re: #74 clgood

Ahh… Maybe “nationalism” is part of the “right wing” key.

That’s exactly what I thought, which is why I pointed out Nicolas Chauvin as the sort of prototypical right-winger. Whether or not he was a real soldier or a glamorized semi-legendary character, his defining feature was unconditional love of his country (France, in his case). In fact, the original meaning of “chauvinism” was “unmitigated nationalism.” (Much later, someone devised the cockamamie term “male chauvinism” which barely made sense, and then the “male” part was dropped and the term took on a new meaning.)

However, the communist Russians (“Mother Russia!”) and Chinese were just as nationalistic and patriotic as any right-wing regime, so even that definition makes no sense.

Another reason why I want to dump the left/right dichotomy into the dustbin of history.