Nationalism vs Globalisation

Nationalism vs Globalisation

*** This post contains two points of discussion

During the first tutorial, my tutorial group got into a rigorous discussion regarding the prospect of Globalization reigning supreme over a sense of nationalism and all countries eventually coming together as one under a common 'world government'.

I personally believe that this is not very possible. Firstly and obviously, individual governments would not want to give up their control of power. Secondly, each country is defined by its own set of beliefs, culture, history, etc. These are entities that bring the notion of being a nation to the countries. Hence, they would do all in their power to preserve what they believe in.

This leads me to my second argument. Does globalization really dilute the sense of nationalism. Here I build the argument on something close to the hearts of many, religion. As we see in modern Singapore, the young generation does not seem to be as 'god-fearing' and as pious as the older generation. Even if they are, their 'degree of piousness' has most definitely been diluted in the sense that people do not practice many of the practices that traditionally took place in their individual religions or even cultures. For example, I know of some Christians who do not go to church every Sunday as compared to their parents who go without fail. (Can all of you think of any examples of practices that your parents go through but you, being the new generation , do not?)

** Disclaimer: Religion is used as an example. It is not necessarily a building block of nationalism. Nationalism requires much more such as a common history.

So the question I pose is to ask whether the above-mentioned is a product of globalization or is it because of the fact that people nowadays are much well educated (they ask questions and want to know the reason and rationale behind why things are done) and hence have become more liberal to an extent that with of without globalization, dilution of traditional practices...

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