MACEDONIA IN A CRISIS: THE DISCLOSURE OF A FAKE NATIONALISTIC POLITICS
Nationalism is the most successful way for mobilizing masses for a project. The greatest dictators world has ever known have been creations of an aggressive nationalism. The invasion of neighboring territories, the extermination of others and hatred against others, are the most certain ways of mobilization and leadership of a nation. Einstein called nationalism “an infantile disease” being “the measles of mankind”.
Orwell called nationalism “power hunger tempered by self-deception”, whereas Chomsky qualified it as “a way of oppressing others”. Nationalism, however, has proven beneficial in certain areas. According to research carried out by the World Bank, countries with stressed nationalism have lower levels of corruption and developed economies. While the greatest number of examples shows that nationalism has created strong leaders and millions of others that have sacrificed for them, the case of Norway shows the opposite. In this Scandinavian country the level of corruption is zero, whereas the economic development is impressive. The nationalist bureaucracy in Norway is not oriented against the foreigners who live there, but in the protection of public property and state funds as if they were personal belongings. Even the slightest forms of abuse of public funds and properties are considered as national betrayal. Their nationalism does not make them rude and cruel towards the others, but rather too sensitive against damages to the nation they belong to and feel proud for that. Without constructive nationalism and affection towards the society one belongs to, there would not be any reactions even against the worst cases of corruption and organized crime. In countries where nationalism is destructive, i.e. oriented towards hating the others, the citizens are mostly selfish – they feel satisfaction in others’ corruption and regress rather than their own and their nation’s advancement and progress. This particular type of nationalism has been the cause of the greatest tragedies mankind has ever lived.
