Patriotism is not a bad word » Vocabulary conflations and nationalism Eric Wilkins Contributor A a country, we're judged by the performance of our government. Our government is held responsible for all previous administrations, regardless of how much time has gone by or the complete lack of any political cohesion with the previous reigning party. As a result, buzzword historical issues such as “racial inequality” and “sexism” fall to whatever faction “wins” the right to bear the burden. And somehow in this political game of hot-potato finger-pointing we started to equate our country, our flag, and our pride with the loathsome pool of politicians we're allowed to pick from. It’s almost become taboo to celebrate Canada Day in this country. “Are you homophobic? Transphobic? A racist? How are you okay with all of the horrible things this country has done?” I’m not. And no patriot is. Somewhere along the line the media started spinning the narrative that patriots imagined their country to be perfect. When has that ever been the case? A true patriot knows the country isn’t perfect. A true patriot knows there’s always work to be done; improvements can always be made. A country is never done growing. A series of dangerous conflations by the media have led us to this point. When did it become a bad thing to be a nationalist? Nationalism is defined by Merriam-Webster as “devotion or loyalty toa nation.” It doesn't mention political leanings. It doesn’t mention blind devotion. It doesn’t even hint at military might. Nationalism isn’t jingoism. It’s curious that in a world where were so uppity on using the proper vernacular in every social issue so as not to offend, Photo by Nhi ‘Jenny' Vo no journalist hesitates for even a moment before tossing their thesaurus into the trash. Related words are not synonyms. Nationalism is often portrayed as globalism’s opponent, but the two are not mutually exclusive. It could be argued that nationalism is rooted in basic self-help theory. How can you help others until your own ship is righted? COVID-19 has shown the world’s dependence on China for medicine and medical supplies (among others) and many countries are looking to bring more production within their own borders as a result. Is this nationalist movement a blow to globalism? Of course not. Self-sufficiency is always a positive and results in a more competitive marketplace—which, in turn, results in a better product for consumers. The tricky bit with nationalism is that many have pushed it to mean that you think your country is better than other countries. In today’s contexts, this connotation assumes that because you think your country is better than others that you think the people of your country are better than another’s (i.e., you're racist). It’s very subtle and quite a sneaky play, but that’s not what it means. As a Canadian, Ido think my country is better than any other. Every person who lives somewhere they have the means to leave should feel that way about their country. If you know of a nation you would be happier to live in, move there. Why remain in a prosperous place if you're not happy? Don’t enjoy our rights and freedoms if youre just going to complain about it; there’s many who would do almost anything to reside within our borders. Such folks come off as petulant children still posted up with mom and dad, mooching off their hard-earned dough— and many are. Canada welcomed over 300,000 immigrants in 2018. That same year, the country took in over 721,000 international students. While not all of the students will stay, that’s over a million people each year choosing Canada over the other 196 countries of the world. That’s over a million people doing whatever they can fora chance to live in a place where women are equal. Where the LBGTQ+ community has been increasingly open in the last few decades. Where a racist comment in a café or bar is going to result in outrage rather than small talk. Try telling one of these fresh faces that they’re wrong to celebrate Canada Day. Try telling someone who’s never been able to express their true sexuality that Canada is a horrible place. Nationalism is belonging. Unity. Knowing the majority of your fellow countrymen and women share the same values as you. Our flag isn’t a divisive symbol—it’s a binding one. Our flag’s designer, George Stanley, wrote in 1964: “Ifa flag is to be a unifying symbol it must avoid the use of national or racial symbols that are of a divisive nature.” Traditionalists were angry; some even threatening to kill Stanley at the official ceremony. He went anyway. Moments like Stanley’s are what make us Canadian. The fortitude to push for what's right. The courage to stand in the face of oppression. The knowledge that save for our few racist lowlifes, we are united as a people. Our country isn’t perfect—no country is—but as long as we have strong citizens fighting to uphold Canadian values there’s no place I'd rather be. Having an opinion 1n the time of social media » Never in history has it been easier for individuals to refute with such useless claims CJ Sommerfeld Contributor Soc? media is a powerful and dangerous space. Essentially, it isa place where anyone can disseminate anything, which then becomes available to everyone with access to the internet. There is neither a filter nor a screening process as to who is allowed to contribute or what is allowed to be shared; nowadays, someone does not need the mass media to share their opinion globally or rebut others. While such ability has its benefits, it has also bred/evolved a new characteristic in some of us: easily offended and unknowingly misinformed prudes. With the increased use of social media, there is an ever-growing pool of information swimming around. This means that now, more than ever, we have access to so much info that may be rooted in nothing more than opinion and entertainment. It is easy for people to contribute to this pool of “knowledge” and gather information from it, regardless of whether it is correct or not; this seems to have caused a cyclical, cause- and-effect problem. It seems like some people genuinely believe that they are experts from their readings, despite their acquired data being based almost solely on what they have accumulated through social media. Such thinking can probably be attributed to confirmation bias—a way of thinking characterized by an individual who only reads and believes information which confirms their pre-existing beliefs. Regardless, some people get so wrapped in their ideas, that when others’ social media posts threaten their view, it openly offends them. Being the experts that they think they are, these individuals fight to the death via commenting—where they retrieve and spew all of their social-media- acquired information to win their case. Do not get me wrong; I think having an opinion is great, especially when it skews from the norm. The Beats, for example, were majestic thinkers, as were the Impressionists. Neither movement would have been recognized and praised as they had if they were not such progressive thinkers. The Beats did not like the by- product of war, capitalistic society, or the economic materialism that they witnessed in the United States in the late ‘4os and ‘50s. They vocalized this stance through literary mediums. The Impressionists rejected the rigid academic conventions of what their art was held standard to and would, therefore, grant them to be showcased in the Salon in Paris almost a hundred years earlier. The difference between these guys’ perspectives and those of the social media warriors is that they were rooted in primary observation. They were not formed simply from reading an accumulation of secondary sources they read and shared on social media. T understand that retrieving primary sources might not always be feasible, nor is it productive to complete a PhD in our area of invested interest. Maybe, we should stop being so absolute in our views and recognize that perhaps there is always something more to learn— and that being so willing to fight for one’s opinion when you don't have all the facts may make you look like the opposite of what you intended. I am sure that if Illustration by Athena Little the Beats or Impressionists had been established today, social media posts would be refuting what they stood for. It is great to have an opinion, as it is to refute others, but if we are not an expert in the subject area we are fighting against, maybe we should take a step back and acknowledge that perhaps we do not know all there is to know.