Source: The Dispatch
by Jonah Goldberg
“If I had to pick a single piece of writing that captures the state of American political culture today, it would be an essay published 80 years ago this month: George Orwell’s ‘Notes on Nationalism.’ … What Orwell meant by nationalism wasn’t ‘patriotism.’ Rather, he wrote: ‘By ‘nationalism’ I mean first of all the habit of assuming that human beings can be classified like insects and that whole blocks of millions or tens of millions of people can be confidently labelled ‘good’ or ‘bad’. But secondly – and this is much more important – I mean the habit of identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognizing no other duty than that of advancing its interests.‘ [emphasis mine]” (10/24/25)
https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/gfile/identity-politics-nationalism-orwell-party-loyalty/