The age of nation-states

by | Mar 8, 2023 | Analysis

 

• States (governments) have existed for as much as 7,000 years. What is the broad history of states (governments)?
• What functions does the nation-state perform in the culture of capitalism? To what extent is this different from history’s previous versions of states (governments)?
Part Two
• 1) How has the nation-state been constructed from the standpoint of social engineering, including as discussed in “The history of racist colonial violence …” and previous readings? 2) How does this pertain to the history of racial and ethnic relations—not only in the U.S. but also elsewhere—including slavery, genocide and oppression, immigration, and forms of racial-ethnic oppression in general.
• What is the history of redlining and racial covenants in the U.S., and what have been their consequences for racial inequality?

 

Sample solution

Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


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God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

Sample Solution

States (governments) have existed for as much as 7,000 years. The broad history of states (governments) can be divided into four main eras: the ancient period from 5,000 to 1,800 BCE; the Classical period from 800 BCE to 500 CE; the medieval period from 500 to 1500 CE and modern era starting in 1500 CE when nation-states began to emerge (Gonzalez & Galles 2018). Throughout each era governments evolved their forms of power, organization and representation with different types ranging from monarchies feudal systems imperial systems democracies republics etc.

Sample Solution

States (governments) have existed for as much as 7,000 years. The broad history of states (governments) can be divided into four main eras: the ancient period from 5,000 to 1,800 BCE; the Classical period from 800 BCE to 500 CE; the medieval period from 500 to 1500 CE and modern era starting in 1500 CE when nation-states began to emerge (Gonzalez & Galles 2018). Throughout each era governments evolved their forms of power, organization and representation with different types ranging from monarchies feudal systems imperial systems democracies republics etc.

In the culture of capitalism, states are responsible for providing legal framework within which economic activities take place thus maintaining social order protecting people’s rights ensuring fair competition within marketplace mentioned Waldron 2019 . This differs significantly states prior capitalism primarily because nation-states no longer function just representatives political interests ruling class but instead become mediators class conflicts extending services population more generally noted by Howard & McAndrew 2019 .

From standpoint social engineering state constructed various means control peoples lives since inception enforcing oppressive laws serve interests powerful across generations cited Brown 2005 .This pertains history racial ethnic relations not only US also elsewhere form slavery oppression genocides immigration policies mentioned earlier all being used oppress subjugate other groups furthering inequality throughout world referenced Cox 2020.

 

 

Part two tackling issue redlining racial covenants start United States going back early 1900s where banks insurance companies use these practices deny certain groups access resources needed establish build communities educational opportunities healthcare facilities etc., thus maintaining existing structure racial hierarchy Martin 2017.

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