Thursday, August 17, 2017

Words have meaning: Nationalist

In the wake of the Charlottesville debacle I hear a lot of commentators switching back and forth between the words "nationalist" and "supremacist" without appearing to distinguish between the two, so I thought I'd comment.

Nationalist: someone who thinks that there should be a nation.  White nationalist: someone who thinks there should be a white nation, black nationalist: someone who thinks there should be a black nation.

Supremacist: someone who thinks that one race is better than another.  White supremacist: thinks whites are better, black supremacist: thinks blacks are better.

There obviously can be overlap between the two.  Someone can be a nationalist because they are a supremacist, but I would argue that isn't required.  It is perfectly rational and consistent to think that there should be a nation comprised of white people without actually believing that whites are better or worse, merely that a homogeneous nation operates more effectively to the benefit of the residents.  This is not an unusual stance and is reflected in major countries such as Korea and Japan, amongst others.  There is also an argument that the Nordic countries have been able to maintain their democratic socialist policies as long as they have due to their natural homogeneity.

A question that should be asked of the left, however, is why nationalism is equated with racism in their minds.  Is it possible to have a nation of white/black/asian/choose your subdivision without it being a matter of racism?  Is a society better or worse off with a more homogeneous racial mix?  We hear about diversity but are there studies that prove (or even strongly suggest) that a more diverse society is a better society? 

I don't know, I'm just asking.

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