{"id":510,"date":"2006-12-26T02:55:31","date_gmt":"2006-12-26T02:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2006\/12\/26\/sdfsf\/"},"modified":"2013-05-07T18:47:32","modified_gmt":"2013-05-07T23:47:32","slug":"sdfsf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2006\/12\/sdfsf\/","title":{"rendered":"Nation-states and bickering in the Blogosphere"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

As we approach the New Year and ponder the Christmas Season (accompanied by the now obligatory call for peace<\/a> on Earth, at least till after the New Year), it\u2019s important to stop and reflect on how riven the world is with strife and suffering.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

For all the contemporary talk of peace, human rights, and the universal brotherhood of Man, the world remains brimming with conflicts.\u00a0 Some are achingly tragic\u00a0 conflicts that in other circumstances\u2013more plentiful resources,\u00a0 different cultures, a different demographic mix, etc etc.\u2013probably would have easily been avoided.\u00a0 Others are anachronisms of oppression, reproaches to all our modern talk of civilization where Man is simply and inexplicably, a la the Roman proverb, \"wolf to his fellow man\".\u00a0 Yet others are somewhere in between, complex mixes of tragedy, bad circumstance and human vices and sins.<\/p>\n

In a world that bleeds so profusely, our priority should be on helping those that suffer, holding oppressors accountable, and on ending the root causes that lead to conflict.\u00a0 Our commitment shouldn\u2019t be to ideological agendas, national honor, or abstractions that are removed from people\u2019s real world experiences.\u00a0 \u00a0Too many people today seem far more committed to \"American national interests\" or \"free trade\" than to humanitarianism or justice.\u00a0 Others are far too quick to sacrifice fundamental principle in the name of their nations\u2019 \"credibility\" or \"image\", not realizing that it is precisely the cynical abandonment of of principle in the name of expediency that ultimately harms a nation\u2019s prestige abroad the most.\u00a0 Finally, many are infinitely more concerned about protecting abstractions like nation-states or\u00a0 regional balances of power than they are about helping the people that populate those nebulous (and often arbitrarily composed) entities.<\/p>\n

While I see the utilitarian value of stability and continuity, I\u2019ve never understood why even the most haphazard national borders tend to be treated with such reverence, as if nation-states are are sacred ends in themselves rather than means to an end.\u00a0 (Of course, an exception is often made these days for countries whose governments Washington doesn\u2019t like and which almost without exception turn out to be Muslim.\u00a0 Thus, neocon loons in the Beltway can bleat on and on about \"regime change\" in Syria and Iran without being sent off to the funny farm.)\u00a0 A nation\u2019s health or legitimacy shouldn\u2019t be measured by its GDP, adherence to unilaterally imposed standards (e.g., that obsession of the already rich West, intellectual property),\u00a0 or international power.\u00a0 It should be determined by the wellbeing of its citizenry, economically as well as politically.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

By those humanistic as opposed to ideological standards, there are a fair number of borders that warrant some tweaking.\u00a0 Nations are a bit like marriages.\u00a0 In most cases, everyone\u2019s better off if the various parties remain together.\u00a0 In other cases, though, all parties will in the long run benefit from territorial reconfiguration, as sources of intractable conflict will thus be removed and new possibilities opened.\u00a0 In such cases, the cessation of conflict and\/or suffering should trump other concerns.\u00a0 \u00a0 Even given the inevitable suffering and displacement that will accompany a change, it\u2019s sometimes the only humane, sustainable option for the people whose lives hang in the balance.<\/p>\n

There is a legion of oppressed peoples trapped in modern nation-states, whether as a result of administrative ineptitude, colonial callousness,\u00a0 or outright conquest, states whose arbitrary borders have been effectively sacralized.\u00a0 These people\u2019s suffering goes ignored because to fully acknowledge it, much take concrete steps to alleviate it, would undermine their captor nations\u2019 dubious conception of sovereignty.<\/p>\n

The Independent<\/em> of London launched \"an appeal for an abandoned people\"<\/a> this Christmas, referring to the people of Bethlehem and Palestinians in general during this time of a crushing and utterly unjust economic blockade against the Palestinian people.\u00a0 This suffering barely registers in the media.\u00a0 Similarly, the grievances, sufferings and needs of many other\u2013Chechens, Uyghurs, Kurds, Kashmiris, West Saharans, Tibetans, Biharis, \u2026\u2013go ignored.\u00a0 They are trapped within borders that are arbitrary, unsustainable, and inevitably and tragically lead to more and more conflict.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Over and over again, the welfare of millions of people are sacrificed on the cold altar of \"stability\" and \"national sovereignty\".\u00a0 \u00a0And with little tangible benefits for their reluctant compatriots, since the primary beneficiaries of the status quo remain elites.\u00a0 Whether there are 180 countries or 300 of them, most people will still live off less than a $1 a day.<\/p>\n

So I don\u2019t have an automatic problem with separatist movements, so long as they really represent the interests of the people and long as they don\u2019t become an ideological cover for crime and corruption. <\/p>\n

Of course, the Blogosphere cuts across national borders and potentially unites, but I often wonder if its basic tenor dooms us to the opposite.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been pondering lately is how polarizing and ultimately misleading the Blogosphere can be.\u00a0 As invaluable as it is for getting alternative news or unique perspectives past the bland blockade of the MSM,\u00a0 I wonder if the net effort is to in a sense misinform by encouraging endless polarization more.\u00a0 In the Blogoshere, it\u2019s all too easy to forget that every story has two sides<\/em>.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Perhaps I\u2019m as guilty here as everybody else\u2013I chose the image of a razor for a reason\u2013but I at least try to limit my sass to viewpoints that I think are woefully underreported in the MSM.\u00a0 (Of course, the paradox is how everyone<\/em> in the Blogoshere seems to feel this way.\u00a0 Somehow, everyone views themselves as victims.)<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we approach the New Year and ponder the Christmas Season (accompanied by the now obligatory call for peace on Earth, at least till after the New Year), it\u2019s important to stop and reflect on how riven the world is with strife and suffering.\u00a0 For all the contemporary talk of peace, human rights, and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":357,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legos"],"yoast_head":"\nNation-states and bickering in the Blogosphere - Akram's Razor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As we approach the New Year and ponder the Christmas Season (accompanied by the now obligatory call for peace on Earth, at least till after the New Year),\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2006\/12\/sdfsf\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nation-states and bickering in the Blogosphere - Akram's Razor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As we approach the New Year and ponder the Christmas Season (accompanied by the now obligatory call for peace on Earth, at least till after the New Year),\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2006\/12\/sdfsf\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Akram's Razor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-12-26T02:55:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-05-07T23:47:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Svend White\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Svend White\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2006\/12\/sdfsf\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2006\/12\/sdfsf\/\",\"name\":\"Nation-states and bickering in the Blogosphere - Akram's Razor\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2006-12-26T02:55:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-05-07T23:47:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#\/schema\/person\/f9db140b6c8f68946a6ff4474bad8040\"},\"description\":\"As we approach the New Year and ponder the Christmas Season (accompanied by the now obligatory call for peace on Earth, at least till after the New Year),\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2006\/12\/sdfsf\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2006\/12\/sdfsf\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2006\/12\/sdfsf\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Nation-states and bickering in the Blogosphere\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/\",\"name\":\"Akram's Razor\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#\/schema\/person\/f9db140b6c8f68946a6ff4474bad8040\",\"name\":\"Svend White\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/102bd380e329795710632f1246548993?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/102bd380e329795710632f1246548993?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Svend White\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/author\/svendwhite\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nation-states and bickering in the Blogosphere - Akram's Razor","description":"As we approach the New Year and ponder the Christmas Season (accompanied by the now obligatory call for peace on Earth, at least till after the New Year),","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2006\/12\/sdfsf\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nation-states and bickering in the Blogosphere - Akram's Razor","og_description":"As we approach the New Year and ponder the Christmas Season (accompanied by the now obligatory call for peace on Earth, at least till after the New Year),","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2006\/12\/sdfsf\/","og_site_name":"Akram's Razor","article_published_time":"2006-12-26T02:55:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-05-07T23:47:32+00:00","author":"Svend White","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Svend White","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2006\/12\/sdfsf\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2006\/12\/sdfsf\/","name":"Nation-states and bickering in the Blogosphere - Akram's Razor","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#website"},"datePublished":"2006-12-26T02:55:31+00:00","dateModified":"2013-05-07T23:47:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#\/schema\/person\/f9db140b6c8f68946a6ff4474bad8040"},"description":"As we approach the New Year and ponder the Christmas Season (accompanied by the now obligatory call for peace on Earth, at least till after the New Year),","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2006\/12\/sdfsf\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2006\/12\/sdfsf\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2006\/12\/sdfsf\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Nation-states and bickering in the Blogosphere"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/","name":"Akram's Razor","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#\/schema\/person\/f9db140b6c8f68946a6ff4474bad8040","name":"Svend White","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/102bd380e329795710632f1246548993?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/102bd380e329795710632f1246548993?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Svend White"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/author\/svendwhite\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/357"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}