BOAZ

not much ticks me off... especially not discourse.

cheerz m8

TRADE.. good 4 u.

Teaching national identity/values .. "sound like nationalism, patriotism' etc..
Yes, it mus sound like that, and to a degree it is. But not the full monty.
Generally nationalism seeks to glorify 'US' as the greatest and bestest mob in the universe who are just waiting for the opportunity to fulfill our manifest destiny of ruling all the others.

American nationalism "God bless America' make me wanna puke. God is the God of the WORLD...not just the yanks.
National identity is a healthy concept. It should not be about defining how we are better than others, but different. We might regard our values as superior, but we should never teach them in a way which suggests we have to make the world share them.
The values we cherish, support for the underdog, rugged mountain man type, bronzed anzac, our cultural icons where human qualities worthy of emulation can be promoted.

Patriotism in defense of those values and legitimate territory is a good thing. But there isn't much legitimate territory these days. The status quo is only as it is through wars and fighting.

When it is called on to invade others with a view to enlarging our 'territory' for greed reasons, it would be in error. (Iraq to my mind is not like that) Breaking treaties with Indians is the same.

You prefer free market anarchy with rules.. some rules non political rules. Fair enough, but by your own admission it is a pipe dream.
Can you point to such a version of 'The State' or a nation or people where this has been the case ? I guess Tribal society may be close, the main rule is a sorting of pecking order based on intellect and skill, usually in the area of fighting.

I'll be interested in your comments.

l have a bit of a mental block when it comes to patriotism and nationalism. It seems to manifest itself in a fairly negative way that appears detrimental to the notion of individualism. l dont see it as necessary nor compatible with the idea of individualism. The individual determines their own identity and need not be taught who and what he is by an outsider. In the words of Al Dunlap... "if you need to bring in consultants to tell you how to run your business, then give it away as you dont know what you are doing and you are out of your depth."

Regarding the apparent pipe dream that is free market anarchy... l say that only because the civilians strike me as way to content pushing the blue lever to get a candy to ever embrace a model that relies so heavily on personal responsibility. To paraphrase Bob Dylan... 'you need to be honest to make anarchy work.' l just cannot see society shaking off its addiction to 'enforced unity' otherwise known as the social welfare state. Its too easy as it is.

My solution is the Atlas Shrugged solution. That is, shrug off the weighty burden of the world and its claims upon me. l do not recognise those claims. l will stick around as long as l can live more or less according to my convictions. When l am too deeply compromised, l'll just close my factory, blow it up, pack my gold into my backpack and head for greener pastures. The entitlement junkies can suck each other dry for their next fix until they eat each other into extinction.

TRADE
that sounded like a summary of a movie I once viewed called 'The Sensualist' It must have been in the 60s or 70s, but it pretty much conveyed that same view. It kind of didn't have a beginning, nor an end, the character was 'there'.. he did stuff, and he moved on... 'the end'. Everything was about him, and his sensual convictions. The classic scene was when this girl he had latched onto developed cancer. She was in the late stages of the illness and quite helpless, he mounted her in the hospital bed, 'did' her, got off, walked out and that was the end.
No questioning it being a philosophical movie, akin to 'a clockwork orange' showing an existential futility and meaninglessness of life, turning it into a series of intense experiences designed to validate ones individual existence.
Your convictions appear to be self made, which by your world view is quite ok. And your view of nationalism and patriotism is quite consistent with that view.
Personally, I think you rank as one of the most honest contributors for saying this, because without reference to revealed truth, yours is the only honest position to take, yet seldom are people brave enough to go down that path or even recognize that it exists.
They prefer to dwell in the promised land of culture and social welfare as you pointed out.
Realizing the futility of existence apart from existential personal fulfilment as u appear to do, places you in a good position to read "Ecclesiastes" in the bible, written by King Solomon, who had 'tried it all' in terms of existential experience. His conclusions are worth noting.

I feel you are not far from the Kingdom :)