My Country Isn’t a Nation
Incorrect. The United States <i>was</i> a nation, until recently, very recently.<p>There was a time when boys in Normandy left their guts out on the beaches there, so <i>other Americans</i> could live in peace. They were not dying for a geographic area.<p>What makes a nation is the belief in personal sacrifice for public good.<p>Look at us now. A pandemic of toxic individualism, a place where public service is no longer a virtue and is being openly villainized instead. &quot;You are part of the Deep State, aren&#x27;t you, boy, infringing on ma&#x27; freedoms, yeah?&quot;<p>To be fair, this is NOT a US problem. The Western world seems to be rapidly devolving, quickly jettisoning values and social norms that are not only characteristic of a country, nation (whatever), but a <i>civilization</i>.<p>Not to mention the concept of democracy, which is probably not going to survive this decade here. A place where half the population lives in an alternate reality cannot last. A place where working for the government is not &quot;public service&quot;, but a grifting operation, and anything higher up there is just a vestibule, a waiting area on a plumpy gig for a cartel you helped enrich by screwing over the citizens.<p>We are neither a nation, nor a country.