NATIONASLISM VESUS PATRIOTISM

In researching the difference between Nationalism and Patriotism I have found more inaccurate and incomplete contrasts and comparisons written, yet oddly I know most Americans understand the difference between these two allegiances in their hearts even if unable to articulate them.

The general overview of Nationalism is that it is a belief and love of your Country’s Government and culture. The French are very Nationalistic about both and are very inhospitable to the encroachment of other cultures supplanting themselves into the French marketplace.

Nationalistic Countries equally have a tendency toward xenophobia such as in China where it perceives perhaps because of its past history of occupation and pillaging from Japan and Great Britain, any acceptance of foreign culture as a diminishment of Chinese culture and therefore a threat.

Patriotism on the other hand venerates ideals of their country be it governmental or cultural. American Patriotism does not celebrate the government that is current and in power but rather the ideals of government as in the Constitution and the American Democratic Republic. Equally Patriotism celebrates the ideals of our culture, such as, freedom of the individual, free enterprise, the American Dream, pluralism, hard work, the pioneer spirit, and importantly family (Mom and apple pie).

The Nationalist believe that their government and culture is superior to others and therefore it has rightly been considered a blind loyalty as well as an arrogant claim of superiority.

The Patriot believes that their form of government (ideals) along with its cultural (ideals) is superior to all others and has been wrongly characterized as being the same as Nationalism where both blind loyalty and arrogance is celebrated when instead patriotism celebrates individual independence.

The individual rights and the sacrifices made by our ancestry to establish those rights along with the soldiers of today protecting those rights are clearly what Patriotism is about contrasted by Nationalism that bows to ethnicity and cultural identity.

Demanding that new immigrants assimilate into our culture by learning English and showing love and respect to our constitution is not cultural snobbery or bigotry, quite the contrary, it is proclaiming that what constitutes your American status as a citizen is reliant on the American system and its ideals and your fealty to those Constitutional protections not your ethnicity.

The current Germans are Nationalistic as was the Germans under Adolph Hitler’s Nazi party. Nationalist are loyal to their government and culture in whatever form it arises, transforms or changes in practical application to the notion that if you are a German then you should always be proud of your motherland. Nationalism is a blind, arrogant and indoctrinated concept of loyalty that has always been a dangerous and agitating passion that sometimes incites conflict.

Patriotism however, is not about loyalty to a government but to a concept of government or ideal and that is not a small distinction. Patriots look to the idea of individual rights and freedoms and are roused when those ideas and ideals are challenged. They have loyalty to a document indeed a contract such as the Constitution and not to a President, Congress or a Supreme Court.

Also American Patriotism is unique because of the exceptional nature of its governmental system and ideals of freedom. Americans rally around the flag understanding it to be a symbol of individual freedom and then only by extension is the superiority of our society felt because we are grateful and appreciative for those unalienable rights and protections.

Patriotism is stirred when enemies of America and her Constitutional protections and our way of life are threatened by either outside forces, (Islamic Terrorists) or in what we are experiencing today, inside forces, Progressive Democrats (Socialists) challenging those ideals and individual rights to freedom.

The Tea Party Movement is not a third party, is not an organization founded on Nationalistic principles, is not a co-opted or a funded Republican mask like the many Democratic party masks(ACORN, SEIU) and is not a top down led group by neo-con Conservatives. It is a growing gathering force of Patriots in the spirit of our tradition of defending our individual freedoms as law-abiding, value-laden, civic-minded honorable citizens that are awakening from apathy and complacency.

Americans are not Nationalists and we proudly stand together in our pluralistic society and assert our Patriotism together with brand new citizens along side of those whose heritage dates back to the first Puritan settlers.

There should be not cry for humility; no equation with Nationalism and no tempering with guilt as we proudly proclaim our Patriotism as “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”