Patriotism (Nationalism) Is a Great Thing

Opening Arguments:

The resolution asks if Patriotism (Nationalism) is a great thing. And I contend that it is a great thing. It is great because Patriotism allows for greater collective action.

With a higher level of Patriotism, people become more trusting of their fellow countrymen. As a result, the higher level of trust allows for greater cooperative ventures, more pooled resources, and a sense of family, or belonging, between people of the same nation, making the world a happier place.

My opponent contends however that Patriotism leads to wars, rights being taken away, and "snobbishness" and goes even further to say "blind faith is the only driving factor". But his error is in his failure to study what the world was like before patriotism, and what the world Would be like without patriotism.

Those familiar with the game Prisoner's Dilemma, understand that when two individuals meet, Trust is illogical. They should always back stab each other. War, xenophobia, these are all NATURAL. It is Natural to distrust anyone other than yourself, or anyone other than your family. It is Natural to enter into war. But what Nationalism did was united large groups of people, with somewhat similar interests, and allowed them to cooperate for the collective good, DESPITE their inherent instinct to not trust other people.

Why do we have public education? Because people love the country enough to sacrifice for the country's greater good. The same goes for all public services. Where there is no Patriotism, there will be no public service.

I intend to make a dichotomy between a world without Patriotism and a world with Patriotism. And as the readers shall see, the world with Patriotism will have all the drawbacks already mentioned by my opponent, with none of the benefits of Patriotism.

-Hear me Roar!