hooray?

We got ourselves an official national day last year. And here it is again: June 6. Hooray? Not really. Here’s why.

Leaving aside the fact that it’s rather unclear what historic event is associated with the official celebrations attempted today – to me it all boils down to the issue of nationalism. In a nutshell: do we or do we not need more flag-waving and singing of national anthems in this world? Here are some problems mankind is facing in the imminent future:

• intolerance
• wars
• terrorism
• pandemic
• climate change

I fail to see how nationalism could help us on any of these issues. In fact, I’d argue that with less nationalism in this world we’d be doing a lot better on all of them.

So, are flag-waving Swedes intolerant war-mongers? Of course not. If you enjoy celebrating our national identity, by all means, bring on the party. I’d rather spend some time reading about the European constitution. That would be a major cause for celebration.