The difference between a patriot and a nationalist is subtle but important. Here’s the dictionary speaking:

Patriot: A person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against enemies and detractors
Nationalist: A person with strong patriotic feelings, especially one who believes in the superiority of their country over others

Of course we never use nationalist or nationalism because of their nasty connotations, but I suspect that a lot of what we call patriotism is closer to nationalism.

I can’t omit the inspiration for this post…. Here’s an excerpt from 2Pac’s Changes: “Instead of war on poverty they got a war on drugs / so the police can bother me.”

I’m not sure if I give 2Pac too much credit for his lyrics, imposing unintended meaning, or perhaps he wasn’t paid due diligence by the majority of listeners….. but I think the excerpt is critically relevant.

To what extent do we approach problems by addressing symptoms instead of causes? You could argue (and some have) that drug usage is a cause and a symptom, but I’d say it falls much more to the side of symptom. If you fixed poverty, the drug problem would make more progress than poverty would if you fixed the drug problem. In other words, 2Pac’s lyrics are well received, and if he’s saying what I think he is, then I whole heartedly agree.

So other examples….. teen pregnancy, Islamic culture clash, obesity. Others?