#nationalism

Respectable opinion would never consider an assessment of the Reagan Doctrine or earlier exercises in terms of their actual human costs, and could not comprehend that such an assessment—which would yield a monstrous toll if accurately conducted on a global scale—might perhaps be a proper task in the United States. At the same level of integrity, disciplined Soviet intellectuals are horrified over real or alleged American crimes, but perceive their own only as benevolent intent gone awry, or errors of an earlier day, now overcome; the comparison is inexact and unfair, since Soviet intellectuals can plead fear as an excuse for their services to state violence. ↗

— Noam Chomsky

#consensus #fear #hypocrisy #intellectuals #international-law

What do you want with these special Jewish pains? I feel as close to the wretched victims of the rubber plantations in Putamayo and the blacks of Africa with whose bodies the Europeans play ball… I have no special corner in my heart for the ghetto: I am at home in the entire world, where there are clouds and birds and human tears. ↗

— Rosa Luxemburg

#africans #antisemitism #compassion #empathy #europeans

Mental illness is so much more complicated than any pill that any mortal could invent ↗

— Elizabeth Wurtzel

#nationalism

Everything's plastic, we're all going to die sooner or later, so what does it matter. ↗

— Elizabeth Wurtzel

#prozac-nation #nationalism

In my case, I was not frightened in the least bit at the thought that I might live because I was certain, quite certain, that I was already dead. ↗

— Elizabeth Wurtzel

#nationalism

But you know as well as I, patriotism is a word; and one that generally comes to mean either my country, right or wrong, which is infamous, or my country is always right, which is imbecile. ↗

— Patrick O'Brian

#maturin #nationalism #nationality #patriotism #stephen-maturin

A second characteristic of our time is the prevalence of nationalism. This is still spreading, affecting new communities, more peripheral regions and so-called backward peoples. ↗

— Emily Greene Balch

#backward #characteristic #communities #more #nationalism

The papacy again, representing the traditional unity of European civilization, has also shown itself unable to limit effectively the push of nationalism. ↗

— Irving Babbitt

#also #civilization #effectively #european #itself

The great European dream was to diminish militant nationalism. We would all be happy Europeans together. But we are going to see the old monster of militant nationalism being awoken when people realise how little control their politicians have. ↗

— Antony Beevor

#being #control #diminish #dream #european

In the First World War, there was the sudden passion of nationalism, and the killing took place because of these emotions. But the Soviet case is different, because you had systematic murder, like the Holocaust. ↗

— Ryszard Kapuscinski

#case #different #emotions #first #first world