Aperçu du jour

'A nation is a group of people united by a mistaken view about the past and a hatred of their neighbours.' -
Ernest Renan, French philosopher
Yes, I agree entirely that the notion of a nation has been over-romanticised and exploited, blatantly or otherwise, for political purposes. To a very large extent nations are artifical constructs built by the powerful for political purposes, whether to consolidate newly-formed and fragile states such as this Most Serene Republic in its early days (and even up to now), or to further unify and rally mature states, such as the established European powers were doing in the 19th and 20th centuries.