Right-wing “sovranism” harm national identity

(Christian Wiediger, Unsplash)

This article was written by one of our passionate readers, Mr. Tomasso Merlo. The opinions expressed within reflect only the writer’s views and not The European Sting’s position on the issue.

It is exactly the opposite of what the “sovranist” preach: closing ourselves within physical and mental walls damages national identity, it does not preserve it. In a world that is constantly changing, the more a national identity interacts with the others, the more it strengthens and therefore has the opportunity to survive.

On the contrary, the more it isolates itself, the more it weakens and risks disappearing. It is true for nations as it is for us ordinary people. If you lock yourself up at home for fear of change, you deceive yourself that you are safe and that nothing will change. But the world doesn’t stop waiting for you and when you get out of your shell you will find out that you are outdated and therefore weaker and even forced to copy others to catch up. To survive changes you have to live them, not avoid them.

The right-wind “sovranist” would like to lock us up by exploiting fear. Fear of foreigners, diversity, minorities, change. One of those fears is that someone wants to destroy our national identities. But it’s not true. The diversity of national identities is not threatened at all and instead of being a problem it is the greatest asset. The interaction between diversity is the engine of evolution.

It is true for nations as it is for us ordinary people. If you lock yourself in the house you will slow down and you will tend to repeat the same routines because you have no input. Contamination creates energy and therefore development. Isolation creates stagnation. Furthermore, national identity is not an object that can be preserved by locking it up within borders and walls.

National identity is a constantly evolving process. Century after century. Generation after generation. Our identity has nothing to do with that of our ancestors and the more we isolate ourselves, the less of us we will remain in our compatriots of the future. Borders and walls do not preserve anything, the only effect they have is that of separating and dividing and therefore feeding mutual ignorance and therefore suspicion and therefore rivalry and tension.

Borders and walls have always been one of the main causes of the wars that have devastated the planet. Instead of guaranteeing the proclaimed security, borders and walls generate the opposite of what the right-wind “sovranist” claim in the long run. It is true for nations as it is for us ordinary people. It is true with our neighbors, as with other nations. And Europe is nothing more than the end of that era of madness. Centuries and centuries of bloody wars and in the end we have realized that by sharing resources and suppressing borders we are all richer and safer.

This is Europe. Yes, and then humans would be the most intelligent living beings …. National borders are a deleterious fetish of the past and once the European union process will be completed, other continents will follow. This is the main road to the future. When borders and walls are demolished, when peoples embrace and cooperate peacefully, it is one of the most obvious signs that humanity is evolving. But this does not mean mass anarchy and clandestine migration as the sovereigns hypocritically denounce.

Without realism and gradualness there is only the risk of doing damage and going back. When populations move from one part of the globe to another, they generate social disorder and potential conflicts as has always happened everywhere. Migrations must be managed. The capacity to absorb flows must be respected otherwise deleterious reactions are generated just as happened with the outbreak of right-wind “sovranism” throughout Europe. A return of nationalism with a more attractive packaging suitable for the modern electoral market.

A return to the rhetoric of borders and walls to politically speculate on the shock of the profound changes caused by globalization and migration. A return of national identity instead of European identity and that of human beings’ identity. But history shows that it is exactly the opposite of what the right-wind “sovranist” preach.

The defense of borders, closing ourselves behind physical and mental walls damages national identity, does not preserve national identities. And instead of guaranteeing security, it makes us slide towards the grave mistakes of the past.