<html>
At 03:32 AM 6/4/2002 +0000, jks wrote:<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>But it is lovely, this land of
ours, from California to the New York island. Anyway, I am not saying
that you _should_ love it: there are </blockquote><br><br>
I beg to differ. The suburban wasteland that extends beyond the
"New York Island" is hideously ugly - aesthetically and
socially - low density sprawl littered with advertisements and tackiness,
divided by endless highways, littered with junk, and populated by
gun-toting, SUV-driving rednecks. Yuk!<br><br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>I'd never be English. I'm American,
and that comes with a huge and complex freight, much of it awful, some of
it wonderful, all of </blockquote><br><br>
What does it mean to be an American, or more generally, a national of a
country? Michael Perleman says that such identity is only
meaningful in the context of exclusion "us versus them."
I think that while this is essentially true, there is also another
dimension to it - reduction of transaction/interaction costs. It is
very difficult to interact with other human being without knowing the
language, customs and expectations of your interlocutors.
Finding that out constitutes a potential heavy "transaction
cost" of every interaction. However, this cost can be
dramatically reduced when you and your interlocutors develop a set of
shared symbols, expectations, and interpretations of empirical facts
(which sociologists call the "stock knowledge"), which are
taken for granted in everyday interaction.<br><br>
The shared stock knowledge and the positive feedback it creates for
everyday interaction is the main advantage of "being a
national." That is why most people feel closer to their own
country than to any other country (even if the other country nationals
speak the same language). However, once you master another
country's stock knowledge to a reasonable degree you can feel at home
these just as in your native country. This way, you can feel a
national of any country of your choice - if you have a desire and ability
to learn new things, of course. Take that from a perpetual <i>homo
peregrinus</i> :).<br><br>
PS. It is not coincidence that nationalism tends to be espoused by lazy
or stupid people - it is their excuse for their inability or
unwillingness to learn how to interact with people outside their narrow
social circle.<br><br>
wojtek</html>