https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/10/24/1806837/-Trump-Declares-Himself-A-Nationalist-What-Would-Orwell-Say?utm_campaign=spotlight&fbclid=IwAR2bXx-oLc5C0ZHTo-thSMdmYdV0zpBW045oP1W1UxDg6r9qLoEcGpRQzoA
"2. Instability By this, Orwell refers to how prior values and views will be subordinated to new values of the culture and personality of nationalism. Old truths will be abandoned and prior lies will be accepted as true. “A country or other unit which has been worshipped for years may suddenly become detestable, and some other object of affection may take its place with almost no interval.” We certainly see this today as Trump attacks formerly respected allies, from Canada to NATO, in harsh terms. Trump does this while boosting those who were previously, and deservedly, the most disrespected in the world. A few years ago it would have been inconceivable that Americans would accept an American President saying he fell in love with the despotic leader of North Korea. Now Americans take that in stride, without batting an eye, his followers cheer it! There are many more examples of this, many quite disturbing, as the President seems to favor the most aggressive and evil nationalists he desires to emulate, while insulting our closest historical democratic allies. 3. Indifference to Reality “Nationalism is power-hunger tempered by self-deception. Every nationalist is capable of the most flagrant dishonesty, but he is also — since he is conscious of serving something bigger than himself — unshakeably certain of being in the right . . . [Every nationalist] spends part of his time in a fantasy world in which things happen as they should . . . One has no way of verifying the facts, one is not even fully certain that they have happened, and one is always presented with totally different interpretations from different sources . . . The general uncertainty as to what is really happening makes it easier to cling to lunatic beliefs. Since nothing is ever quite proved or disproved, the most unmistakable fact can be impudently denied. Moreover, although endlessly brooding on power, victory, defeat, revenge, the nationalist is often somewhat uninterested in what happens in the real world."
