Patriotism or Nationalism

A person’s love for a country is known as patriotism or nationalism. History is full of examples of how people's affection for their nation has had a beneficial impact to their nation but, history has also shown that nationalism taken to the extreme can have disastrous outcomes. This is why the perspective of the source should be embraced to its fullest extent. Extreme patriotism and ultra nationalism can lead to actions such as war, discrimination and genocide. Having an inordinate amount of affection for a single nation can be dangerous. Neglecting this type of extreme idealism should not be neglected as it can cause undesirable actions such death or discrimination of people or countries. The topic of this paper is based on the source,‘’I have never understood why one’s affection must be confined… to a single nation’'. In this paper I will help further support that one’s affection should not be just confined to a single nation.

When an individual’s admiration is only confined to a single nation the individual is able to become prejudice and discriminate against others who are not apart of their nation. This is due to the individual not having the insight of the nation they are discriminating against since they only have affection for about their own nation. The internment of Japanese-Canadians during the second world war is an example of this. After the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor, a United States naval base, the Canadian government decided to incarcerate all Japanese-Canadians to prevent any other attack. However this was not the only reason for this. Before the restrictions, set during World War Two, Japanese-Canadians were not allowed to vote, they were banned from different jobs and fishing licenses were limited to the Japanese-Canadians. When Japanese people first moved to Canada many people were prejudice to them because they were different and were not like their own nation. This is why after the Pearl Harbor bombing the Canadian government used the situation to stop immigration of more Japanese people and to incarcerate the others in Canada. If the Canadian government and Canadians would have been more accepting and understanding that most of the Japanese who were in Canada were law-abiding, hard working and would never do anything to Canada. This type of patriotism leads to racism and discrimination and supports the argument that an individual’s affection should not be confined to a single nation.

Another reason for why one’s affection should not be confined to a single nation is because when an individual or group becomes extremely patriotic the likelihood of war increases. War begins when individuals or groups feel they believe their ideas and beliefs are superior to others. There is the desire to either change or eliminate others who do not agree with their ideas and beliefs. During Napoleon Bonaparte's reign over France during the late 1700s and early 1800s he revolutionized France, Europe and the World. He turned France’s monarchy upside down and transforming it into a democracy. Napoleon’s actions made the French people become very patriotic and nationalistic. The country became very imperialistic and invaded many European countries. However after defeat in the Battle of Waterloo and the 100 days France had lost thousands of people and Napoleon and their patriotism destroyed. Soon after Napoleon was exiled and France returned to a monarchy. If the French would have had less affection for France and