"Hiding behind his scientist mask, a psychologist pictures a global utopia without considering the downside.
What if the world was one country? A psychologist on why we need to think beyond borders (The Conversation). Do we need to?
There are countless different species on the surface of this planet. One of these is the human race, which has over seven billion members. In one sense, there are no nations, just groups of humans inhabiting different areas of the planet. In some cases, there are natural borders formed by sea or mountains, but often borders between nations are simply abstractions, imaginary boundaries established by agreement or conflict.
The non-sequitur is the notion that since we do not see borders, we should not have them. The truth of the half-truth is that borders are “imaginary boundaries established by agreement or conflict.” The lie is that eliminating borders would help people get along in one big happy family. That has never worked.
Next comes some psychobabble to make Steve’s globalist preferences sound scientific.
One pertinent finding from my own research as a psychologist is that people who experience high levels of wellbeing (together with a strong sense of connection to others, or to the world in general) don’t tend to have a sense of group identity.
I have studied many people who have undergone profound personal transformation following intense psychological turmoil, such as bereavement or a diagnosis of cancer. I sometimes refer to these people as “shifters”, since they appear to shift up to a higher level of human development….
As I report in my book, The Leap, one of the common traits of “shifters” is that they no longer define themselves in terms of nationality, religion or ideology. They no longer feel they are American or British, or a Muslim or a Jew. They feel the same kinship with all human beings. If they have any sense of identity at all, it’s as global citizens, members of the human race and inhabitants of the planet Earth – beyond nationality or border. Shifters lose the need for group identity because they no longer feel separate and so have no sense of fragility and insecurity.
A little taste of either-or fallacy helps him pre-empt any criticisms of his psychobabble. If you disagree, he virtue-signals and shames, you must feel frail and insecure. Those shiftless non-shifters must be (gasp!) nationalists, like Trumpers (America First) or UK separatists (Brexit). .... He adds a big lie— the idea that a world government would be able to solve problems quicker, like pandemics. The European Union has not offered a particularly good example; that’s why pro-Brexit folks wanted out.
Moving beyond those disagreeable nationalists, (disagreeable, that is, to Leftists), Steve ends with his sermon, decorated with some glittering generalities, adorned with a photo of a sign hoisted high, “One World”.
Ultimately, nationalism is a psychological aberration. We owe it our ancestors and to our descendants – and to the Earth itself – to move beyond it.
What would grandma think if you didn’t join the Brave New World? Instead of judging what constitutes psychological aberrations (notice that unsupported assertion), Steve could learn a bit about history." CEH
