In 1949, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization conducted a series of seminars for teachers, called “Toward World Understanding.” This brief excerpt provides a flavor of the series:
“As long as the child breathes the poisoned air of nationalism, education in world-mindedness can produce only rather precarious results. As we have pointed out, it is frequently the family that infects the child with extreme nationalism. The school should therefore use the means described earlier to combat family attitudes that favor jingoism.”
This was from the WND site - they had real issues with this. Frankly, whats the deal? Nationalism was seen as a primary motivator in two world wars. It is the ego stroke behind the aggressive elements in the PRC, and in a way it sits at the heart of the muslim extremeist position. In a world where our lives are bound together in such a complex system, wouldn’t you want people to treat each other as people rather than ‘others’. That doesn’t mean you don’t protect yourself, or choose for yourself your approach to life, but why support nationalism? I support my country, but I’m no jingoist, nor do I want anyone else to be.
Frankly, a bigger perspective on the world is needed.
But this does not at all imply agreement with the other behavior mod stuff. When I was in school I had an spider sense for this garbage and always stood up against it. Frankly, personal privacy must be protected.