Nationalism.

I was going to call this post "Fascism" but decided that I am unaware of any place in the world that actually operates in a fascist way.  The main difference between fascism and nationalism in this blog is largely the structure, one more a feeling and the other a totalitarian state government.  However, you can't have fascism without nationalism.

The definition I will use in this blog for "nationalism" is from the online Merriam Webster dictionary:

Loyalty and devotion to a nation; especially : a sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational group. 

Growing up I think my main exposure to nationalism happened on two occasions, the Queen's silver jubilee in 1976, and the Falklands war in 1982.  The first was a country-wide celebration of the 25th year of the Queen of England's reign.  Since the Queen is largely a symbolic figure, this was then a celebration of a symbolic figure, a symbol of Britain, and therefore a celebration of Britain and being British.  At the age of six it was simply a thing that adults were doing.  I got a cup that may still be at my parent's house.  I had no idea what the whole things was about.


In 1982 Argentina attacked sovereign British territory/reclaimed their sovereign territory.  I had never heard of the Falklands, and I suspect this was true for the majority of British people.  A few islands in the South Atlantic with 3,000 people on it and a bunch of sheep.  The biggest industry on the islands is making wool from those sheep.  A less significant place it is hard to imagine.  From my memory Maggie Thatcher was prime minister at the time and very unpopular.  A military task force was sent off to war with British flags waving.  My memory of the time was a general pride in being British, a clear idea that Argentina was the enemy, and an excitement about the whole thing. The support for Maggie Thatcher increased dramatically as a result, a;most certainly resulting in her reelection (she had been trailing before the war). In the end 907 people died.  The total killed and wounded in the conflict ended up being within a few hundred of the population of the islands (3 of whom died themselves).  It was considered a success.

As an adult my exposure to nationalism all took place in the USA.  I remember going to a rodeo in Saline, MI and seeing someone dressed as Uncle Sam riding out on a horse and the whole crowd rising, doffing their hats and singing the national anthem with fervor.  Coming from England I found it very odd.  There was no doubt that we were going to take part because of fear, if nothing else.  Since then nationalistic ideas have been everywhere, from the Pledge of Allegiance recited in schools to almost all politicians claiming that America is the greatest country on Earth, to at times a majority of USA voters being in favor of a constitutional amendment to outlaw the burning of the stars and stripes, to a singing of the national anthem before every sporting event.


However, the greatest outpouring of nationalism I have seen was the US response to the 9/11/2001 attack on the World Trade center.  I personally heard people wish for the countries from which the attacks had started to be bombed into the stone age with nuclear weapons.  The least popular president in history became the most popular popular president in history over night.  The country went to war, flags were everywhere, the words "anti-american" started being used again.  2752 people died in the attack.  In the wars that followed 4,683 US military personnel have died.  The death toll among civilians is at a minimum of 170,000, almost certainly much higher (rising to over a million in some estimates).  everywhere in the USA you will hear the troops lauded as heroes, giving the "ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom."  It is impossible to be elected without agreeing with that statement.


What really brought the whole thing down to me were the flags.  Flag sales in the USA rose by 70 times over the year before in 2001.  Flags were everywhere.  Rows of flags in front of houses.  Flags on cars.  Flags in parks.  People wearing flag decorated clothing.  After being attacked people wanted to demonstrate their, " sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational group."

So, that's my experience of nationalism.  The thing is that I just don't get it.  Or I don't get it with regard to anything serious.  I'm nationalistic enough to want the sports teams of my country to win and that's about it.  I simply don't understand why someone would take pride in being born in one place rather than another, or being part of one culture rather than another.  Why would you feel a sense of pride, a feeling of superiority, a higher valuation, with regard to your country over others?


Now, I can understand a sense of national, or regional, identity.  I am English (although not as much as I used to be) because that is where I was born and I retain some of the culture.  Other people are French because of where they are born and because of their culture.  As long as there are different regions with different cultures then national identity will continue.  Nationalism is the idea that the country in which you reside is better and more important than others, that France is a better place, and its' interests are more important, than the United States of America (and vice versa).  It simply cannot be true that large numbers of countries are all the best and their interests are more important than those of all the rest.  Objectively nationalism is nonsense, subjectively it is extremely important.


It is trivially easy to explain how nationalism comes about.  It is simply an expansion of who you think of as family, an expansion of the Circle of Compassion.  Through evolutionary processes human beings care more for those who are genetically related to them.  We care more for our families than we do for anyone else, we are more likely to defend, help, give money to our family members over other people.  Originally, when humans lived in small tribes, everyone else was in a different group, the Other.  In humans (and most animals) the Other is not worthy of our concern.  Whether they live or die doesn't matter.  In the course of human history who is Us rather than the Other has expanded, from tribes, to cities, to states.  Nationalism is what prevents the Circle of Compassion from encompassing all humans.  It's the idea that those in other countries (or states, or regions) are not as good, and worth less, than those in your own country.


When discussing the Afghanistan and Iraq wars with Americans I often come across the idea that the US had to go to war to stop 9/11 happening again.  I always end the conversations with "How many Iraqis are worth one American?  How many Iraqis is it acceptable to kill to stop one American death?"  The reason why this ends the conversation?  Because people know that they value Americans more than foreigners, and they know that is wrong, but they don't want to change how they feel.