SOUTH:PULO(&BRN-C?)Overtures?

[Mangoboy]

Read Democracy Shaken and Stirred by Win Lyovarin to get an accute idea about how fervant nationalism has been a mainstay and arguably a necessity for more or less every leader Thailand has had since 1932.

Each leader has had to convinvce the electorate that he is doing what he is doing in the best interests of Thailand (be that the case or not). To argue against this nationalism is to be un-patriotic and therefore a blight on the country. Repeated and repeated, this assumption becomes embedded in the national psyche.

Thailand is not alone. Look at the nationalistic rhetoric coming from the president of the USA. To be anti-Bush is to be anti-American. To not support your president is to be more than a just an oponent to him, it is to be an oponent to every one of your countrymen.

Both of these institutions of belief have resulted in massive loss of life. Are these humanitarian crises or is it protection of one's national identity.

Jai Dee is not for everyone. Defining your self as a member of one group necessarily excludes members of other groups from your good heart.

Does it? Should it?