Save The Nation!

The word " nation, " like many words, has multiple meanings. This inspires some people to make what they think are logical arguments based on insisting that only one selected meaning is valid. I believe I have given the example before of a guy who claimed that the entire concept of organic food is meaningless because " organic " means " carbon compounds " and all food consists of carbon compounds. Always stop and check yourself if you start making an argument based on the definition of a word. We ' ve had the same problem here with " socialism. " Somebody finds one or another dictionary definition and claims it has to mean that, which makes it impossible to discuss what some person really means by it. That isn ' t clever, it ' s actually idiotic. It ' s also important to remember that dictionaries often give differing definitions of a word, that word meanings change over time, and that they are also affected by context.Anyhow . . . A true fact about the planet today is that almost every square inch of land, with the exception of Antarctica, has to be within the boundaries of a particular nation. (Of course some boundaries are disputed at some small pieces of land are considered shared or neutral.) The " nation " in this sense is whatever political entity has, or claims, ownership of that land. (Dominion over nearby ocean comes with it.) Unfortunately, and much to their discredit in my view, Oxford gives the first definition of " nation " as "a large body of people united by c...
Source: Stayin' Alive - Category: American Health Source Type: blogs