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.
Another End of the World is Possible 