Throughout the 20th century, the meanings of "country," "patriotism" and "nationalism," whether spoken by fascists or Leninists, have been more elusive than the contents of a gourd, and have had little in the way of positive impact. Slogans like "justice/peace/the people will prevail" are clearly interchangeable and equivalent expressions to that of "the country/nation," and even harder to get a handle on. As for me, of course I have a homeland, in the same way that I have a hometown. For me, the two terms mean the same thing; they refer to a piece of territory about which I have some feeling, feeling that has nothing to do with political power, and which is unaffected by time. Read more
