Post #3

Nationalization is the weaponized form of patriotism. While patriotism is the love and pride for one's country (expressed through culture and personal identity), nationalism convinces that non-nationals and minorities are to blame for problems in the country. There is a dangerous line crossed once patriotism turns into nationalism, as we’ve seen with Nazi Germany. The Nationalist Republican Alliance became the ruling party in El Salvador with its 1988 electoral victory and since has held a lot of power within the El Salvador government. Zekaria feels that recently, nation-states have become increasingly “less willing to come together to solve common problems.” (Zekaria, pg34) He talks about his conversation with a chinese businessman that represented the “consummate product of globalization.” (Zekaria, pg35 He knew all about American pop culture, and spoke of it with interest, but when the conversation shifted to Taiwan, Japan, and the United States, “his responses were filled with bile.” (Zekaria, pg35) He felt that because Taiwan was trying to claim independence, China should invade it. He said that Japan should never be trusted as they are an “aggressor nation.” Zekaria was getting the sense this man was thoroughly modern and also thoroughly nationalist. He sees the danger is how the rest of the world feels about world history mainly being written in the American perspective, and that could lead to nationalist views toward other countries and non-nationalist minorities in their countries. El Salvador has always had a history of violence and discrimination against indiginous peoples. In 2010, President Mauricio Funes apologized on behalf of the government for the persecution and mass killing that indiginous people have had to endure in the country. Even though in 2014, El Salvador made an amendment to the Constitution to include recognition of indigious peoples, “no official public policies or laws have been implemented in order to progress implementation.” (Minority Rights Group International)

Inequality is a huge problem in El Salvador. There is a significant level of gender inequality found in all areas of life like employment, health, education, political participation, and family life. It has gotten a little better since the end of the civil war in 1992, but gender inequality is still blatantly apparent. Though gender inequality is still prevalent, there has been a moderate poverty reduction. Extreme poverty has declined from 15 percent to 8.5 percent. The public debt is enormous in the country. The current GINI index for El Salvador was 38.00 as of 2017. Which is not the best but also not as bad as some countries in Central America like Honduras. This means there is a significant wealth gap between the countries wealthiest households vs the countries poorest households. 

Minorities and indigenous people are seen with little regard in El Salvador. Like I mentioned before, the constitution has been amended to include indiginous people but no public policies have come about, so the public really doesn't care about them. The indigenous people have been pretty much exterminated throughout El Salvador history. I believe indigenous people have been targeted all around the world due to their culture. I think in the public’s eye, their traditions of dancing and rituals that heal the earth are seen as savage-like, so they are not treated as humans. Societies a habit of domesticating everything they can, and reducing them to as object-like as possible for their own advantage, like taking the land the indigenous people possess.