U.S.) people are more divided by polarizing politics than ever. You're right that the only division that really matters is between the elite and the common people that they exploit and try to keep at each other's throats. I'm glad to see other people all over the world see this political facade for what it is.
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There's a new idea for me
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That's another thing I like about steemit is there are people from all over the world from all walks of life who are mostly united in that we are tired of the overreach, manipulation, and abuse of power by our respective governments. Sure there's political differences here but I sure don't see the amount of ugliness here as I do on my facebook feed (I'm about ready to delete my account there).
Most people I've met here are already past identifying themselves by race or nationality and see the politicization of everything for what it is--a chance for the politicians to divide people over petty partisan politics. It's very refreshing to see that there are people who actually get it.
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It is refreshing! I only have about 50 friends and family on fb for the sole purpose of keeping in contact. (And for the cat videos....hahahahaha). But I get what you are saying. I don't mind having my views challenged, but I hate the ugliness that can come out.
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Great thoughts !
No boundaries ...No boarders earth is our home !!
I heard that Che Geuvara was one of the persons who spoken on " Boarder less world" and tried to fight for it !!
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Yes, well said @akkha the earth is home to ALL of us. Namaste
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Thank you so much @onetree !
Namaste !!
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This post received a 2.11% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @onetree! To learn more, check out @randowhale 101 - Everything You Need to Know!
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