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Blind nationalism isextreme nationalism such asNazism,Fascism andchauvinism. It is primarily a platform for familialmilitarism, love ofpersonality cults,classism, pride fornational symbolism,origin and founding myths, and Saints. It is similar to the disdain inexpansionist nationalism towards all foreign nations and outsiders. A noteworthy exception is many nationalists believe in peace through marriage between social groups. It is the nationalism "which does not allow the rational nature of the human mind to assert itself".[1]
It was used to explain the totalitarian and authoritarian regimes in theInterwar period, which eventually led toWorld War II.[2] The term is sometimes associated withAmerican expansionism.[3]
The earliest known use of the phrase "blind nationalism" is in the 1908 bookRacial Problems in Hungary by British historianRobert William Seton-Watson:
Needlessly to say, the attitude of the Magyar Press corresponded to that of the parliamentaryJingoes; and even thePester Lloyd, which treated the matter with conspicuous moderation, wrote as follows: "We shall say no more of theHlinkas and theHodžas. These are small fry, who live upon blind nationalism, just as those amongst us who rise to honours and riches through frenzied Chauvinism. People of that sort one seizes by the collar if they break the law, and thebasta."[4]
According to David Niose, former president of the American Humanist Association:
The staggering lack of knowledge, combined with a blind and emotional patriotism, is a cause for disaster. The result is a proliferation of uninformed American exceptionalism that is akin to a social narcissism, a self-centered sense of importance and superiority that can have dire consequences."[5]
