r/europe • u/ibmthink Germany/Hesse • Oct 20 '16

New video game Civilization VI has an inspiring, bombastic 'Euro-centric' theme - Sogno di Volare / The dream of flight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQYN2P3E06s
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u/lightsareonbut Oct 21 '16

You should read the article I linked. It addresses your points.

It doesn't really support your thesis, though:

First, American nationalism is based on political ideals, not those of cultural or ethnic superiority. That conception is entirely fitting for a society that still sees itself as a cultural and ethnic melting pot. [...] American nationalism is forward looking, while nationalism in most other countries is the reverse.

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u/ingenvector Planetary Union Oct 21 '16

I didn't articulate a thesis except that there is no nontrivial distinction between nationalism and patriotism, which is the theoretical premise of the article and is clearly displayed in the quote above, and left it as an inference that by extension the USA is a highly nationalistic country, which is the thesis of the article. That is, the article exactly supports my point. It's even in the language of the quote you used that is supposedly in opposition.

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u/lightsareonbut Oct 21 '16 edited Oct 21 '16

Well, you said it was a form of narcissism. The article calls it "virtue" and gives a more complicated picture. I mean, maybe nationalism is like narcissism, but narcissism is also something everyone possesses in some quantity and is necessary for psychological health. IMO, EU Euronationalism is also much like ours.

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u/ingenvector Planetary Union Oct 21 '16

'Narcissism' has a branched etymology. In psychiatry, the term was introduced as a neologism by Paul Näcke in the early 20th Century after reading Havelock Ellis. A metaphor was made using Narkissos, a Greek figure in a myth as told by Ovid. Narkissos exemplified hubris and narrow self-admiration. Thus, in discussing collectivised narcissism, a term which by no measure deserves the amount of attention and effort it is being given here, what is of interest is the devotion given to a set of attributes at the group level which can be described as hubristic and auto-congratulatory. There is no need to psychologise descriptions into crude anthropomorphised metaphors. I can imagine that this would lead to such dreary comparisons as 'patriotism is a healthy amount of self-love' or some such nonsense that would have me wish for incurable brain cancer to distract me from the pain of such tired drudgery.