Human Solidarity Day reflections: we must leave ethno-nationalism behind.
On this day, the world celebrates International Human Solidarity day. This is a chance to reflect on and commit to solving the problems that face us collectively as a species. We must always strive for greater unity between peoples, races, faiths and ethnicities, in pursuit of this cause; I write the following article on the most pressing issue that hinders Human Solidarity, Ethno-nationalism.
Of all the ideas that have brought ruin to humanity, all the horrible ideologies and methods of governing; there is none as bloodied or ruinous as ethno-nationalism. It’s a plague that has affected us since day one; where ancient tribes now long forgotten butchered one another simply because of the otherness of their neighbors. It gave rise to Empires which only existed to further the cause of one ethnicity over all the rest. It was cause for which Fascism fought for, and subsequently destroyed the world over. To this day, people around the world are affected by the racism and hatred it inspires, from Muslim Rohingyas of Myanmar suffering under the majority Burmese, to the Communities of Colour in the United States under attack from White supremacists. If we wish to attain peace among all peoples, and build a united democratic world; we must once and for dismantle ethno-nationalism.
The most pressing issue caused by ethno-nationalism is racial hatred. It remains a tough opponent to Human Solidarity; to deconstruct it we will need to forge national identities that are based on inclusivity and plurality as outlined in the third World Federalist Papers article. This means governments must actively promote and adopt multicultural policies that foster tolerance in their societies. This can take shape through educational reforms that highlight past racial abuses to new generations, especially those countries who in the past engaged in imperialistic conquest. Another policy the nations of the world should enact is the easing of immigration restrictions. It is hard to hate a culture with whom you have personal experience, that requires free movement among peoples. This combined with the racial mixing caused by immigration, slowly breaks down the racial anxieties that are often at the center of any country’s racial politics. These measures and many more like them require a democratic government in order to implement them. Authoritarian regimes are often held together through ethno-nationalism and as such are ill suited to the task of destroying it. Only democracy allows for discussion and discourse; which leads to understanding between racial groups. It also acts as an ideological bond that is stronger than any racial fearmongering.
We have seen what happens when governments actively turn away from tolerance, when they make racial hatred a policy objective. It results in genocides, from the mass murdering conquests of the Third Reich, to the more recent Rwandan Genocide it is clear that ethno-nationalism, once adopted by a regime will eventually lead down the path of massacre and murder. The international community must commit to combating these regimes before they commit these crimes. This will mean strengthening regional political entities such as the European Union or the African Union; so, at first, impactful economic sanctions can be applied, followed by a military quick reaction force should the situation devolve into bloodshed.
Deconstructing a concept, that has a choke grip on many countries will not be easy. It will require action from everyone, from the grassroots level all the way to the halls of power. However, if we advance policies that protect and promote tolerance; if we use the power of democracy effectively, if we create an international order that is committed to ending state sanctioned hate then we will finally be free of one of our species’ worst traits. Finally achieving true Human Solidarity forevermore.