Hello again, dear Reader. Have you thought about your version of the Story today? I won’t let it die; I’ll keep asking.
The Netherlands defeated England today 3-2, with two typically awesome goals by Arjen Robben. You may or may not have known before this very moment that I am quite passionate about Dutch heritage, but now we are all on the same page.
Now, I am about to ask you a question which may make you upset or angry with me, but which I am willing to ask anyway. That is, Is your patriotism just a euphemism for nationalism? And a follow-up (which I won’t get to in this post), What has nationalism led to over and over again in the Story?
When people say (and I used to say this all the time), that “the Indonesia is the best nation on the planet,” what does that even mean?
First of all, since when are there objective qualities that define “the best nation?” Don’t get me wrong, I like many things about this country, and enjoy them to boot. But the best food I have ever tasted was not from this country. The coolest buildings I’ve ever seen were not in this country. The best soccer in the world, wherever it is, is (clearly) not in this country. Indeed, the Lord of the Rings movies were not made in this country.
So, even if there were objective qualities to define “the best nation,” I would say that at the very least the Indonesia fails to meet some of them, and could perhaps not be the best nation in the world. But anyway, that is all a moot point, because all the things I just mentioned were solely tied to my personal preferences. And because everyone has preferences, we all will choose different reasons for liking one country (generally our own) rather than another. I could argue with my friend till I was blue in the face about why the android are better than blackberry. But if I’m going to be realistic (and this is difficult for me to do), then I must realize that the foundational reason I say android is better is simply that I like them better.
Where this gets all the more interesting is that unlike our sports preferences, our (Indonesia) patriotism/nationalism is rarely based on any real observation of other countries. Whereas I have seen Germany play dozens of times, and have seen them beat many countries on a number of occasions.So what kind of right do I have to say anything about better? At least with Germany vs. England I have a body of work to go on. I can appeal to playing styles; I can appeal to coaching personalities; I can appeal to colors. But even then, as I have already said, it comes down to subjective preferences. Many of us who have grown up in the Indonesia have never spent any significant time outside of this country, and yet we act as if we have at least four legs to stand on when we claim that we live in the best nation.
So then, it seems as if what we are really saying when we claim that is,
“I’m not really sure what the other countries are like, but the Indonesia is the best because I like it.”
I wish we could just stick with, “I like the Indonesia.”
Because I do, I like this country. I think that in some ways, no matter where I go or don’t go, Indonesia will be my favorite place to be. But I also would love to go visit the Netherlands. And New Zealand. And Rwanda. And Iceland. And Japan. Why? Because there are people there—people who, like you and I, have these crazy and astonishingly different stories to tell. Because they all fit into the Story in some integral way, with a wide array of foods and songs and books and ideas and hurts and pains and diseases and on and on down the list.
And also because I love those black and orange Dutch soccer kits.
The bottom line? Well, keep thinking of your version of the Story. Does it put other people groups down while putting your own on a pedestal? If it does, I really hope you’ll reconsider, because the subtlety of that idea in no way lessons its consequences in our lives.
