People are amazing. Working together as
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part of social groups, human beings have
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created an enormously dynamic connected
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world. We've become the species that has
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been most successful on this planet. And
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we do so because we cooperate. We work
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However, you may have noticed. We live
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in a world full of conflict. We live in
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a world which has a depleted
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environment. We have a world of
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increasing inequality
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and millions of people migrating to try
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and find a better life.
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Now, the political environment which
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this all takes place in is what we call
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nationalism. We all live in these things
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we call nations which creates a sense of
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us and them. We live within borders and
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we have a sense of self-interest and we
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are told we need armies to protect us
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through all of this. I want to ask a
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tricky question. I want to ask is
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nationalism good for you and is
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nationalism good for this world? Now I'm
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a social anthropologist. What we do is
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we look at how society works. We look at
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social cohesion. Why is it you feel
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you're part of one group and not another
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sort of group? And of course, if we're
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interested in social cohesion and
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groups, we are inevitably also
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interested in conflict.
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Now, the most amazing groups in a way
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are nations. These are groups of
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millions of people who all feel that
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they're in some way the same. So it's
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important that we critically understand
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how nations work and what their impact
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is. So firstly, I'm probably going to
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surprise some of you with some
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something. You may think that your
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nation is hundreds and hundreds of years
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old. I have to tell you that's almost
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uh human beings through their existence
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have lived in a whole range of different
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sorts of political systems. But broadly
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speaking, the group that was most
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important to you would have been your
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kith and your kin, the family you were
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born into, your clan or your lineage.
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Now, as societies got more complex and
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you got hierarchies um with with leaders
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and monarchies, uh society formed
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through what we call the state. But
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through most of that history, your kith
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and your kin, your family would still
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have been the most important group in
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your life. They would have placed you in
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the society that you're in. you would
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have had rituals and symbols, religion
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and myth that would have given you a
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form of social cohesion.
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Social and political scientists broadly
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agree that the modern nation only really
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comes in um and around the 19th and into
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the 20th centuries. That's a sort of a
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populist ethnational
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group. This is after the reformation and
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the enlightenment, industrialization,
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urbanization, democratization and the
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tensions between social classes that we
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start to develop a sort of large
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sort of compliant social group. And this
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may sound strange, but nations are
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pretty much all the same. They're a
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group of people who claim a particular
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territory and they have a history that
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legitimizes that with a narrative of
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continuity over time, usually connected
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to a language or religion or some
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element of their social identity.
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And that that history usually contains
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stories of suffering particularly around
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battles and wars and is full of heroes
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and martyrs that the stories are told
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of. And then you build statues to all
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the heroes and martyrs and you come up
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with flags and you have anthems. And
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then you have playwrights and actors and
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musicians who all start to present
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emotionally how that nation hangs
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Um and and the people in that nation are
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usually told and think that somehow they
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are braver or better than other nations
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and then occasionally you have a leader
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who gets up and tries to persuade you
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that they are the greatest nation. Okay.
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And part of that you stereotype all of
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your neighbors nations, right? We're all
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very familiar with that sort of thing.
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And that comes about because of what we
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sometimes call everyday nationalism. How
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part of these identities? You're sort of
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born into it. You're given a name. All
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around you are lots of street names and
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and and building names which all connect
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you to this history. You end up going to
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school when you're taught a particular
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history. And what's more, you're told
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it's your history, right? And then there
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are commemorations. There are museums
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which will tell you about what your
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history is. There's memorials. There's
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memorial days. All right? But more than
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that, there's events in your life. The
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sporting events where you remember the
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great wins or the great losses that your
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nation has. And there are dramas on the
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TV when all of this is explained to you.
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And that's because the nation is
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reproduced in our everyday life. Or to
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put in another way, the nation is a
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social construction.
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So that your sense of self is intimately
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linked to the group and it's emotionally
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linked. It's been part of your life.
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It's been part of your family's life.
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It's part of your family's history. So
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in that way, the idea of the nation is
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linked to something which is very close
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to you. And that will make people do
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inspiring things, amazing things. It
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makes people go and die in wars for this
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huge large groups. That's actually
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really quite an extraordinary thing to
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think about. It's made people fight in
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revolutions. This emotionalfilled idea
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has also helped us build and define
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rights for citizens and make citizens
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feel protected so that the well-being of
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the individual appears to be linked to
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the well well-being of this large social
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group. And I tell you who knows how this
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work. Politicians know how this work.
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Because when they want to get elected,
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they will stand by the flag and they
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will tell you that they best represent
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your nation and they will make your
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nation great again.
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But there's another story to be told
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about nations and nationalism.
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The violence of the 19th and 20th
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century saw millions and millions of
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poor people die in the name of defending
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Ideas of superiority around race and
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gender were built into nationalism and
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European empires stormed across the
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globe, invading other places and spaces.
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And in fact oppos often inventing
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new countries and often inventing new
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countries we'd have complicated
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ethnicities in which were almost
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inevitably going to end in many of the
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civil wars that we see today. Those
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countries were exploit exploited um in
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forms of extraction so that the empires
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could survive. That is a complicated and
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difficult world. So how do we remember
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that history? Well, ironically,
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we sort of remember the wars of that
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time in a heroic sort of way. We put up
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memorials and commemorate our people
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that have died for that empire.
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All right? We we we thank our
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forefathers for the work that they have
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done. This I suggest you is the politics
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of the dead. We don't actually remember
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a lot of other amazing things like you
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scientists trying to cure malaria or or
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or overcoming famine or the rights we've
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managed to give to people or the
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literacy we've spread around the world.
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The stories of war seem more powerful
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So I want to suggest something. Suggest
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something a bit radical.
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The debt we owe is not to the past. The
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debt we owe is to the future. The debt
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we owe is to the living and those yet to
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come about. The debt we owe is the
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future of our children.
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Now, I can see a problem here, and you
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can probably see a problem. You're going
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to see to me, right, these nations are
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just going to disappear in this amazing
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world that I'm suggesting we could have.
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Well, it is, of course, very, very
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difficult. But there are things that
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suggest that we might be up to that
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challenge. We know humans are very good
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at cooperating and very good at creating
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solidarity. If you ask most people in
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this room, they would accept that all
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human beings, it should have basic human
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Many of you will be part of enormous
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generous processes to try and help
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people in other parts of the world in
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humanitarian projects. And we know we
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have a common interest with people. We
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experienced COVID. We're experiencing
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everything that takes place in the
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environment. All right? So we know we
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need to work with the world in creating
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a different place and we also know that
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we're capable of organizing this because
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ironically nations and world religions
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work on a global scale. So we know we
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can do these things. So I've got a few
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Look again at nationalism.
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Ask where it came from and when. and
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don't get too sucked in to the myths and
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the stories about your nation.
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Secondly, I think we need to lose the
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our nations appear to have been built
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upon and we need to think about some
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core values that we can share across
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humanity. And I'm thinking of trust and
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partnership. I'm thinking of reciprocity
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and generosity. And I'm thinking of the
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values of equality, justice, and human
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Maybe we could have a few statues and
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songs that remember humanity and
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Nationalism, I think, is a uniquely
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dangerous form of political organizing.
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We need to understand it.
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We need to build new bonds of solidarity
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beyond the nation. And we need to do so
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because we owe it to our children.
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