All those parallels above presuppose a racist attitude. Both positive and masochist nationalism rest on racial hierarchies – whether top rung is occupied by the West or by overseas’ cultures. Skin colour plays a crucial role in both ideologies, and they are in equal measure drawn towards the pseudo-science of physiognomy. An obsession with the superficial and colourful is widespread among both nationalists, whether it relates to old-school imperialism's exoticism and racist excitement for clans and tribes, or multiculturalists’ naïve fascination for all things exotic. As a result of this shared tendency, worth adding, both types of nationalism are influenced by the commercial imagery of neo-liberalism.

None of them are opposed to racial segregation as a principle, and they see no problem with racist name-calling but never against their own kind. Irascible to the same degree, they both lapse into racial and political exaggerations. While positive nationalists may dismiss an entire human race as a “negative potential,” masochist nationalists, in turn, may describe scores of individuals as a “positive potential,” without being interested in the least in faces and names.