{"id":69166,"date":"2016-12-26T09:37:20","date_gmt":"2016-12-26T14:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/?p=69166"},"modified":"2016-12-26T13:33:29","modified_gmt":"2016-12-26T18:33:29","slug":"why-is-nationalism-dangerous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/2016\/12\/26\/why-is-nationalism-dangerous\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is Nationalism Dangerous?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-69627\" src=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/files\/2016\/07\/1.png\" alt=\"1\" width=\"603\" height=\"163\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/files\/2016\/07\/1.png 603w, https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/files\/2016\/07\/1-500x135.png 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 603px) 100vw, 603px\" \/>In his speech accepting the Republican nomination for President, Donald Trump\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/politics\/la-na-pol-donald-trump-convention-speech-transcript-20160721-snap-htmlstory.html\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a>\u00a0(my emphasis):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8230;our plan will put America First. <em>Americanism,<\/em> not globalism, <em>will be our credo<\/em>. As long as we are led by politicians who will not put America First, then we can be assured that other nations will not treat America with respect.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Donald Trump&#8217;s insistence\u00a0that we put &#8220;America First&#8221; hardly sounds harmful\u00a0or irrational on its face. To\u00a0be\u00a0proud and protective of one&#8217;s country sounds like something good, even inevitable. \u00a0Americans\u00a0are, after all, Americans. Who else would we put first?<\/p>\n<p>But nationalism\u00a0&#8212;\u00a0a passionate investment in one&#8217;s\u00a0country over and above others &#8212; is neither good nor\u00a0neutral. Here are some reasons why it&#8217;s dangerous:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Nationalism is a form of in-group\/out-group thinking.<\/strong> It\u00a0encourages the kind of &#8220;us&#8221; vs. &#8220;them&#8221; attitude\u00a0that drives sports fandom, making people irrationally committed to one team. When the team wins, they feel victorious (even though they just watched), and they feel pleasure in others&#8217; defeat.\u00a0As <a href=\"http:\/\/orwell.ru\/library\/essays\/nationalism\/english\/e_nat\" target=\"_blank\">George Orwell<\/a> put it:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p>A nationalist is one who thinks solely, or mainly, in terms of competitive prestige&#8230; his thoughts always turn on victories, defeats, triumphs and humiliations.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Committed to winning at all costs, with power-seeking and superiority as the only real goal, nationalists feel justified in hurting the people of other countries.<\/strong> Selfishness and a will to power &#8212; instead of morality,\u00a0mutual benefit, or long-term stability &#8212; becomes the driving force of\u00a0foreign policy. Broken agreements, violence, indifference to suffering, and other harms to countries and their peoples destabilize global politics. As the <em>Washington Post<\/em> said yesterday in its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/donald-trump-is-a-unique-threat-to-american-democracy\/2016\/07\/22\/a6d823cc-4f4f-11e6-aa14-e0c1087f7583_story.html\" target=\"_blank\">unprecedented editorial board opinion<\/a> on Donald Trump,\u00a0&#8220;The consequences to global security could be disastrous.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Nationalism also contributes to internal fragmentation and instability.<\/strong> It requires that we decide who is and isn&#8217;t <em>truly<\/em> part of the nation, encouraging exclusionary, prejudiced attitudes and policies towards anyone within our borders who is identified as part of &#8220;them.&#8221; Trump has been clearly marking the boundaries of the real America for his entire campaign, excluding Mexican Americans, Muslims, African Americans, immigrants, and possibly even women. As\u00a0MSNBC&#8217;s Chris Hayes <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/chrislhayes\/status\/756321162775306240\" target=\"_blank\">tweeted<\/a> on the night of Trump&#8217;s acceptance speech:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">He&#8217;s talking about inner cities as &#8220;them&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He talked about the laid-off workers ruined by trade deals as &#8220;you&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/chrislhayes\/status\/756321162775306240\">July 22, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>A leader\u00a0with a\u00a0nationalist mandate will feel entitled to breaking the laws of his or her own country.\u00a0<\/strong>If the Constitution interferes with nationalist ambition, then the Constitution can be set aside. Trump has discussed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/volokh-conspiracy\/wp\/2016\/02\/26\/donald-trump-says-hell-open-up-libel-laws\/\" target=\"_blank\">controlling the media<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2016\/06\/01\/437ccae6-280b-11e6-a3c4-0724e8e24f3f_story.html\" target=\"_blank\">interfering with the judiciary<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/trump-says-torture-works-backs-waterboarding-and-much-worse\/2016\/02\/17\/4c9277be-d59c-11e5-b195-2e29a4e13425_story.html\" target=\"_blank\">unlawful torture<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/trumps-anti-muslim-rhetoric-plays-well-with-fans-but-horrifies-others\/2016\/02\/29\/477f73dc-de37-11e5-846c-10191d1fc4ec_story.html\" target=\"_blank\">extrajudicial murder<\/a>. Some of his\u00a0supporters want to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/election-us-2016-36860740\" target=\"_blank\">imprison his political rivals<\/a>. None of this is legal, but he doesn&#8217;t care.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>A\u00a0nationalist leader will have to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.politifact.com\/truth-o-meter\/article\/2016\/jun\/29\/fact-checking-2016-clinton-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\">lie and distort history<\/a> in order to maintain the illusion of superiority<\/strong>. A nationalist regime requires a <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Post-truth_politics\" target=\"_blank\">post-truth politics<\/a>, one that\u00a0makes facts irrelevant in favor of emotional appeals.\u00a0As Dr.\u00a0Ali Mohammed Naqvi <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Islam-Nationalism-Dr-Mohammed-Naqvi\/dp\/1502538156\" target=\"_blank\">explained<\/a>:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p>To glorify itself, nationalism generally resorts to suppositions, exaggerations, fallacious reasonings, scorn and inadmissible self-praise, and worst of all, it engages in the distortion of history, model-making and fable-writing. Historical facts are twisted to imaginary myths as it fears historical and social realism.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Thoughtful and responsive governance interferes with self-glorification, so all internal reflection and external criticism must be squashed.<\/strong> Nationalist leaders attack and disempower\u00a0anyone who questions the nationalist program and aim to destroy social movements. After Trump&#8217;s acceptance speech, Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullers\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/nbcblk\/trump-black-thought-leaders-react-speech-n614671\" target=\"_blank\">responded<\/a>:\u00a0&#8220;He&#8230; threaten[ed] the vast majority of this country with imprisonment, deportation and a culture of abject fear.&#8221; Anyone who isn&#8217;t on board, especially if they are designated as a &#8220;them,&#8221; must be silenced.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When Americans say &#8220;America is the greatest country on earth,&#8221; that&#8217;s nationalism. When other countries are framed as competitors instead of allies and potential allies,\u00a0that&#8217;s nationalism.\u00a0When people\u00a0say &#8220;America first,&#8221; expressing a willfulness to cause pain and suffering to\u00a0citizens of other countries if it is good for America, that&#8217;s nationalism. And that&#8217;s dangerous. It&#8217;s\u00a0committing to one&#8217;s\u00a0country&#8217;s\u00a0preeminence and doing whatever it takes, however immoral, unlawful, or destructive, to further that goal.<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/578549708\" target=\"_blank\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 63.636364% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/578549708?et=wiR8hFHhR912jjuUwwu2zg&amp;viewMoreLink=off&amp;sig=2qcP5suBF5YqJXkdh1_O0mhwdn_k9x63Uk7F5vcWfqw=&amp;caption=true\" width=\"594\" height=\"378\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 0;\">\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<span class=\"ft_signature\"><em><a href=\"http:\/\/lisa-wade.com\/\">Lisa Wade, PhD<\/a> is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/American-Hookup-New-Culture-Campus\/dp\/039328509X?ie=UTF8&amp;*Version*=1&amp;*entries*=0\">American Hookup<\/a><em>, a book about college sexual culture; a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Gender-Interactions-Institutions-Lisa-Wade\/dp\/0393931072?ie=UTF8&amp;*Version*=1&amp;*entries*=0\">textbook about gender<\/a>; and a forthcoming introductory text: <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/lisa-wade.com\/intro\/\">Terrible Magnificent Sociology<\/a><em>.\u00a0You can follow her on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lisawade\">Twitter<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/lisawadephd\/\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/em><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In his speech accepting the Republican nomination for President, Donald Trump\u00a0said\u00a0(my emphasis): &#8230;our plan will put America First. Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo. As long as we are led by politicians who will not put America First, then we can be assured that other nations will not treat America with respect. Donald Trump&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":69648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[12508,2056,55,253,23656,2125,129,406,3920,276,85,20068,2128,304,285,1760,1754,20063,37,133],"class_list":["post-69166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-activismsocial-movements","tag-crimelaw","tag-gender","tag-history","tag-immigrants-prejudicediscrimination","tag-immigrationcitizenship","tag-media","tag-propaganda","tag-nation-united-states","tag-nationalismpatriotism","tag-politics","tag-politics-election-2016","tag-fascismtotalitarianism","tag-the-state","tag-raceethnicity","tag-raceethnicity-blacksafricans","tag-raceethnicity-latinos","tag-raceethnicity-prejudicediscrimination","tag-social-psychology","tag-violence"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/files\/2016\/12\/3-1.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69166"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69632,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69166\/revisions\/69632"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}