Update, quizzes, and the United States does not exist

[final_destiny]

The agenda for this weekend is as follows:
Friday
Leave Johnson City at around 12:30-1:00pm
Stop in Boone for teh raising of teh hell
Arrive in Raleigh at anywhere from 8:00 to 11:00pm

Saturday
Spend the day with my mother/sister/brother-in-law/nephew
Spend the evening night celebrating two birthdays, one early and the other late

SundayGet up,

Comments

[hylian_melora]

That reminds me of my mom telling us how, back when she was a kid and her dad was building a bomb shelter to protect them from the "eminent Chinese invasion," that she didn't get it. She told him that if the Chinese invaded, she'd just learn Chinese; that she didn't think he should freak out so much. (This was before she got chemo which turned her into a crazy person) Anyway, just a random memory. It may not apply completely, but I like the story.

I'd pretty much have to agree with what you said.

[silent_lorelei]

I often have discussions with John over this very thing, particularly when watching period movies that are set before the advent of nationalism as a concept (i.e., the nation as a specific entity). Nationalism bothers me because of its arbitrary nature; sure, there's absolutely nothing wrong with being proud of your cultural heritage, but it doesn't necessarily follow that you also have to be proud of an abstract concept of boundaries which is primarily lines and numbers for demarcation.

We're very insular in that regard here, I think, because we have so much territory that doesn't border anything. In northern Italy, for example, the cultures are so mingled (Switzerland and Austria and France and Slovenia are all lurking just over the border) that it's blindingly obvious that the "border" is really just a random representation of "where this particular government is able to exert sway".