The Pleasure of Hating (Other Nations)

"The pleasure of hating....makes patriotism an excuse for carrying fire, pestilence, and famine into other lands." -William Hazlitt, "On the Pleasure of Hating"

I often like nothing better than finding a connection between classes. In this case, the above quote arose from a personal essay that Non-Fiction was assigned to read. It automatically made me think about the making of nations, as discussed in Chapter 21 of Western Civilizations as well as Mazzini's "The Duties of Man".

Incredibly idealistic in tone, "The Duties of Man" left me feeling empowered. This is our duty. This is what remains to be done. Now, let's gitterdun. At the same time however, like Declan thoughtfully brought up, nationalism obviously acts as an exclusionary force.

William Hazlitt also shares this view. While loving your country is a wonderful thing, sometimes it can become part of a slippery slope. While I think we're all perfectly capable of distancing ourselves from national fervor and being 100% in agreement with everything our nation does (especially in respect to foreign policy), I feel like the average citizen or revolutionary during the mid-19th century might not have the liberty of being so well-informed.

Thus, I wonder if nationalism, while leading to fraternity and passion, also contributed to warfare during that time. In the Crimean War? How exactly did nationalism rear its head? Was it all positive?