<p>IDK. Seems like an interesting topic.</p>
<p>Every country should be something its citizens can be proud of. Going to extremes in that pride is bad.</p>
<p>I just had a test on this in AP Euro. And a socratic seminar. And an essay :[</p>
<p>So my thoughts right now are rather venomous.</p>
<p>Two types of Nationalism:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Good nationalism - focused on democratization and creation of regional governments, exemplified by Hamburg Parliament, 1830 Polish Revolution, and Pan-Slavic Congress</p></li>
<li><p>Bad nationalism - focused on empire building and national supremacy, exemplified by Bismarck, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Russification under Nikolai II</p></li>
</ul>
<p>(what I learned in AP Euro)</p>
<p>The nation only exists to serve the people. As Ayn Rand said, it’s a convenience—like plumbing. I might be mildly proud of my plumbing, but I don’t worship it.</p>
<p>Ayn Rand…-_-</p>
<p>^^ post on the very extensive Ayn Rand thread :]</p>
<p>Even today, nationalism can bring a cultural divide within the same ethnicity, ex: foreign-born vs. immigrants in the U.S. </p>
<p>I want to read Ayn Rand’s novel. Fountainhead? or something</p>
<p>lol check out the thread I suppose. The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged are the only books I know, but I understand that they are incredibly long</p>
<p>Anthem is a lot shorter. And it has a concise foreword that sums up her ideas pretty neatly.</p>
<p>^She also wrote We The Living and Anthem. Anthem is the shortest–it’s actually a novella, only 100 pages or so. Very accessibly and not as polarizing.</p>
<p>We The Living is 300 or so pages, and is pretty accessible as well. Nice for history too, as it takes place in revolutionary Russia.</p>
<p>Fountainhead is about 900 pages, Atlas Shrugged is 1200 pages. I think it’s worth the read…it’s extreme, so you are bound to have an opinion about it. Check it out.</p>
<p>She also wrote some philosophical books and plays…I haven’t really read those in their entirety. I have read her The Art of Fiction, which is based upon a series of lectures she gave on (obviously) writing fiction.</p>
<p>Also, I’ve read some books written by her disciples and critics.</p>
<p>And a new biography called Ayn Rand and The World She Made by Anne Heller is very good. Gives great insight.</p>
<p>I’ve only read We the Living. There were long tracts of pages that made me want to claw my eyes out because of the monotony, but ultimately I enjoyed it.</p>
<p>I’ve got Anthem sitting on my bookshelf but still haven’t read it yet.</p>
<p>Bad Nationalism: Chanting “USA! USA! USA!” at a basketball player from Venezuela while he’s at the free throw line.</p>
<p>^ Yay! Thanks. I’ll definitely check these books out of the library tom. haha</p>
<p>I noticed that I had my account since 2008, but I only have 2 posts outside of HSL. haha.</p>
<p>^You can knock out Anthem in like 1-2 hours. Enjoyable. </p>
<p>I liked We The Living as its characterizations were a lot more nuanced and her enemies actually had some admirable qualities. Also, I learned more about Russia and stuff.</p>
<p>Of course a politics thread becomes an Ayn Rand thread by the second page. Predicable, contravertial but undoubtably amusing…</p>
<p>^Yeah…As soon as someone mentions her, I’m just like “Here we go…” Fortunately, I think I can actually speak intelligently on the topic!</p>
<p>Can’t you guys talk about Ezra Pound or something else that I know about? :b</p>
<p>I read Anthem in less than an hour during our state standardizing tests. </p>
<p>The plot was less than exciting and I wouldn’t read it again for fun. But the overall message was crystal clear. Very blatant actually.</p>