The difference between patriotism and nationalism

I know that this was from yesterday.  But it was really well-written, so here it is.  I was reading the blog Bring it On!, and I came across a post that quoted a recent Newsweek article.  I wish every conservative Republican could get the chance to read this.  Too many people today forget the distinction between patriotism and nationalism:

Orwell defined patriotism as “devotion to a particular place and aparticular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the worldbut has no wish to force upon other people.” Can’t argue with that.

The subtitle of this article is “The greatness of the United States isunique—and not a model to be exported by narrow-minded nationalists.”

Accordingto Orwell, nationalism is the habit of identifying oneself with asingle nation or an idea, and “placing it beyond good and evil andrecognizing no other duty than that of advancing its interests.” Inother words nationalism doesn’t have to be based on a country. Thissame fanaticism can be applied to any “ism”: Communism,Neo-Conservatism, Fundamentalism (of any religion), you name it.Whether it’s based on a country or an “ism,” nationalism always hasthat combination of blind zeal and indifference to reality.

Innationalism, thoughts “always turn on victories, defeats, triumphs andhumiliations. … Nationalism is power-hunger tempered byself-deception.” And this self-deception leads to disastrousmiscalculations based on wishful thinking rather than facts. Orwellsays:

“Political and military commentators, like astrologers,can survive almost any mistake, because their more devoted followers donot look to them for an appraisal of the facts but for the stimulationof nationalistic loyalties.” Hey, whatever happened to all the flowersand ice cream that grateful Iraqis were supposed to showering ourtroops with?

Again, very well-written.

Last week, I wrote a 4th of July article that touched on this issue of what patriotism means.

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Other blogs writing about this issue: Bring it On!, Americablog, Sepia Mutiny, Who hijacked our country, Reformed Leftist, Cheezy's Blog.