Notes On Nationalism
This morning I ran across a shared hate post that is Fashionable on Facebook at this time. By coincidence, I read Orwell’s “Notes On Nationalism” yesterday. The following quote is from the second paragraph –
"By 'nationalism' I mean first of all the habit of assuming that human beings can be classified like insects and that whole blocks of millions or tens of millions of people can be confidently labelled 'good' or 'bad.'
This is precisely what this page has done. It’s what people who have shared this post have done, along with many of the commentators too.
With that in mind, I shared some pertinent excerpts from Orwell's essays, where are below. The most important which I've put in the last paragraph, essentially, having the moral courage to confront one's own hatreds. It should be noted that in Orwell's definition, "Nationalism" is not so much a political movement, as it is a destructive attitude that only serves to fan the flames of hatred. g.f.s August 17, 2015
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"Nationalism is not to be confused with patriotism"
"The nationalist persuades himself that it (his side) is the strongest, and is able to stick to his belief even when the facts are overwhelmingly against him . Nationalism is power-hunger tempered by self-deception. Every nationalist is capable of the most flagrant dishonesty, but he is also unshakeably certain of being in the right."
"Political commentators, like astrologers, can survive almost any mistake, because their more devoted followers do not look to them for an appraisal of the facts but for the stimulation of nationalistic loyalties. "
"As nearly as possible, no nationalist ever thinks, talks, or writes about anything except the superiority of his own power unit. It is difficult if not impossible for any nationalist to conceal his allegiance. The smallest slur upon his own unit, or any implied praise of a rival organization, fills him with uneasiness which he can relieve only by making some sharp retort."
"Actions are held to be good or bad, not on their own merits, but according to who does them."
"Indifference to objective truth."
" In each case there is the same obsessive fixation on a single subject, the same inability to form a genuinely rational opinion based on probabilities ."
"If one harbours anywhere in one's mind a nationalistic loyalty or hatred, certain facts, although in a sense known to be true, are inadmissible ."
"There is no limit to the follies that can be swallowed if one is under the influence of feelings of this kind . One has to belong to the intelligentsia to believe things like that: no ordinary man could be such a fool."
"The point is that as soon as fear, hatred, jealousy and power worship are involved, the sense of reality becomes unhinged . And, as I have pointed out already, the sense of right and wrong becomes unhinged also."
"As for the nationalistic loves and hatreds that I have spoken of, they are part of the make-up of most of us, whether we like it or not. Whether it is possible to get rid of them I do not know, but I do believe that it is possible to struggle against them, and that this is essentially a moral effort. It is a question first of all of discovering what one really is, what one's own feelings really are, and then of making allowance for the inevitable bias. If you hate and fear Russia, if you are jealous of the wealth and power of America, if you despise Jews, if you have a sentiment of inferiority towards the British ruling class, you cannot get rid of those feelings simply by taking thought. But you can at least recognise that you have them, and prevent them from contaminating your mental processes. The emotional urges which are inescapable, and are perhaps even necessary to political action, should be able to exist side by side with an acceptance of reality. But this, I repeat, needs a moral effort, and contemporary English literature, so far as it is alive at all to the major issues of our time, shows how few of us are prepared to make it.”
http://orwell.ru/library/essays/nationalism/english/e_nat
"By 'nationalism' I mean first of all the habit of assuming that human beings can be classified like insects and that whole blocks of millions or tens of millions of people can be confidently labelled 'good' or 'bad.'
This is precisely what this page has done. It’s what people who have shared this post have done, along with many of the commentators too.
With that in mind, I shared some pertinent excerpts from Orwell's essays, where are below. The most important which I've put in the last paragraph, essentially, having the moral courage to confront one's own hatreds. It should be noted that in Orwell's definition, "Nationalism" is not so much a political movement, as it is a destructive attitude that only serves to fan the flames of hatred. g.f.s August 17, 2015
- - - - - - - - - - - -
"Nationalism is not to be confused with patriotism"
"The nationalist persuades himself that it (his side) is the strongest, and is able to stick to his belief even when the facts are overwhelmingly against him . Nationalism is power-hunger tempered by self-deception. Every nationalist is capable of the most flagrant dishonesty, but he is also unshakeably certain of being in the right."
"Political commentators, like astrologers, can survive almost any mistake, because their more devoted followers do not look to them for an appraisal of the facts but for the stimulation of nationalistic loyalties. "
"As nearly as possible, no nationalist ever thinks, talks, or writes about anything except the superiority of his own power unit. It is difficult if not impossible for any nationalist to conceal his allegiance. The smallest slur upon his own unit, or any implied praise of a rival organization, fills him with uneasiness which he can relieve only by making some sharp retort."
"Actions are held to be good or bad, not on their own merits, but according to who does them."
"Indifference to objective truth."
" In each case there is the same obsessive fixation on a single subject, the same inability to form a genuinely rational opinion based on probabilities ."
"If one harbours anywhere in one's mind a nationalistic loyalty or hatred, certain facts, although in a sense known to be true, are inadmissible ."
"There is no limit to the follies that can be swallowed if one is under the influence of feelings of this kind . One has to belong to the intelligentsia to believe things like that: no ordinary man could be such a fool."
"The point is that as soon as fear, hatred, jealousy and power worship are involved, the sense of reality becomes unhinged . And, as I have pointed out already, the sense of right and wrong becomes unhinged also."
"As for the nationalistic loves and hatreds that I have spoken of, they are part of the make-up of most of us, whether we like it or not. Whether it is possible to get rid of them I do not know, but I do believe that it is possible to struggle against them, and that this is essentially a moral effort. It is a question first of all of discovering what one really is, what one's own feelings really are, and then of making allowance for the inevitable bias. If you hate and fear Russia, if you are jealous of the wealth and power of America, if you despise Jews, if you have a sentiment of inferiority towards the British ruling class, you cannot get rid of those feelings simply by taking thought. But you can at least recognise that you have them, and prevent them from contaminating your mental processes. The emotional urges which are inescapable, and are perhaps even necessary to political action, should be able to exist side by side with an acceptance of reality. But this, I repeat, needs a moral effort, and contemporary English literature, so far as it is alive at all to the major issues of our time, shows how few of us are prepared to make it.”
http://orwell.ru/library/essays/nationalism/english/e_nat