Samuel Johnson called patriotism ‘the last refuge of the scoundrel‘, but apparently he only meant the opportunistic, virtue-signalling kind. Socialists despise all nationalism, because it props up the capitalist mindset and justifies wars. It’s also bloody silly.
This year, when Ukrainian tennis players draw matches with players from countries supporting Russia, they still play (because… money) but pointedly refuse the traditional end-of-play handshake. When Elina Svitolina narrowly defeated Belarusian Victoria Azarenka at Wimbledon, the usually respectful crowd booed Azarenka off court.
Blaming tennis players for what governments do – especially totalitarian ones – shows what a meaningless abstraction nationalism is. Meanwhile ‘evil’ Azarenka won’t be too upset, having clocked up $36m in prize money, while ‘patriotic heroine’ Svitolina has amassed $21m. New balls please.