For the Record: Patriotism is the Exact Opposition of Nationalism

With Trump perverting the meaning of nationalism and patriotism it's time to define both of the words that have been so abused by the extreme right.

According to Charles de Gaulle, who led Free France against Nazi Germany during World War II and later became president of France,

"Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first."

George Orwell, the author of "Animal Farm" and "Nineteen Eight-Four," described patriotism as "devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life."

He contrasted that with nationalism, which he described as "the habit of identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognizing no other duty than that of advancing its interests."

Sound familiar? Think MAGA.

To understand what nationalism is, it's useful to understand what a nation is - and isn't.

* A nation is a group of people who share a history, culture, language, religion or some combination thereof.

* A country, which is sometimes called a state in political science terminology, is an area of land that has its own government.

* A nation-state is a homogeneous political entity most comprising a single nation. One example of a nation-state would be North Korea, where almost all residents are ethnic Koreans.

The United States is neither a nation nor a nation-state. Rather, it is a country of many groups of people who have a variety of shared histories, cultures, languages and religions.

Some of those groups are formally recognized by the federal government, such as the Navajo Nation and the Cherokee Nation.

Two examples of white nationalist groups are the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys - ten of whom were convicted of seditious conspiracy for their role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Another example of a nationalistic group is The Nation of Islam. Black nationalists are as radical as the white nationalists. The Nation of Islam has been characterized as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Trump has loudly proclaimed to be a nationalist and that under his regime the U.S. had embraced the doctrine of patriotism.

After reading the above information what do you think about Trump's claims? His misuse of words is part of an overall strategy to redefine their meanings for his cult.

As it stands, I hope you find the information helpful in your daily interactions with others. Kofi Annan put it succinctly when he wrote, "Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family."