Monday, May 09, 2005
Nationalism, Patriotism, Common Sense, and Common Decency
I’m from America. I like America (I’m presently living in Japan, a country I also rather like). I don’t think I “love” America. That’s a word I reserve for unique personal connections.
The whole “patriotism” thing is anathema to some. Their straw man caricature is a flag waving lunatic; chauvinistic, aggressive, and ultimately driven by a collectivist’s sense of fervent affiliation to abstract symbolism. Such rare passion should more accurately be called nationalism, which indeed is what it is.
A person can certainly like (many probably do “love”) their country, defend it from criticism, and yet not be aggressive, or desire to subdue or vanquish all those groups which are not one’s country.
The Nazis were clearly nationalistic. China today is beginning to show some signs that it may move into that direction to some degree. On the other hand, it’s been quite some time since Mexico or Canada have had to beef up their military in fear of a U.S. lebensraum maneuver of “imperial aggression.”
“My country right or wrong” may be a stupid statement (especially if one really means, “my government right or wrong”) but, “My free and open society and cherished self-government is better than a one party dictatorship” isn’t quite nationalistic in my view. I’m not even sure if it’s “patriotic.” Belief in the virtues of a free society should be simple common sense, but common sense is a weak quality among some idealists.
It’s always been a badge of honor among some leftists in America to deride their own country (you won’t see this phenomena so much amongst Euro-socialists who tend to think their bureau-states are just grand). They view their stance as one of hyper-sobriety – “seeing through the lies,” but, what exactly is so impressive about rooting for the other side when the other side wills your country’s destruction, especially when the other side is an authoritarian philosophy or regime? Of course the Chomskys and Michael Moores and their flock will tell us that they are not rooting for their own country’s enemies. No, their level of sophistication (and, of course, moral superiority) place them in some magical domain that is above taking a side yet, when choosing to criticize or despise a side in general, their scorn is always directed most to the hand that’s been feeding them (and the American “hand” has fed them plenty).
How long would a Noam Chomsky claim a role as “gadfly” in Castro’s Cuba? Would Michael Moore be making critical (and dishonest) “documentaries” in Saddam Hussein’s regime? Yet, the left reserves a special bitterness and disdain for those of us who look upon our home as…our home.
To be sure, America, like most countries, has a history full of tarnished misdeed and outright horror. But just how horrible are those of us from the current great hegemon? I’ve never owned a slave (there are people in the world today who do own slaves -- not just “low wage earners” -- and the left is relatively quiet about them – “who are we to meddle in their unique cultures”).
Through the eyes of a Michael Moore or Noam Chomsky style perspective,* Pol Pot’s slaughter in Cambodia was not merely equivalent to our own corruptions but was ultimately because of our overwhelmingly evil nature (we’re the Devil, and we made them do it). “Confess your crimes!” – Whether a totalitarian show trial or academic’s command to his or her captive audience, the cry remains the same, anyone who dares side with their own country, defends its constitutional and market system, is a co-conspirator in evil...but Castro? “He’s trying to make a better world” (even though he’s spent over 40 years literally destroying an island civilization).
A new twist in the left’s phony polemic arsenal is to now declare that it is they who are the true “patriots.” Michael Moore calling U.S. citizens the “stupidest in the world” and Ward Churchill telling us that 9/11 was a roosting chicken’s attack on a Nazi-like capitalist evil are just their way of saying how much they really like/love their country.
Attempted caricatures aside, most citizens of the U.S. are not rabid nationalist fanatics. I’d guess a good portion of America’s population likes their country, some may even love it. In a world where such feelings toward one’s own country are pretty much standard, this should hardly be considered problematical or even noteworthy.
For the left, it’s all just another example of their pet demons gone wild, “a new fascist resurgence.”
America is bad, unworthy of support or defense – “confess your crimes! ...Imperialist, capitalist running dog”. …Common sense and common decency was never one of the left’s finer points.
* I’m using these two examples (Moore and Chomsky) repeatedly because they so clearly exemplify the pop and intellectual elite versions of the critics I speak of.
The whole “patriotism” thing is anathema to some. Their straw man caricature is a flag waving lunatic; chauvinistic, aggressive, and ultimately driven by a collectivist’s sense of fervent affiliation to abstract symbolism. Such rare passion should more accurately be called nationalism, which indeed is what it is.
A person can certainly like (many probably do “love”) their country, defend it from criticism, and yet not be aggressive, or desire to subdue or vanquish all those groups which are not one’s country.
The Nazis were clearly nationalistic. China today is beginning to show some signs that it may move into that direction to some degree. On the other hand, it’s been quite some time since Mexico or Canada have had to beef up their military in fear of a U.S. lebensraum maneuver of “imperial aggression.”
“My country right or wrong” may be a stupid statement (especially if one really means, “my government right or wrong”) but, “My free and open society and cherished self-government is better than a one party dictatorship” isn’t quite nationalistic in my view. I’m not even sure if it’s “patriotic.” Belief in the virtues of a free society should be simple common sense, but common sense is a weak quality among some idealists.
It’s always been a badge of honor among some leftists in America to deride their own country (you won’t see this phenomena so much amongst Euro-socialists who tend to think their bureau-states are just grand). They view their stance as one of hyper-sobriety – “seeing through the lies,” but, what exactly is so impressive about rooting for the other side when the other side wills your country’s destruction, especially when the other side is an authoritarian philosophy or regime? Of course the Chomskys and Michael Moores and their flock will tell us that they are not rooting for their own country’s enemies. No, their level of sophistication (and, of course, moral superiority) place them in some magical domain that is above taking a side yet, when choosing to criticize or despise a side in general, their scorn is always directed most to the hand that’s been feeding them (and the American “hand” has fed them plenty).
How long would a Noam Chomsky claim a role as “gadfly” in Castro’s Cuba? Would Michael Moore be making critical (and dishonest) “documentaries” in Saddam Hussein’s regime? Yet, the left reserves a special bitterness and disdain for those of us who look upon our home as…our home.
To be sure, America, like most countries, has a history full of tarnished misdeed and outright horror. But just how horrible are those of us from the current great hegemon? I’ve never owned a slave (there are people in the world today who do own slaves -- not just “low wage earners” -- and the left is relatively quiet about them – “who are we to meddle in their unique cultures”).
Through the eyes of a Michael Moore or Noam Chomsky style perspective,* Pol Pot’s slaughter in Cambodia was not merely equivalent to our own corruptions but was ultimately because of our overwhelmingly evil nature (we’re the Devil, and we made them do it). “Confess your crimes!” – Whether a totalitarian show trial or academic’s command to his or her captive audience, the cry remains the same, anyone who dares side with their own country, defends its constitutional and market system, is a co-conspirator in evil...but Castro? “He’s trying to make a better world” (even though he’s spent over 40 years literally destroying an island civilization).
A new twist in the left’s phony polemic arsenal is to now declare that it is they who are the true “patriots.” Michael Moore calling U.S. citizens the “stupidest in the world” and Ward Churchill telling us that 9/11 was a roosting chicken’s attack on a Nazi-like capitalist evil are just their way of saying how much they really like/love their country.
Attempted caricatures aside, most citizens of the U.S. are not rabid nationalist fanatics. I’d guess a good portion of America’s population likes their country, some may even love it. In a world where such feelings toward one’s own country are pretty much standard, this should hardly be considered problematical or even noteworthy.
For the left, it’s all just another example of their pet demons gone wild, “a new fascist resurgence.”
America is bad, unworthy of support or defense – “confess your crimes! ...Imperialist, capitalist running dog”. …Common sense and common decency was never one of the left’s finer points.
* I’m using these two examples (Moore and Chomsky) repeatedly because they so clearly exemplify the pop and intellectual elite versions of the critics I speak of.
