Donald Trump's mandate evoked chauvinism very often
Chauvinism , also accepted as chauvinism , is a term that refers to an exacerbation of the national as opposed to the foreign . The etymological root of the notion is found in the French word chauvinisme .
Origin of the concept
The concept comes from Nicolas Chauvin , an apocryphal soldier who represents the patriotism of France . Chauvin embodies the courage and sentiment of those who made up the first army of the republic and the forces commanded by Napoleon Bonaparte .
Legend has it that, when he was 18 years old, Chauvin enlisted to defend his country. He was wounded almost twenty times in combat, suffering various serious injuries . However, there are no historical records of his existence, which means that he is a fictional character.
Nowadays
Chauvinism currently has a negative meaning. The idea is used to refer to an exaggerated exaltation of everything that has to do with one's own nation , to the detriment of that which comes from abroad.
Many times chauvinism is a resource of rulers to, by appealing to feelings and emotions, convince the population that the country's ills are caused by immigrants or by actions carried out beyond national borders. The construction of chauvinism is linked to the supposed existence of an identity that is considered exclusive or specific to a community or a people and that is positioned as superior or better than others.
US President Donald Trump , for example, is often accused of appealing to chauvinism to move citizens. It is common for the president to blame immigration for economic problems and to proclaim his intention to make the United States "great again," to mention an attitude labeled as chauvinist.
Other types and their consequences
Given the meaning that this term has at its root, many intellectuals have taken advantage of it as the root of different phenomena . For example, we can talk about male chauvinism to refer to the way of thinking that considers the male sex superior to the female. In fact, in some contexts we can use it as a synonym for machismo .
Male chauvinism is believed to arise from regressive desires, oedipal anxiety, unresolved desires during childhood, hostile envy toward the opposite sex, and dependency and power conflicts linked to their own self-esteem as men. This stereotype -laden misogyny is opposed to what some call female chauvinism , although it is important not to confuse feminism with female superiority , since it simply pursues equality of conditions and opportunities.
In any case, chauvinism can lead to situations of discrimination, extreme ways of thinking, and physical or verbal violence . Supporting such closed ideas is never a good decision, something that is proven to us century after century by the mistakes our ancestors made believing they had the truth in their hands.
Is carbon the basis of life on any planet?
Carbon chauvinism
This concept was coined in the second half of the 20th century and refers to the conviction that life on other planets should be similar to what we have on Earth. To be more precise, it is used to describe the assumption that the molecules behind the chemical processes of living organisms must rely on carbon as a fundamental element .
Put another way, people who support this idea seem to lack the ability to imagine other forms of biochemistry beyond the one they know. The renowned astronomer and scientific communicator Carl Edward Sagan was the first to use this term, in 1973. At that time he also spoke of other forms of chauvinism that built walls to limit our creativity.