Nah, that's jingoism you're thinking of. That's when it starts to get toxic.
Everybody has the right for a good hearty "rah rah rah, sis boom bah, my country is great." You know why? Because it is. You come here and I'm going to want to show you around, show you all the super cool things that I think make this place great.
The food, the sights, the food, the people, the food, the places... you know all the cool things. Not necessarily the touristy things either.
Did I mention the food?
Should I ever have the opportunity, I sure hope that if I get to visit your country, you're able to do the same. I want to know why YOUR home is great too.
WW2 started because a fringe extremist group violently seized control, other nations refused to read the writing on the wall, and Hitler didn't know to quit while he was ahead.
It had nothing to do with nationalism, and everything to do with good people being too afraid to get their hands dirty.
Nationalism was the "in" the fringe extremist group used to get ahold of their frenzied minority. There are other tactics, mind you (religious/moral authority, classism, etc.), but it's a popular one.
That's what happens when you try to punish a nation and strip away it's identity for another's crimes. WW1 might've been terrible enough to end war, but the peace was worse.
Yeah - the US has its own little example. People think a Southern accent = dumb and uneducated because the states took very similar measures against ex-Confederate states in the "Reconstruction" after the American Civil War. That resentment still festers, on both sides.
Mmmmm, Canada
Everybody has the right for a good hearty "rah rah rah, sis boom bah, my country is great." You know why? Because it is. You come here and I'm going to want to show you around, show you all the super cool things that I think make this place great.
The food, the sights, the food, the people, the food, the places... you know all the cool things. Not necessarily the touristy things either.
Did I mention the food?
Should I ever have the opportunity, I sure hope that if I get to visit your country, you're able to do the same. I want to know why YOUR home is great too.
It had nothing to do with nationalism, and everything to do with good people being too afraid to get their hands dirty.