LOVEthroughINTELLECT
The courage to be human
If one is comparing how he/she sees/experiences a nation-state to myth and legend then he/she is probably not going to respond positively.
But once a person discards myth and legend and accepts reality then he/she can appreciate a nation-state.
The problem is that too many U.S. citizens--the overwhelming majority, it seems--cling to myths and legends about the United States of America and will beat to a bloody pulp anybody who points out reality. You know, realities like how the indigenous peoples of what is now the U.S. were nearly all killed as the republic was founded and expanded--and how a strong case could be made that it was nothing short of genocide.
If a person looks at the U.S. holistically and objectively--not through the eyes of, say, a tourist--like a historian, anthropologist, geographer, etc. and still hates the United States of America then to be consistent he/she is going to have to hate all of civilization, if not all of humanity.
But I think that if a person is able to look at the U.S. holistically and objectively like a historian, anthropologist, geographer, etc. would then he/she should, rather than feeling hatred, see yet another chapter in the drama known as civilization and, like with any other chapter, come away wiser than he/she should could be if the chapter had never been written.
If the only response a person has is hatred then he/she is either not looking at things holistically and objectively or was not interested in gaining any wisdom from the interaction in the first place.
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