Patriotism and Its Synonyms

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Patriotism and Its Synonyms

If you're full of patriotism, you're full of love for your country. Patriotism is associated with serving your country and waving the flag.There are, actually, a lot of ways to demonstrate your patriotism. Waving the flag is an obvious way, but anything that celebrates your country or makes it stronger is a great display of patriotism. Whenever a country is at war, people are more vocal about their patriotism, playing patriotic songs and making speeches full of national pride.For instance,sport, by its very nature, is a unifying exercise unlike any other. It unites communities, towns, provinces and nations.In a country, people support their preferred clubs in different codes but then unite as one when the national team plays – forgetting their club allegiances.It's the simplest,yet quite spontaneous way of showing your patriotism !

Ethnocentrism:

If you refused to bow when greeting a Japanese friend, insisting on shaking hands instead, you'd be displaying your ethnocentrism, or your belief that your own culture is superior to others.

Anyone who judges people or traditions based on his own cultural standards is guilty of ethnocentrism. It means believing that the way you're used to doing things is the only right way to do them, and that people or cultures that do things differently are wrong. Ethnocentrism comes from the Greek ethno, or "people" and centric, "center;" so when you put your own people, or culture, at the center of the world, you're letting your ethnocentrism show.

Nationalism:

It is also sometimes problematic to distinguish between patriotism and nationalism, as it is the belief that your own country is better than all others. Sometimes nationalism makes people not want to work with other countries to solve shared problems.

It is important not to confuse nationalism with patriotism. Patriotism is a healthy pride in your country that brings about feelings of loyalty and a desire to help other citizens. Nationalism is the belief that your country is superior, without question or doubt. In some cases, nationalism can inspire people to break free of a foreign oppressor, as in the American Revolution, but nationalism can also lead a country to cut itself off from the rest of the world.

Chauvinism:

Chauvinism means the belief that your country is superior to all others. If you traveled to China and complained about everything that was unfamiliar and talked about how much better things are back home, you'd be guilty of chauvinism.

While the main meaning of chauvinism is an exaggerated sense of patriotism, or being convinced that your country is vastly better than any other, the word is most familiar in the sense of male chauvinism. When it's used this way, it means a belief that men are better than women. The word comes from a Napoleonic soldier, Nicholas Chauvin, who was famous for his extreme patriotism — in other words, his chauvinism.

Jingoism:

Jingoism is fanatical, over-the-top patriotism.If you refuse to eat, read, wear, or discuss anything that wasn't made in your own country, people might accuse you of jingoism.

Jingoism comes from the word jingo, the nickname for a group of British people who always wanted to go to war to prove the superiority of Britain. Now we use jingoism for that kind of aggressive, chauvinistic behavior in any country, or for things intended to stir up war-thirst and blind patriotism. If you see a TV show tries to get viewers to support a military cause without a critical look at whether war is necessary, call it jingoism.

Any addition,comment or correction is welcome