Our world is made up of nations. Some of us don’t like the idea of nationality, just as we don’t like the idea of war, struggle, or survival—the terrible truths you endure whether you like them or not. Mankind has gathered around such abstract structures and produced common ideals in order to survive. Rather than being a cell, we have become a union of cells. We are part of the macro structure. We’ve built structures and social institutions. We have achieved this through families, social groups, nations, and races.
The human game includes social groups such as family and nation. A person is not a person alone, but a person within a social structure. Man is an extremely social creature, and because of this sociability, the individual can even sacrifice their life for their social group or social institution. Social group mechanics are vital, and their implications for both our ideal and practical pursuits are enormous.
When an individual goes anywhere in the world, they are first judged by their national background. Knowledge, talent, experience, and personality are secondary. Nationality is important, and it is a very sharp, distinctive feature. However, it can be said that the dominance of nationality has decreased in the globalizing world, and we are moving toward a single world culture. Yes, we now look less at nationality, origin, and religion in individuals. However, we should not forget that this may be temporary and that our national borders are politically determined by nationality.
In a war situation, we fight in national armies. When there is a pandemic, national health teams and vaccine (!) rights are involved in our treatment. When we travel somewhere, our national passport is stamped, and we are judged by our nationality, regardless of our personality. In short, we have to play the nationality game. This obligation comes from a natural clustering activity, such as being a family or carrying out a large project with a division of labor. Creating an “us and them” narrative—such as nationhood—is at the root of human culture.
Nationality can only disappear if we encounter a living civilization in outer space. Being a “world nation” is only possible by finding a “them.” Until then, we are our own rivals in this game, and our division into national groups is inevitable due to both practical and ideal necessities. All in all, why is nationality important? Because you’ll be judged by it, and you’ll have to live with it—because it was vital for our survival.
