“Nationalism is an infantile disease, the measles of mankind”. Albert Einstein
It was nationalism that was a major cause of the First World War and the Second one, too, although the nationalism was a trifle one-sided in that case. There are many good things about living in the US, but the nationalism of a certain part of the population is not one of them. Every Presidential candidate has to intone the thing about American “exceptionalism” (my friends wince, but that is why they are my friends), and “cities on hills”. The British were similar at one time, but had it knocked out of them by two world wars. Children are not taught the difference between patriotism, which is natural, and nationalism, which is food for third rate politicians on the make, causes wars, death, injury and unwelcome effects on the national wealth.
There are politicians and movers-and-shakers who do not want an informed – or educated – electorate. It suits them that way. Give the public electronic toys and tell them to go away and play. There are also less well-off people who get a vicarious pleasure from identifying themselves with “America, the world policeman, champion of liberty” After Iraq and Afghanistan there are fewer of these, but chopping off heads is sure to rouse them again (understandably) – which ISIS knows only too well.
What we need is democratic global governance and stronger international regulations.
Patriotism and nationalism are both full of crap.
What’s wrong with patriotism? I can understand you hating a conservative country like America, but what would be wrong with being a Danish patriot?
Patriotism is arbitrary and stupid, that’s why. Why have loyalty to a piece of land? I don’t care what its stupid politics are.
A nation is not just a piece of land. It is a collective heritage, a history, a culture, a way of life. But ultimately, a nation is a people. Personally, I am proud to be one of the British people. If the far left tries to rob patriotism from the people, it will fail. Even the Bolsheviks invoked a sense of Russian patriotism.
” It is a collective heritage, a history, a culture, a way of life. But ultimately, a nation is a people”
This is still arbitrary. You don’t see anyone shedding tears for the Roman Empire or Prussia, now do you?
” Personally, I am proud to be one of the British people.”
Why are you proud of something you haven’t accomplished.
“If the far left tries to rob patriotism from the people, it will fail.”
Robbing the opium from the people is one of the goals of the far left 😉
“Even the Bolsheviks invoked a sense of Russian patriotism.”
How is this a good thing?
I’m surprised you find it hard to distinguish between the two. Patriotism is not just about a plot of land; it is about feeling comfortable with a certain way of life, of thinking and of culture. Yes, one can recognise its faults and seek to correct them, but most human beings feel they have an attachment to the place and people with whom they grew up. You can denigrate this feeling, but it is pretty universal among most human beings. In tribal societies the feeling of belonging may be restricted to the tribe, but in more advanced societies it extends to a wider society. Trying to extinguish this natural feeling would bring about the very wars and social chaos you deplore.
It is too ingrained.
Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons. Bertrand Russell (1872 – 1970)
Patriotism is often an arbitrary veneration of real estate above principles. George Jean Nathan (1882 – 1958)
Patriotism and national boundaries just serve corporate interests now anyway, so I don’t see the value in preserving them, but I’m a socialist so what do I know…
I don’t see how “patriotism” is ingrained since nations are arbitrary, they’re not tangibly real things that have always existed. Most people have attachments to their neighborhoods, not necessarily their countries. Might as well say belief in God is ingrained or love of fast food is ingrained. As for war, since most of it is territorial, I think your point is evidently wrong.