4.
Almost everyone on Earth is part of a nation, so the idea that each person’s national community is an imagined one is difficult to comprehend, but upon extensive thought, it becomes evident that it is a fact. Nations did not exist until the eighteenth century, and they were created due to historical circumstances, but the concept has nevertheless continued into modern society.
The existence of national boundaries exemplifies the recognition of differences in different nations. Two people living two miles away from each other, but across a border, may have more in common with that person than with a person from another place in their home country; the bond keeping the boundary intact and convincing this person otherwise is, in essence, patriotism. Patriotism is the bond that makes it possible for citizens to give their lives despite blatant race, class, and gender inequalities. …show more content…
For this reason, nations create national symbols of patriotism, such as the bald eagle or the pledge of allegiance in the United States. National symbols of this sort give people who otherwise have nothing in common a sense of comradery, “because, regardless of the actual inequality and exploitation that may prevail in each, the nation is always conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship” (Anderson). This sense of comradery in a nation is essential in maintaining a successful nation, because in such large nations, it is impossible for everyone to know and bond with every other person living in that nation. Nations are, above all, imagined to be limited, because no nation rules over the entirety of the
Almost everyone on Earth is part of a nation, so the idea that each person’s national community is an imagined one is difficult to comprehend, but upon extensive thought, it becomes evident that it is a fact. Nations did not exist until the eighteenth century, and they were created due to historical circumstances, but the concept has nevertheless continued into modern society.
The existence of national boundaries exemplifies the recognition of differences in different nations. Two people living two miles away from each other, but across a border, may have more in common with that person than with a person from another place in their home country; the bond keeping the boundary intact and convincing this person otherwise is, in essence, patriotism. Patriotism is the bond that makes it possible for citizens to give their lives despite blatant race, class, and gender inequalities. …show more content…
For this reason, nations create national symbols of patriotism, such as the bald eagle or the pledge of allegiance in the United States. National symbols of this sort give people who otherwise have nothing in common a sense of comradery, “because, regardless of the actual inequality and exploitation that may prevail in each, the nation is always conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship” (Anderson). This sense of comradery in a nation is essential in maintaining a successful nation, because in such large nations, it is impossible for everyone to know and bond with every other person living in that nation. Nations are, above all, imagined to be limited, because no nation rules over the entirety of the