i just read the two articles you linked to, kingbee. both were very good.
social nationalism is always the risk when patriotism becomes blind and supersedes humanity. it bothers me that politicians are so willing to stoke such patriotism. then i say to myself, "of course a polician will do anything and everything". then i say, "the reason they do it is because we want them to do it."
if you look at germany post wwI, it is easy to see why germans would be looking for some concept to move them. the rest of europe declared germany the villains, and took their recompense from germany's moral and financial banks. germany was bankrupt in every way. when hitler began to speak, to suggest that they were not at fault, that there were weaknesses in their midst that they were not responsible for, people wanted to listen so badly.
and now, when we find it hard to believe what the media says, what the politicians say, even what the history books say, we want someone to speak in a way that moves us and creates meaning for us.
facism is about absolutist stances, about the ultimate definings of "us" and "them". every ideology defines these groups as part of an overarching cosmology. in social nationalism, the nation's borders become the first checkpoint. in germany, racial purity became a way of identifying your "brothers".
the doi seemed to be trying to eliminate the "us and them", though there were grave inconsistencies in that document, too. but every man having "inalienable rights" appeared to be a powerful piece of language that might have moved beyond simple rhetoric.
right now in the usa, i think people are looking for a resurrection of purpose and meaning. communism, hippies, liberals, conservatives. . .each label denotes a "them" that we can fight against. as we speak, those who do not agree with our policies are either traitors or terrorists. u.s. citizens speaking their minds must be traitors; others must be terrorists. when the fervor of purpose hits there's no room for identifying "differently-minded compatriots" or even finding a better way of dealing with adversity--because it devalues the purpose we are finding in these causes.
make the world safe for democracy. it's the most ironic of propaganda statements. thanks again, tj, for the t.r. quote above. if we looked at it logically, i think we would see that the 1st amendment is the natural opposite to facism, and the no.1 definition of u.s. patriotism. it's who we are.
why don't our kids know it, though?
