About patriotism

Today is December 1st, Romania’s National Day. A day that is sweet to Romanians, as this day is considered the birthday of what is called the Great Romania. More than a hundred years ago, following the consequences of a recently concluded World War I, all historically considered and inhabited by Romanians, unified under the same king, forming a greater and stronger state under an imported monarch. A nation state that put its foundations on the ruins of two fallen empires, Ottoman and Habsburg, took advantage of the weakness of a Russian empire restructuring fundamentally under Communist order. A unification that was possible because of the diplomatic efforts of American president Woodrow Willson, and his policy that promoted self-determination for people in Europe. For sure, this was the moment to bolster the national confidence of a people that suffered being a prey of surrounding empires. History does not have always a smooth way forward, and since then, the country and its people went through a series of events, with various implications for the position of the country at a geopolitical level, but most important for the lives of the people.

As I am born in Romania, I will always respect this day, because is declared officially as the National Day. In reality, the Great Romania hasn’t survived within the borders that were self-determined back in 1918, in time losing territories in the Northeast and East, but inherited a whole province, Transilvania, that was part of a distinct civilization, Austro-Hungarian, in almost total discrepancy with the one originating in the Balkans.

A few years ago, on this same occasion, I wrote the below text, and I still adhere to it.

“Romania National Day

Who We Are

We are a nation of people, united by tradition and language. As the colors of the national flag will say, we are peaceful (blue), joyful (yellow) and passionate (red).

There might be nothing special about us. We are the same as the rest of the world. Our presence in the world is defining who we are with good and bad. History will say that we have some kind of positive stubbornness that keeps us together, no matter the challenges. We might not look special to the rest of the world, but we are special to ourselves. And we have a sense of humor that always defied the seriousness of the events.

We are a song, joyous and sad at the same time, descending from the heights of the Carpathian Mountains, like our beautiful rivers, flowing through the fields to the sea and into the big ocean. There is one day, no matter when the date was set in the calendar, when we all remember who we are and we are proud of it. The colors of our flags or passports might have changed in the course of life, but we will always have the same roots.

Forgive me if I said “we” as it might be just my view. I see Romania as the love of my parents and the land of my childhood, with its unlimited dreams.”

This is so much about idealism and truncated theory. The nations as we know them today were, for the most part, artificial. They were created on the prospects of homogenic populations, and they served mainly political and military reasons. As for the constituents, they had to adapt to what they had. But, most times, the nation states served their purpose. Humans find safety within larger groups. Individuals kept close connections with theor natural families, families aggregated in tribes, and together they secured a safer life. Multiple tribes created states and extended their safety net farther. States evolved in various forms, and our history is a mix of complicated systems and events. The modern world, in which individuals gained and unprecedented mobility, stills lies on the nation states.

One is born in a certain place, and almost naturally earns the right to be protected by a nation and its state. Another one is moving away and choosing to be adopted by another nation of another state. By birth, you take what is given to you without a possibility of opting, and by moving, you choose what to take. But we all are looking for just a safer space, a one in which we find more comfort, and more opportunities. As children, that was given to us by our families, our parents, if we were lucky enough to have ones. As a new and helpless little baby, the care of your parents is the primordial support to start your journey on earth.

Being close or far from your family, your nation is a matter of faith, but mostly of choices and opportunities. That place has a more poetical word: HOME. Is the particular spot in which your roots were supported by the saint ground of parenthood to allow you to spread your wings towards new horizons. More and more of us have to be uprooted to fly. During the flyovers of life is the longing for home that will forever remind you who you are. But that home is less sustained by the nation state you are coming from but by the closest family of yours, especially your parents, in whose arms you first experienced safety and comfort. Adulthood is the adventure of finding a new home, as the original one naturally degrades and fades away, turning into dirt or ashes. Patriotism is a term derived from “father”, and that is because states were the creation of male leaders. Different languages have different names for the home country. English uses “Motherland”, and I found this so beautiful and profound truth. Because one’s first home is their mother’s womb. After birth, fathers come into the equation as well. Same as beautiful “Homeland” is.

I have tears in my eyes, thinking about my motherland, my home. All of it exists only in memory by now. My original home is gone away. It just ain’t here anymore. My current home is in the heart of my beloved one, my partner in adventures and uncertain future. It’s one law of nature, that if something is lost, something else is found.

Patriotism becomes a term too abstract considering the reasoning above. Pliny the Elder, a Roman author and naturalist, said “home is where the heart is”. Confusing enough, there is no clear evidence that he wrote or said this but, god I love this saying. The seeds of confusion are everywhere, including the origins of patriotism and the nation state. It’s only our hearts that forever speak the truth.