20th May, 2011
The terms ‘nationalism’ and ‘patriotism’ have always been used interchangeable. But in real sense the two terms refer to different concepts. According to George Orwell, patriotism means loyalty to a particular place and a particular culture, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no desire to compel other people to believe in. Patriotism is used to refer to the act of showing affection and love towards one’s own values without criticizing other people’s way of life and without feeling that yours is more superior to others. It is a term that is positively used to connote peace and mutual understanding in a multi national context or within a given society.
Nationalism on the other hand refers to one’s love towards his or her country. Orwell says that in nationalism, people’s thoughts are turned into victories, political excellence, defeats and humiliations. Nationalism is opposed to patriotism, in that it is mainly concerned with the feeling that a person’s own country and way of life is superior to others. In this context, nationalism has a negative connotation in the sense that it is more concerned with power struggle and political might among members of different nations. It is an enemy of peace as those who consider themselves to be nationalists always look down upon people who do not share their believes and cultures.
In comparison, a patriot can be said to be more social and peace loving while a nationalist is more interested in power and dominance over others. Nationalism is more inclined towards military and politics as compared to patriotism which is a term used to beyond the political borders: it can also be used to refer to one’s loyalty and love towards his or her religion while nationalism is restricted to having love for your country or nation at the expense of other countries and believes.
Based on the above discussion, these two terms are very different in meaning and their usage.
