Are you a nationalist or a patriot? What’s the difference? Well at first glance they may seem similar, but there is a major difference between what drives these two types of people. A nationalist follows with blind faith, while a patriot does what he or she does because it is right. The patriot will always love his or her country, but will not always love or even tolerate what that country is doing. A nationalist will not realize that what the country is doing is wrong, while a patriot will always attempt to stop the beloved country from doing wrong.
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The Nationalist Who Thinks He is Patriotic
The problem is the nationalist does not generally realize that he or she is not a patriot. This is because nationalism masquerades as patriotism. The process of becoming a nationalist is the same as becoming a cult member. It’s a slow process where your sense of reality begins to change. The main indoctrination system used against the American people is the public education system. The system creates a power structure that you must follow, trains you to be obedient to the media, and pulls you away from your family–this destroyed the multi-generational household system for a long time.
Forgiving Atrocities
“The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them”. – George Orwell
I think that both George Orwell got it right. It’s not wrong to speak out against actions taken by the nation or its leaders when you think that those actions are wrong and in fact not doing so seems to be the worst crime against a nation that a person can commit as a citizen.
This means that a patriot doesn’t blindly accept the idea of a massive military or forced military service. A patriot will decide whether or not what the government is doing overseas is really the right thing; he or she will ask whether or not giving up safety in return for suppression of freedom is worth it. A patriot also won’t simply accept being told that we have only two choices for President and that we must select the lesser evil rather than the best candidate, but most importantly of all, a patriot will simply ask questions rather than blindly follow.