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It is a bunch of bullshit semantics, intended to under-mine national sovereignty.
Most leaders in Europe, pre-2000, proudly proclaimed themselves and their roots as nationalist in origin. It is only after the EU lobby has had its way, that nationalism has come to be associated with ultra far-right ideologies such as Nazism (which was imperialist, not nationalist, in its nature), instead of being given its rightful place in history as the ideology responsible for bringing peace into Europe, by way of sovereign countries, independent of each other, and lacking the imperialist grandeur of a Nazi Germany/Great Britain/France/Austro-Hungaria, etc. That Europe is finally at peace, is the result of nationalism, with all different peoples possessing their own piece of land, which they rule according to their own laws, no longer undermined by someone else's government.
The point of it, is to turn the "nation" into a bad word, replaced by a supra-national structure such as the EU, which has awoken the previous invasive, imperial sentiments. Flag-waving, knowing one's history, and taking pride in one's nation, and its accomplishments, will be looked down upon (and already is, in EU circles). They do not want any flags other than the EU's to be shown except, at best, in sporting events.
Patriotism shares the same meaning as nationalism, and in fact, it was the abuse of patriotism that the Nazis talked about, when describing their strategies of rallying the population to war. Sooner or later "patriotism" will also be looked down upon as a word, for now it serves as a transitional word such as "mentally challenged". Eventually we might be talking about "Europeanism" or whatever.
"The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
-Hermann Göring
Most leaders in Europe, pre-2000, proudly proclaimed themselves and their roots as nationalist in origin. It is only after the EU lobby has had its way, that nationalism has come to be associated with ultra far-right ideologies such as Nazism (which was imperialist, not nationalist, in its nature), instead of being given its rightful place in history as the ideology responsible for bringing peace into Europe, by way of sovereign countries, independent of each other, and lacking the imperialist grandeur of a Nazi Germany/Great Britain/France/Austro-Hungaria, etc. That Europe is finally at peace, is the result of nationalism, with all different peoples possessing their own piece of land, which they rule according to their own laws, no longer undermined by someone else's government.
The point of it, is to turn the "nation" into a bad word, replaced by a supra-national structure such as the EU, which has awoken the previous invasive, imperial sentiments. Flag-waving, knowing one's history, and taking pride in one's nation, and its accomplishments, will be looked down upon (and already is, in EU circles). They do not want any flags other than the EU's to be shown except, at best, in sporting events.
Patriotism shares the same meaning as nationalism, and in fact, it was the abuse of patriotism that the Nazis talked about, when describing their strategies of rallying the population to war. Sooner or later "patriotism" will also be looked down upon as a word, for now it serves as a transitional word such as "mentally challenged". Eventually we might be talking about "Europeanism" or whatever.
"The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
-Hermann Göring
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