Returning home along the Highway of Heroes (Hwy 401) last week, I was surprised and greatly moved by how many people, often accompanied by fire trucks and/ or police cruisers with flashing lights, were lining every frigid bridge over the 401 and waving Canadian flags, from the edges of Toronto all the way to Trenton – many thousands in all, covering hundreds of miles.   Almost every vehicle on my side of the road (going in the opposite direction), pulled over and stopped in respect, as the ominous hearses sped by.  Three more Canadian soldiers were returning home in coffins, bringing the total to a symbolic One Hundred… and Canadians were spontaneously coming together in the biting cold to salute them, regardless of their regional origin, religion or race..

Just a couple weeks earlier, we saw an example of a more destructive/ divisive expression of Nationalism, when “Prime Minister” Stephen Harper, once again stooping to his favoured fear-and-hate divisive strategies, attacked (apparently successfully) the proposed Liberal-NDP coalition on the basis that they were supported by “Separatists” and “Traitors”, by which he meant the duly elected Bloc Quebecois Members of Parliament.  Way to go for a United Canada, Stevie!!

Nationalism in itself is neither good nor bad.  It is a particular expression of our collective Identity and Will and as such, is an extremely powerful (often volatile) force, which can be used destructively/ divisively or constructively/ integratively.  Crudely put, it can bring us together or pull us apart in conflict and war.

Identity/ “Who I-We are” is the basis of all our actions, yet very few have asked the question, “Who am I?” with much skill or perseverance.  It’s not part of conventional parenting or education. Underlying national/ religious/ cultural/ racial/ ideological identity (and belief) is individual identity.  Computers have been modeled after the functioning of humans, so perhaps a computer analogy is apt.  We implicitly trust our computer output (“Based on my life experiences, I know Reality”), but we have not really examined our software (personality, personal experience and trauma, culture, religious beliefs, education etc), hardware (the interrelated functioning of body-emotion-mind-energy-spirit) or data input (what we think happened to us and the life lessons we have drawn – often erroneously).

On this volatile, often confused, basis of personal identity, we proceed to influence “The World” through our thoughts, words and actions (spending, voting), which in turn, through many various forms of Media, feed our own collective confusions back to us as “hard reality”.  The last 30 years (not just the Bush years) is a classic example of this deluded, feed-back process.  The Communist Crisis, the Terrorist Crisis and now the Financial Crisis are not aberrations, but the consequences of our own collective decisions and as such we must take responsibility.  All those who supported Bush and who rode the Market of Effortless Riches need to stand up and take responsibility, or in other words acknowledge Karma, the Law of Cause and Effect.

What has this got to do with Nationalism?  Nationalism is an identity/ form/ structure for working in the mundane world.  For example, the USA’s sense of national identity exceeds or perhaps is overdeveloped in contrast with Canada’s (which means Canada can do with a bit more and perhaps America, with a bit less).  In Africa, where often collective identity is limited to immediate family or tribe, a national/ country wide identity would be a plus.  In China, national identity is very strong, but perhaps they can lead the way (in numbers) to a greater human identity by weakening their national identity.

To cut to the chase, deeper spiritual evolution (regardless of specific tradition) points to more expansiveness and inclusivity (Global Consciousness?).  The central message of Jesus and Mohammed (in my opinion) is not “Kill everyone who doesn’t follow Christianity or Islam”, but love, include and see all humans (and other forms of life?) as expressions of the Divine/ Ultimate Spirit etc.

In short, if we want to radically change our World and Planet, we have to find a way to change ourselves (radically).  There are ways available for those who seek… but dramatic, “charismatic”, shortcut Marketing Schemes don’t usually qualify.