#got into a weirdly heated discussion about whether European Nationalism in the 19th and 20th century | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ivan-fyodorovich-k · 1 month

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I don't think I'm cut out to be an intellectual, I have been noticing a lot in the last year in particular that I kind of shoot from the hip and think that things are basically similar and interrelated and I keep crashing against people who insist that everything is utterly distinct and unique and nothing has anything to do with anything else

If I were being generous with my peers I would say perhaps I am not rigorous enough but if I'm being honest I feel like I'm just insufficiently pedantic

#got into a weirdly heated discussion about whether European Nationalism in the 19th and 20th century #had anything at all to do with independence movements in the Americas in the 18th and 19th century #they actually laughed at me #and like #I'm not an idiot #they're not exactly the same but do they really have no overlap at all?#I genuinely can't tell if I'm wrong or if they're just so blinded by the primacy of Europe #that they can't entertain the idea that Europe might be influenced by something else #they laughed when I pointed to a map #because among historians maps are famously useless apparently #also they laughed before I had the chance to make my point #which was not 'map = reality' as they seemed to assume it would be #it was an odd conversation #but I digress #it all feels very angels dancing on the head of a pin

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