All nationalists have the power of not seeing resemblances between similar sets of facts. A British Tory will defend self-determination in Europe and oppose it in India with no feeling of inconsistency. Actions are held to be good or bad, not on their own merits, but according to who does them, and there is almost no kind of outrage — torture, the use of hostages, forced labour, mass deportations, imprisonment without trial, forgery, assassination, the bombing of civilians — which does not change its moral colour when it is committed by “our” side.
– George Orwell, “Notes on Nationalism”, 1945
Ring any bells?
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I hate nationalism and it’s opposite (cultural relativism). If something is right or wrong it should be so due to it’s own merits, not because it’s done by one’s own country or because we “can’t understand” the traditions of a different group.
“Nationalism is an infantile disease.” - Albert Einstein
First, I agree with Ross and Orwell. America is in a particularly vexing position that is easy to see through when your country is not the subject of fanatical terrorists.