I'm not convinced that nationalism not based on some intrinsic attribute of its people (like race) is even mostly bad. 1. : loyalty and devotion to a nation es

I'm not convinced that nationalism not based on some intrinsic attribute of its people (like race) is even mostly bad. 1. : loyalty and devotion to a nation especially : a sense of national consciousness (see CONSCIOUSNESS sense 1c) exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups This, to me, reads that nations should advocate for their own interests first and have that as their primary concern - which seems pretty reasonable. Much in the same way that we have state and local representatives that advocate for the state and the locality in their respective governments, the higher levels up do the same for their entire citizenry on the global stage. There's nothing inherently icky or oppressive about this kind of mutual self-interest, and it need not imply any kind of dehumanization. It is, of course, possible to take too far (see: xenophobia), but that strikes me as a problem of implementation and general human failings, not as an intractable problem with the concept that deserves it being compared to objective evil. If the antonym of nationalism is globalism, I think that mindset has bigger problems.