A note on nationalism

Posted byJohn HalsteadPosted inUncategorized

Excerpted from “On nationalism: a response to Paul Kingsnorth”

Editor’s note: I recently discussed Kingnorth’s Brexit essay here. The response to Kingsnorth by J Levy nailed it IMO.

… You say “National cultures grow and form over time. They are distinct and real. England is different to Scotland is different to France is different to Syria because of history, place and practice”

What an incredibly reductionist way of looking at culture. …

Conflating culture with national identity is not only lazy but also dangerous. It creates a romanticism, a longing for something that never was and distracts us from creating something now, something real. England is just a flag, a national anthem, a geographical reference point, a trope, an arbitrary boundary drawn, as every other nation state is, in blood.

Romanticism is dangerous… blood and soil. Remember? …

Anyways, just to reiterate we won’t defeat neoliberalism with nationalism or isolationalism.

Published by John Halstead

John Halstead is the author of *Another End of the World is Possible*, in which he explores what it would really mean for our relationship with the natural world if we were to admit that we are doomed. John is a native of the southern Laurentian bioregion and lives in Northwest Indiana, near Chicago. He is a co-founder of 350 Indiana-Calumet, which worked to organize resistance to the fossil fuel industry in the Region. John was the principal facilitator of “A Pagan Community Statement on the Environment.” He strives to live up to the challenge posed by the Statement through his writing and activism. John has written for numerous online platforms, including Patheos, Huffington Post, PrayWithYourFeet.org, and Gods & Radicals. He is Editor-at-Large of HumanisticPaganism.com. John also facilitates climate grief support groups climate grief support groups affiliated with the Good Grief Network.

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