Thread by @docrussjackson

#Patriotism is a healthy pride in your country that creates a desire to help other citizens.

#Nationalism is identification with one's own nation, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations, & is often inherently divisive.

theplayerstribune.com/posts/dear-eng…

Nationalism can be divisive because it highlights perceived differences between people, emphasizing an individual's identification with their own nation. When it submerges individual identity within a national one, it gives elites opportunities to manipulate & control the masses.

George Orwell distinguishes nationalism from patriotism which he defines as devotion to a particular place. More abstractly, nationalism is "power-hunger tempered by self-deception". For Orwell, the nationalist is more likely than not dominated by irrational negative impulses.

"A nationalist is one who thinks solely, or mainly, in terms of competitive prestige. He may be a positive or a negative nationalist: he may use his mental energy either in boosting or in denigrating, but his thoughts always turn on victories, defeats, triumphs & humiliations."

"He sees history, especially contemporary history, as the endless rise and decline of great power units and every event that happens seems to him a demonstration that his own side is on the upgrade and some hated rival is on the downgrade."

"The nationalist does not go on the principle of simply ganging up with the strongest side. On the contrary, having picked his side, he persuades himself that it is the strongest and is able to stick to his belief even when the facts are overwhelmingly against him."

In the liberal political tradition there was mostly a negative attitude toward nationalism as a dangerous force and a cause of conflict and war between nation-states. The historian Lord Acton put the case for "nationalism as insanity" in 1862.

Acton argued that nationalism suppresses minorities, places country above moral principles & creates a dangerous individual attachment to the state.

However, nationalism should not be confused with the idea a liberal society should be based in a stable nation state.

Others focus on the violence of nationalist movements, the associated militarism, & on division & conflict inspired by jingoism or chauvinism. National symbols & patriotic assertiveness are in some countries discredited by their historical link with past wars, especially Germany.

Bertrand Russell criticized nationalism for diminishing the individual's capacity to judge his or her fatherland's foreign policy.

And Albert Einstein, one of the most intelligent people ever born, stated that "Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind".

As the dangerous rise in divisive authoritarian populist nationalism again threatens democracies across the Western world, David Dushman, the last surviving soldier who took part in the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, has died at 98. bbc.co.uk/news/world-eur…

There's nothing intrinsically wrong with flags, but history teaches us that BIG problems arise when nationalism tips into 'populist nationalism', jingoism & xenophobia, & when authoritarian Governments use national symbols to divide people - like ours is.

https://twitter.com/docrussjackson/status/1375036788713132036

"As for the nationalistic loves & hatreds I have spoken of, they are part of the make-up of most of us, whether we like it or not. Whether it is possible to get rid of them I do not know, but it is possible to struggle against them, & that this is essentially a moral effort."

"If you are jealous of the wealth & power of America or a sentiment of inferiority towards the British ruling class, you cannot get rid of those feelings simply by taking thought. But you can recognise that you have them, & prevent them from contaminating your mental processes."

"The emotional urges which are inescapable, & are perhaps even necessary to political action, should be able to exist side by side with an acceptance of reality. But this needs a moral effort, & contemporary English literature shows how few of us are prepared to make it."