In sixty years, we have seen a cohesive movement for freedom and self-reliance, emanating from a single country, crumbled into five distinct chunks, all of which are suffering one way or another, unable to cope with the tensions and contradictions inherent in this ineffable concept called ‘nation’.

Each and every one of these countries has had, at least once, some ‘leader’ who has charismatically or otherwise, taken singular charge in order to ’save’ the country.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Because people are not willing to address the underlying issues. More often than not, they do not need ‘guidance’ from uniformed thugs or robe-clad ‘philosophers of the soul’, professing one faith or another, to prevent them thinking such thoughts.

No, this notion called nationhood, which has its ugly side in separatism, is sufficient to quell all dissent, right there within the synapses and neurons of one’s own brain.