Imperialism: the Counterpart to Nationalism

Nationalism has been described as the factor that can make or break a nation. It is a necessity in government and in the people to keep the country above water. I believe that this is accepted widely by historians, but then why does imperialism constantly pop up in discussions as a popular and progressive system? Over and over again we see that nations survive because the people have united over one goal or idea. These people being from different areas and classes, but all supporting one thing: their nation. Hobson explains that “the chief economic source of Imperialism has been found in the inequality of industrial opportunities by which a favoured class accumulates superfluous elements of income”. Basically he is saying that because the upper class has so much influence in government and has so much power they are able to “use the national resources for their private gain”. They are going out and conquering other countries and colonizing, while the lower class gets nothing. The classes are growing farther and farther apart solely because the upper class has more resources and is reaching out to other countries besides their own. Also, because of this expansion the focus is shifted from inside the country to the happenings outside of it. Everyone is worrying about their capital invested outside of their own country, instead of thinking about what is going on inside their country. This is the country that they are supposed to support at all costs, and to fight for no matter what. Nationalism gets lost in the greed of imperialism and gets pushed to the back of people’s minds. They forget their duty to their country and this is why Hobson calls imperialism a “sin”.