In Star Trek canon, The Borg are an alien race that appear as recurring antagonists in the Star Trek franchise. The Borg are a collection of species that have been turned into cybernetic organisms functioning as drones in a hive mind called “the Collective” or “the Hive”. The Borg use a process called assimilation to force other species into the Collective by injecting microscopic machines called nanoprobes. The Borg are driven by a need for ‘perfection’, and assimilate other races to further that goal. They cruise the galaxy in cube shaped ships and they announce to a ship, a civilization, a planet: WE ARE THE BORG. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED.
The Borg will literally slice a civilization from the planet and assimilate. Turning everyone into the charming entities you see in the photo above. The ultimate union. The ultimate in sameness.
We are not The Borg. Nationality is not a joke. It is a set of shared beliefs, ways, and wiles. If I take a child born in Tibet as a baby to parents of the native race, bring that child to America, and raise that child fully as Nationality = American, that child will be American. Tibet will be foreign to them.
You can hate Brexit but we can’t dismiss nationality and it’s power. I have this exact same view as a commenter named “G B” at Wired.com recently wrote:
I know that this won’t play well with the globalists. People who cheer on and call for the end of borders and nations always seem to talk up diversity, yet at the same time they want to rid the world of what gave rise to diversity of cultures in the first place. Race is just one version of diversity, the beliefs and practices of many come from geography, location, nationality.
I’m no race purist, nor am I anti-immigration (though for some reason wanting a secured border and proper, easy-to-follow but required processes for immigration seems to somehow label me so). However, the no-nations, no-borders, and what to me seems eventually a no-race world that it appears globalists want would only make us weaker, and destroy what’s good in diversity.
There are way too many Anti-Brexit voices who view any move towards nationalism as xenophobic, racist, backwards, dumb, etc. And yes you have racism and xenophobia there but it’s not all. Ask yourself this question: Why? And the Simple Sam answer of “The racists and xenophobes scared everyone especially the old folk” misses the mark. Humans are tribal. Humans are ritualistic. Humans are creatures of habit. When a nation’s established ways and wiles are being chipped away (be it economically, culturally, etc), that’s when real leadership has to occur. And the message can’t just be “we live globalized world so get used to it”. Because all that does is generate a “they aren’t looking for what we are” view. Real leadership has to lead with NATION FIRST and filter outside cultural and economic forces (emphasis on FILTER). Some things will come in, some not, and some slowly, and some quickly.
Nationality is not a quaint notion. And it isn’t the realm of backwards, dumb folk. It is as old as humanity and has built much of what we treasure today. Great and small.
For the record, I believe leadership on both sides are “playing games”. And they are playing with nationalism. People voted with their heart and emotion yet this can be overruled in Parliament. Which will lead to more strife. Lovely (and not the good “lovely”).
I’m not complex. Don’t have time for all that. And all that complex stuff bad for the stomach. Just color me simple and plain with a twist.