Is Nationalism A Good Thing?

I think that you could easily find the answer to this question by googling the definition

 

Do you trust google to define your politics?

 

No, but I trust Google to define basic vocabulary.

 

I personally find that scary

 

You find it scary that people use Google to look up definitions to words?

That's an interesting phobia.

 

More than just a phobia ; google has a long history of litigation regarding fraud , misrepresentation and "steering" factoids. JMO but enough to question legitimacy.

 

I prefer a European style pride in my country. I feel that in America this pride comes at the expense of putting down others. For example a common right wing argument I hear is that Europeans are "jealous" of Ameirca. They say this while refusing to acknowledge anything good in other countries. They don't have "freedom" and they are over run with Muslims which of course means there can be no freedom only the laws of Allah. This kind of thinking lends itself to racism and this is the thinking of modern American nationalist. The idea that jealousy is making everyone take what you have, what you have built. A tribal community is a key idea in racism. You do not love who is not your own and you feel nothing when fighting them since they would kill you if they could.

When I say European style I mean like I am proud of America but Belgium is a nice place too.

Countries are man made lines on a map. We are all human and those lines don't really exist. Nationalism to me is almost an exclusively racist concept now.

 

USA is number 1! The rest of the world is inferior, and their political and cultural beliefs are stupid.

Oh, wait...I just learned that I was born in Afghanistan and will be moving back soon.

Afghanistan is number 1! The rest of the world is inferior, and their political and cultural beliefs are stupid.

 

I think people should stop being racist bigots.
Learn to embrace diversity.

 

What i mean with that question is that we can see how it can be(come) one of the worst things, but is it one of the worst things on itself/by default, or can it become the worst because it is easily combined with worse things.
I mean nationalism on itself doesn't have to include antidiversity or discriminating mindsets.
And if we only go by theory and look at i characteristics of a society dominated by a very nationalistic majority, sure; that does seem a recipe for some bigotry. But there are other ways to look at nationalism, like on an individual basis. When I do this its hard to conclude its the worst political ideology/mindset a person can have.
Btw: when I look up the definition of nationalism it also doesn't say it's one the worst things

 

I know several people with nationalistic tendencies who have that very same conviction.

This is merely one direction a nationalistic mindset can go in.

 

I prefer an Eastern European brand of Nationali

 

There are many multi cult "countries" to pick from. An urban environ such as detroit or london should work well.

 

One doesn't have to move to another country to suit people like you, nudist. In fact, people who think like you are a reason to not merely stay and live in the country of birth and residence, but also get vocal about being part of a cultural minority and get on the barricades for it if they get subjected to discriminating practices or mindsets.
You're entitled to your discriminating opinions and convictions, but if you take issue with minorities getting vocal and media attention about this its good to be aware people like you are the exact reason why they feel the need to

 

EVERY culture has the right to exist. Preserve itself and heritage. To incite cultural mixture is genocidal to all concerned.

 

Cultural mixture is not primarily happening with the goal to erase the main culture. It's also not threatening the traditional culture in its existence. Modernisation is a bigger threat in that regard (just look how a country's people live now compared to lets say 2 or 3 generations ago and what caused it). Besides, culture is not stagnant in the first place.

Except in another country according to you.

 

The US is the third most populous country in the world, single largest exporter in the world, weapons are our biggest money maker, our military is equal to the next six to sixteen largest combined, we routinely win half the Nobel Prizes and Olympic medals, pay for half the expenses of NATO and the UN, and the dollar underscores almost every currency in the world today. You can forget about the EU, China, or Russia being anywhere near #1, yet Americans call their own government and corporations evil and demand they lie to them for their own protection. Nationalism can serve as a substitute for a sore ass, when an entire nation bends over and greases their ass for the international conglomerates.

 

diversity of localisms is a good thing. but a nation is much to big to be considered local. so is a state or province. even some counties and cities are.
the role of a nation, or ultimately a world government, and even a multi-world federation, is to protect freedom and safety of movement and relocation.
along with environment and means of existence. and not to self servingly do the exact opposite.

 

the means of bullying is not a bragging right.

(aggressiveness and evil are one and the same.
goodness and the desire to be feared, are exact absolute binary opposites
structurally and functionally incapable of dwelling in the same heart,
even if its the heart of a god)

 

Absolutely not. Part of Nationalism is respect for soveriegnty ; yours and mine.