Patriotism and Nationalism versus Globalization

Now here is an interesting comparison. Webster defines each as:

Patriotism:
1. A love for ones country

Nationalism:
1. A loyalty or devotion to a nation: A sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary interest on promotion of its culture and interest as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups

2. A nationalist movement or government

Globalization:
To make world wide in scope or application especially with respect to economy, free trade, free flow of capital, and the tapping of cheaper labor markets

What is the foundation of globalization and does globalization take America down a path that diminishes the feelings of nationalism? I state for the record that the only true globalization processes afoot in the world today are trade unions. The European Union and NAFTA are great examples of economic globalization, but does either really bring a full feeling of globalization to the countries and nations they include? I would argue they do not, and while I support free trade agreements and am very patriotic, I must also state that the process of globalization is damaging to nationalism.

The liberal elites have consistently made out those Americans, who have nationalist beliefs as uninformed, uneducated, racists that are clutching to their guns and their bibles with antipathy for those who are not like them (if I can steal a phrase from Mr. Obama). Given the state of emerging countries that are only now reaching a state of industrialization and those countries dictated by neo-fascist, religious zealots, I do not believe America is in a position to globalize effectively. I will go farther and state that many of the emerging countries have nationalistic tendencies that would directly conflict with America beyond trade agreements. The reality is many do not hold the same values and beliefs as Americans.

The fact is that history teaches us that the nature of leaders given too much power (like the American Electorate is about to do on November 4th by sweeping in a democratic super-majority) is to become corrupt. Take for an example our current group of leaders both Republicans and Democrats in Washington and the over regulation of the banking industry (the Community Reinvestment Act in 1977 under Jimmy Carter expanded dramatically under Bill Clinton) and the deregulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to serve their own political purposes. Are these the people we want running unchecked in Washington D.C. making decisions to meld us into a global nation, crushing any nationalist beliefs Americans might still possess? They cannot handle the U.S melting pot effectively and I would argue that many of them might feel as though they are patriotic, but they do not have a nationalist bone in their collective bodies. One could say they are certainly not qualified to make the world a melting pot!

The point of this is that as Americans it should be normal and accepted to feel a sense of nationalism. It is sad that legal immigrants (sorry those are the only ones I recognize, the others are criminals) show more nationalism for the countries they left than we do for our own country. Going back to a previous point about guns and bibles, if Americans showed nationalistic tendencies we would be branded as racists or radicals. The cap on all of this is that a man like Bill Ayers is given more leeway to show his antipathy for his nation than real Americans are granted to show love and support for the same. So whileat is preferred, Patriotism or Nationalism? I welcome your thoughts.