Meditation on patriotism and internationalism
Jayantha Dhanapala, speaking at the launch of the first volume of
Judge C G Weeramantry’s biography, Towards one world, describe this
exceptional human being as a patriot and an internationalist. Some would
say that the two are incompatible, that a patriot (a term associated
with nation) cannot be an internationalist and that an internationalist,
by definition, cannot be a patriot.
There are those who call themselves internationalists and believe
that this requires them to disavow and indeed vilify any kind
nationalism.
Dr Jayantha Dhanapala |
Justice C G Weeramantry |
They feel obliged to trash anything and everything that affirms
smaller political units than the ‘globe’. They dismiss the idea of
‘nation’ since this is seen as a stumbling block towards the
border-erasure that is considered a necessary precondition for Utopic-creation.
There is a way in which the embrace of the larger unit is both
convenient and irresponsible. It can also be an excuse for sloth, for
not doing that which needs to be done right now, right here at home.
Constituent elements
Where does internationalism begin? Does it begin and exist and die in
the largest metropolis, in the all-nations-represented forum, a
cyberspace facility that celebrates diversity, in a political tract, a
song, beautiful words, a same-time storming of barricades real and
imagined in every major city in the world, in an armchair, a dream, a
thought-process, a painting, a twirl of smoke or the aftermath of
inter-racial love-making?
I thought it might be useful to start at the other end of the stick.
No, not ‘nation’, but smaller units therein. ‘Self’, for example. Here’s
a train of thought:
Do we know who we are? And if not, can we claim to know members of
our family? If we can’t figure out those who share our households, can
we claim to know our neighbours? If we don’t know our neighbours, what
of our community, the village, the city, district, province, nation and
the world?
If we are only vaguely conscious of the constituent elements that
make us how can we claim to know who we are? Do we know what histories
live within us, make and break us? What are the philosophies that feed
that which we call ‘opinion’, what were their sources? What laugh-lines
pick us up when we are down and who wrote them? What are the dreams and
moments of magic that reside within some container labelled
‘Anticipation’? Are we aware of the Good Samaritan in us and the mass
murderer too?
Self-exploration
If we know ourselves, we can identify and correct blemish, enhance
whatever grain of goodness that’s in us. If we explore self without
being self-absorbed, I think we can cultivate humility and therefore
obtain the quality of compassion, the ability to see and excuse blemish
and scar in another person. This I believe is the essence of the dictum
Love thy neighbour as thyself which echoes in part the Buddhist line
Sabbe Satta bhavantu sukhitatta (may all being be happy).
Patriotism and internationalism, then, begins with self and
self-exploration.
The degree of self-realization feeds into the ability to identify
with family, household, community, village and so on to larger political
entities leading to the ‘international’ dimensions of being and
engagement.
Internationalism
If we cannot recognize in someone the same will to live and same fear
of death that concerns us, then we are essentially denying ourselves
self-recognition.
Patriotism is not flag-waving and anthem-singing. The same goes for
internationalism. If we are to be successful as individuals we need to
figure out ourselves, warts and dimples all. We have to correct flaw.
The same goes for community and nation. We are none of us perfect. We
tend however to ignore, disavow or downplay our tumours. They consume us
in the end. A person cannot outrun a competitor if he or she is
crippled; and screaming that opponent is crippled will not give one
steady feet. Patriotism is a chest-thumping thing; it brushes aside
chest-congestion as myth.
That’s how nations experience heartbreak. Internationalism is made of
heart-word but peopled by those who by definition refuse to acknowledge
the permanent residency of heritage within body and mind.
There are better ways to be patriotic and internationalist. It
requires humility, compassion and wisdom. That’s Judge Weeramantry. A
man. A nation. A world too. Recognised. Recognizable. Like the sky, as
my father once put it; belongs to all and yet is no less private.
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