National Anthems – a comparison

Moderators: Elvis, DrVolin, Jeff

National Anthems – a comparison

Postby conniption » Fri Feb 24, 2017 9:22 am

the saker

National Anthems – a comparison


February 19, 2017

by Christine Marais


Although involved in many wars, there is no indication that Greece, Persia, Rome or the Ottoman Empire ever had or needed national anthems. When we look at their history, they conquered countries and overtook people but once settled, they pretty much allowed them to go on with their lives with little interference. They conquered the land but not the nations.

The mere concept of national anthem appears to coincide with the fairly recent creation of artificial borders through slicing and dicing of existing land worldwide and through arbitrary partitioning of existing ethnic groups by the Occident, either as a result of wars of conquests, colonization and cultural obliteration or, much more recently, as a result of revolutions, wars of independence and the reclaiming of their identity.

It is as though the concept of national anthem (which originated in the West) served to fill an identity vacuum and create some sense a unity among people who, otherwise, might historically and geographically have had very little in common other than being trapped together within artificial borders they never chose for themselves and which were imposed on them by sheer force and violence. Attack, conquer, divide, obliterate, partition, reshape and remold.

In today’s geopolitical climate, lyrics of national anthems give a very good indication of countries’ psychology and mindset. As an example, France’s, Turkey’s and the US’ are among the most violent, jingoist and goriest ones. France’s actions in Africa in the past 40 years are appalling: Chad, Ivory Coast, Libya, Central Africa, Mali, the list is almost endless. Turkey’s involvement with ISIS, Syria, Iraq and Iran have been fully documented and the US have been involved in more wars in 235 years and killed and destroyed more populations than all other countries combined. Violence is a means to an end and it is in their psyche.

Remarkably, the lyrics of the national anthems of the countries currently most ostracized and demonized (Russia, China and Iran) are nowhere as aggressive and belligerent. Russia’s praise its people, its country, its history, its heritage, its resilience and its moral strength. So do those of Iran and China with one caveat: their country is theirs and they will defend it to death if necessary.

People’s mind is formed by language. Children learn to express themselves by using the vocabulary they hear and even though they may not fully understand their meaning, singing along a very descriptive anthem loaded with images of blood, sacrifice, martyrdom, killings, bombs and such is bound to leave an imprint and negatively affect their perception of other populations.

Likewise, I expect that depicting determination, steadfastness and courage without undue belligerence or hostility will teach children those same qualities.

Had the US considered what nations such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Syria, Iraq and many other countries stood for prior to attempting to destroy them (the US have not won a single war since WWI), millions of lives would have been spared.

continues...along with many interesting comments...
conniption
 
Posts: 2480
Joined: Sun Nov 11, 2012 10:01 pm
Blog: View Blog (0)

Return to General Discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 40 guests