..
Here's what Edward Lasker wrote about nationalism:

"My French friend proved to be a very interesting fellow, remarkably mature
for his 18 years. He was studying mathematics at the Sorbonne, and we
compared
notes on the French and German system of education. Basically, there did
not seem to be much difference. ... In both countries the youngsters were
indoctrinated with the most stupid kind of nationalism. The result was that
every German boy reached maturity with the conviction that everything in
Germany was better than in any other country; and every French boy reached
maturity with the same conviction regarding France. In later years, when I
lived in England and in the United States, I was much surprised to find that
the same methods were used, as a matter of course, in Anglo-Saxon schools.
I do not wonder that we had two world wars."

--Edward Lasker ('Chess Secrets I Learned from the Masters', p. 135)



I think Mr. Lasker was correct.


However, it is mistaken to refer to American schools as "Anglo-Saxon." Here
in America. there are many different peoples, from a diverse range of
ancestries, only one of which is "Anglo-Saxon."
The idea of American schools being comprised of homogenous "Anglo-Saxons" is
almost racist, in addition to being erroneous.


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Note that a standard definition of "patriotism" will mention the word "love,"
while a dictionary definition for "nationalism" will usually not.

No dictionary I know of gives Edward Lasker's incisive "stupid" in the
description of either term -- showing the vast superiority of anecdotes over
pedantic definitions! :-)