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Thomas Jones's avatar

"Not sure I agree with Eric on the importance of national identity. Switzerland and Singapore seem to do fine without much of one. "

Switzerland and Singapore, in my experience, both have very strong national identities. Singapore benefited from the paternal leadership of Lee Kuan Yew, who built a post-British colony identity, rooted in Chinese ethnic heritage but not exclusively Chinese. Switzerland is bizarrely nationalistic, they think they are special, which is one reason they've avoided joining the EU.

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Barbelo of the Pleroma's avatar

Having spent some time studying in Geneva, I agree. One reason I didn't stay is because even my grandkids would have been known to the neighbors as "the Americans".

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Alex W's avatar

Yeah, I am merely a white guy that lived in Singapore for several years, but the view that Singapore doesn't have a strong national identity is... not correct.

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cat's avatar

This whole pushing of trans on children and impressionable tweens and teenagers is despicable. If an under 21-year-old is too immature to buy, own and use a gun, then most certainly is he/she too immature to take life-altering hormones to change his/her biological sex.

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Matt Pencer's avatar

"maybe even do it better [than nationalism] because they are not inherently attached to state power in a country with an incompetent national government."

I think you're selling American nationalism short. The great thing about American nationalism is that it's anti-goverment, starting with the tea party and continuing to covid lockdown resistance.

America is the best country in the world, and the American government has always been extremely incompetent, and those two statements aren't a contradiction.

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Randy curwen's avatar

I’m gay but have given up on “LGBT.” All that means is that trans groomers are trying to latch onto something legit. Don’t let them.

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D. Malcolm Carson's avatar

You raise interesting points re: national identity versus other kinds of identities, but it's probably not mutually exclusive right? I would think anyone who identifies strongly with their last name, with their local community, with being a Texan, and with Anglo culture and/or Western civilization, would also be a patriotic American, and vice-versa.

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Jun 6, 2022
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MarkS's avatar

Senator Tom Cotton has proposed S.3037, the "Empower Parents to Protect Their Kids" act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/3037/text

Every candidate for every office (including state and local offices, especially school board) should be asked to take a stand on this bill.

The more this issue becomes part of regular political discourse, the more likely it is that there will be effective pushback.

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