The Ignorance Of Nationalism

When the day comes that Shanghai and Bangkok are completely flooded by a six meter rise in sea levels, China will regret not doing anything. When Florida and San Francisco have drowned underwater, America will regret not doing anything. When whole countries like the Netherlands and Bangladesh cease to exist, the whole of Europe will regret not doing anything. Of course, the word regret is a complete understatement, comparing it to the deaths and displacement of millions.

On the back of a failed Copenhagen, comes the future of change. Yet politicians do nothing about it because they can only see in the short term. They do not possess the ability to see even 10 years down the line. Annoyingly enough, just past that post comes the change of climate, seeking to wreak havoc on huge civilizations and cause one of the biggest disruptions of modern human history. Having not signed or agreed to anything, Copenhagen will be looked back upon as the dark day upon which world leaders had the opportune moment which could have changed the future. So when Ed Miliband, UK Environment Minister, describes Copenhagen as, "a chaotic process dogged by procedural games", surely that is it. Do we give up hope?

Unfortunately I am beginning to look in that direction; we had a chance, didn’t take it, and now the inevitable will happen. As a result, there are two scenarios which can occur:

The first is that nothing is done to save those, whose country, whose home, has been destroyed by the forces of nature. These are stranded homeless refugees to which, with nowhere to go, will look to cross borders into another country, onto dry land, to save themselves and their families. With millions of refugees crossing into Britain, which by the way will be one of the better places to live as a result of global warming, can you imagine the tension which will rise? The demand for food, land, water will skyrocket. If you thought there was a problem with foreigners now, just wait 50 years down the line. Question is will millions of people crossing into another country cause enough disruption to begin riots on streets and begin the cause of open racism? Is the demand for natural resources going to be so great that it is enough to start a war for land and the preservation of nations? Unfortunately, politicians cannot see 50 years down the line, so there’s no point asking them.

This is why nationalism must be torn down. In a world where people of all nationalities can integrate with each other, in this second scenario, it will not matter if one area becomes flooded; anyone will be able to travel anywhere. No tension, no racism and no culture superiority.

There are only two key factors which hold this scenario back: religion and tradition, both of which I feel have no place in a modern society. Unless this changes, or evolves, alongside the rest of the Earth, they have no place in a merciless world.

It has appeared to me, that there is a complete lack of urgency, or in some case care, for this Earth which we live on; kind of ironic that it provides you life and yet you have no decency to give it back. This includes myself as well. Until there is a sudden dramatic change, due to climate change, no one will react to it with the seriousness of speed or effectiveness needed. In all fairness, those that do nothing should face the cold consequences of their ignorance. The only thing we can do is prepare; get rid of nationalism, religion and tradition, sooner rather than later. By the time it comes to the latter, millions of people will have become homeless or will have died.