Preface: I had written a long article along the
lines below in 1980 but it got... censored.
I've published a short verion of it some
twelve to sixteen years later in an emag
"Spojrzenia". I like a good usage of words,
so that words are not wasted.

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Wlodzimierz Holsztynski,


Patriotism, nationalism, chauvinism
===================================

Patriotism
----------

Patriotism is a positive, constructive feeling and
attitude. A patriot is a person, who wishes everybody,
hence every country, every nation, every ethniv group
well. A patriot devotes her/his efforts mostly to
"her/his" country since it is the country which s/he
knows well, including the people, the language, the
culture, the political situation... where perhaps the
ancestors were buried. But patriot will be happy to
contribute to the wellbeing of any group of people,
not necessarily of her/his own country.

Since patriotism is a positive notion, one can be
a patriot of more than one country.

Nationalism
-----------

Nationalism is egoistic. A nationalist, like a patriot,
loves her/his own country but doesn't care about the
rest of the world. Thus a nationalist, in a contrast
to a patriot, would gladly accept or promote an action
which seems to benefit her/his country, even at the
expense of another. Here a patriot and a nationalist
differ in their understanding of what is good for
their country. In patriots' view an action which
harms another country is also to a disadvantage,
not to the advantage, of their own country. The
nationalists and the patriots differ fundamentally
in their view on their nation interest. This causes
the public many misunderstandings, because the
two groups use the same words with drastically
different meanings.

Thus one may be a patriot of two and more different
countries but one cannot be a nationalist of more than
one country.

Chauvinism
----------

Chauvinism is a radical form of nationalism.
While nationalists understand the national
interest in an egoistic (thus often harmful)
way, the chauvinists equate "patriotism"
with the *hate* for other countries, nationalities,
ethnic groups, races, religions. While a nationalist
would hurt others "accidentally", a chauvinist
would do it on purpose, would consider it her/his
"patriotic contribution and duty".

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Regards,

Wlod