November 11, 2018 was the 100th year anniversary to the end of WWI, also known as Armistice Day. During this day an array of Global Leaders, Citizens, and Presidents gathered to honor those who had fallen during this war, as well as celebrate its end. The leaders stood shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, and walked together in order to show a sense of unity between these nations. Yet, our President was nowhere to be seen. He along with the President of Russia both missed this show of unity. Something which is concerning especially with the President's recent comments about nationalism. This leads to the meetings second agenda which was to remind the Nations of the importance of working together to prevent such a devastating tragedy from re-occurring. The President of France specifically addressed this by making remarks, some of which were directed at President Trump's comments regarding his favoritism towards Nationalism. Nationalism is too often seen synonymous with patriotism. While these two words may be in the same vein, their meanings and more importantly their connotations are incredibly different. Patriotism is defined as "love for one's country". This is the reason we, as Americans, are often proud of where we live and what we stand for. Nationalism, however, is defined as "an extreme form of patriotism, especially marked by a feeling of superiority over other countries and cultures." which is something totally different in itself. Nationalism is what led to the build-up of Germany before the start of WWII. Nationalism is what the members of the Alt-Right hide behind when criticized for their ideals and beliefs. So to see our president's actions caused me to also see the importance of the work we are doing as Global Scholars. If the top leadership is not consistently working to bring unity on a global scale, that means the citizens have to pick up the slack. It means people like Jessica Jackley, members of NGO's, even high school students like ourselves, have to work harder to create a better, more unified world.
Earlier this week I had the pleasure of attending Aaron Fyke's presentation on Global Warming and Sustainability. This presentation was just as educating as it was enjoyable. He was an incredibly animated speaker that kept the audience engaged. He was also able to transform the heavy environment into a lighthearted one with clever jokes throughout the night. However, the most important aspect of that night was the content. As someone who knew a fair amount about the issues and mechanics of Global Warming already, I was happy to have learned more about the issue at hand. I was also received more clarity on how the issue worked and can now explain the importance of this issue using sheer logic. Although this presentation allowed me to become better informed it also opened my eyes to what nations and companies across the globe were already doing to combat it, all of which was new information. It was exciting to see the stats about the reduction of coal use, increase in efficiency o
I really like this post- an original idea to address the actual differences between patriotism and nationalism. Of course the entry point to this topic- the absence of President Trump from these memorial events- was perfect. You used his non-presence to think about the irony of what others were trying to communicate (and what his absence communicated). When you quote a line (the definition), be sure to list the source.
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