I was just commenting in a thread on 
A lot of people that see nationalism as a negative are making a mistake. They are treating nationalism and imperialism as if they are the same thing. They are not. In fact, the things they tend to indicate are bad about nationalism are not really part of nationalism at all. They are part of imperialism.
Nationalism is simply about having pride and interest in your nation, your community, etc. It is much like having pride in your home and family. It is simply expanded out to your city, your state, your nation.
It has ZERO to do with attacking other nations or interfering with other nations. That is imperialism.
Someone saying Make insert country Great should not be seen as a negative. It is much like saying Make my house great. Make my family great.
It does not imply "by attacking and stealing from other people". If you decide to think it means that then realize that was YOU choosing to take it there. Yet that would again be imperialism.
Why shouldn't a person want their country/nation/home to get better? It seems like a pretty sane proposition.
If you want to help people around the world which of the following do you think you'd likely have a better chance of doing that?
- If you have stabilized your own home, taken care of the people living there, and you have extra time and resources available.
- You immediately worry about taking care of people outside of your home while there are people in your home struggling.
Now I don't present that to try to trap anyone in a false dichotomy or dilemma. I am aware there are likely other scenarios. So realize I didn't present it as a dichotomy for you to attack. In that case I can't really think of any other choices that fall outside of those two possible paths.
For me the obvious path to take if I want to be able to help people outside of my home (nation) is to take the first path.
At that point I should help people and other homes (nations) as much as I can without putting my own home in jeopardy.
Yet I should only give that help when it is ASKED for.
If I FORCE my help then that again becomes imperialism.
Imperialism and Nationalism are not the same thing.
Realize that many people have called their movements Nationalism in the past as a LABEL to hide behind. In reality they were practicing Imperialism.
Nationalism is not a bad word, nor should it be. It also does not mean you have no interest in helping others outside of defined borders. It simply means that you should get your own house in order and producing as best as it can and then you'll be in position to help more people outside that WANT your help.
I can say with high probability of certainty that the negatives about nationalism in the media and politics are not actually Nationalism at all. They are describing imperialism.