Having a chat with a chap — a great patriot by the way who served our nation with great distinction — the other day and we got wrapped in our underwear as to the implications of patriotism versus nationalism as it is used today in the national dialog.
What is patriotism, Big Red Car?
The first recorded use of the word in North America goes back to the early 1700s and became relevant to the Colonies in the 1770s when it was used to describe those men who would ultimately fight a war of revolution, a war of independence, against the British Crown who commanded the largest army and navy in the world at that time.
A patriot and his horse. General George Washington, later our first and second Presidents, was considered the finest horseman in the Colonies. He said his black manservant, William “Billy” Lee, was the better horseman and he, Geo Washington, was Number Two.
These patriots self-described themselves as members of a resistance movement, freedom fighters. The glue that bound them together was values, most powerfully freedom, but it is worth noting that a good many of the American revolutionaries were not even born in the Colonies, so this was an acquired, aspirational set of values. Nobody had even tasted real freedom at that time. It did not exist in any country in that world.
The British described those men as traitors to the Crown or rebels. One man’s patriot is another man’s traitor or rebel.
Samuel Johnson writing in 1774 an essay called The Patriot treated those loyal to the Brits harshly, calling their “false patriotism” the “last refuge of the scoundrel.”
The word patriotism is typically used to describe a personal characteristic or attribute generally being a measure of national loyalty, devotion, support, and defense of a country.
To put this origin narrative into context, one has only to remember the words of The Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Compare this to the view of the British King who believed that the consideration of personal happiness among his subjects was “nothing more than a disloyal act of self-indulgence.” Sounds like a very reasonable chap, no?
This pursuit of personal happiness notion is actually the foundation of the American entrepreneurial system of free market capitalism. It is all connected. You cannot have free markets without personal freedom and the ability for citizens to rule their own destiny in every aspect of their lives from location to work to economy.
In the military — logical since it started with soldiers during the American Revolution — and in our culture it is most often attributed to soldiers, but is now also often used more broadly to describe the same attributes when speaking of diplomats, teachers, first responders, police, and others who serve their fellow citizens.
What is nationalism, Big Red Car?
Nationalism is rooted in the concept of sovereignty, most often related back to the American and French Revolutions wherein citizens rose up in revolt against monarchies, kingdoms. At its root, it stood for the proposition that the people were the real sovereigns — the source of the power of the state — rather than monarchies, royalty, and kingdoms.
This notion, which was not universally embraced, gave rise to Western democracy and at that time to “liberalism,” a much different notion than how that word is used in the United States today.
The word nationalism has been bastardized through the years when purloined by fascist regimes which have used the word to denote a sense of national superiority — a perverted sense of national destiny — when it comes to culture, ethnicity, religion, and other characteristics.
The Nazis in Germany, the fascists in Mussolini’s Italy, the Emperor’s Japan, Putin’s Russia, and current day China are all guilty of misusing the concept of nationalism to justify bad acts including conducting violent wars (sometimes against their own citizens, talking to you Hong Kong and Uyghurs).
In World War II, the United States, a Western democracy, joined with other like minded countries to defeat these ill-conceived German, Italian, and Japanese notions of nationalism.
Nationalism is a characteristic, an attribute, of a nation or a nation’s leadership.
How about “America First,” Big Red Car?
Former President Trump used the rallying call of “America First” as a political cudgel to differentiate his campaign and administration from others.
It was not well received by his detractors — many of whom called it an unhealthy demonstration of nationalism flirting with jingoism — but when distilled to its essence stood for the proposition that the interests of American citizens — the source of all power in our representative republic — should be first in line when considering all national and international matters.
This took root in such matters as:
1. The failure of our NATO partners to shoulder their fair share of the cost of defending Europe as they had agreed to in the Atlantic Charter. In addition to “an attack on one is an attack on all” there is an agreement for sharing the cost of the alliance.
The Europeans were not underwriting their own armies and their contribution to NATO in accordance with the agreement, but were quick to remind America that it was obligated to defend them.
This President Trump character made the Europeans pony up their fair share to the persistent grumbling of many NATO members who preferred allowing the Americans to carry the burden of their defense and its cost.
2. The building of the Russia-to-Germany natural gas NordStream II pipeline to which the United States objected on the grounds that it was imprudent to allow an enemy to be the strategic supplier of energy to an increasingly thirsty Germany and western Europe given that the Russians would undoubtedly cut off the pipeline in the event of war.
It was further imprudent to fund the enemy with payments to Russia for the energy itself. Why fund your enemies?
3. The NordStream II pipeline was further irritating because Germany could and did buy American LNG (liquified natural gas) from the United States.
In a dispassionate, intellectually neutral context “America First” was a fair check on serving the American people — do not take on any obligations without ensuring they serve the American interest first. This can be applied to trade agreements, military alliances, climate accords, and a number of other important national policy interests.
American First is perfectly consistent with the revolutionary principle of: “Government of the people, by the people, and for the people” and the enlightening Preamble to the US Constitution that begins with the words, “We the People . . . . . ”
Where patriotism is a personal attribute or characteristic, nationalism is a national policy matter under the purview of the nation’s leaders, in particular, the President of the United States who is empowered to conduct the nation’s foreign policy in accordance with the Constitution.
What is jingoism, Big Red Car?
Ahhh, jingoism — a form of ultra-aggressive foreign policy which threatens to use force as a tool to advance a country’s national interests can be the result of excessive nationalism, but only when it entails the use of force.
The term comes from a song written during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 wherein the Brits fought to prevent the Russians from taking Constantinople. The Russians desperately wanted a warm water port and the Brits wanted to prevent this from happening as the Brits had a powerful navy.
We don’t want to fight but by Jingo if we do
We’ve got the ships, we’ve got the men, we’ve got the money too
We’ve fought the Bear before, and while we’re Britons true
The Russians shall not have Constantinople!
Interestingly, the Russians are in Syria for just this reason, a warm water port.
Wrap it up, Big Red Car — lunch is upon us
Fine, dear reader.
1. Patriotism is a personal attribute whilst nationalism is a policy issue.
2. In general, patriotism is viewed favorably whilst nationalism is suspect.
3. In accordance with the Spice Theory of Life, a pinch of either makes the soup more savory whilst a shovelful destroys it.
4. Find ways to be a patriot in your personal life: volunteer to serve your fellow man, vote, become informed on the issues of our time.
5. Nationalism is not a negative when it is employed to ensure that our government is “for the people.”
Be well and have a great week. Come to work early (even if you are WFH) ready to bite the ass off a grizzly bear.
But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car.
