Chris Hedges: The Lie of Patriotism

[marmar]

from truthdig:


The Lie of Patriotism

Posted on Apr 3, 2016
By Chris Hedges


BALTIMORE—When Rory Fanning, a burly veteran who served in the 2nd Army Ranger Battalion and was deployed in Afghanistan in 2002 and 2004, appeared at the Donald Trump rally in Chicago last month he was wearing the top half of his combat fatigues. As he moved through the crowd, dozens of Trump supporters shouted greetings such as “Welcome home, brother” and “Thank you for your service.” Then came the protest that shut down the rally. Fanning, one of the demonstrators, pulled out a flag that read “Vets Against Racism, War and Empire.”

“Immediately someone threw a drink on me,” he said when I interviewed him on my teleSUR show, “Days of Revolt.” “I got hit from behind in the head three or four times. It was quite the switch, quite the pivot on me. Questioning the narrative, questioning Donald Trump’s narrative, and I was suddenly out of their good graces.”

Nationalists do not venerate veterans. They venerate veterans who read from the approved patriotic script. America is the greatest and most powerful country on earth. Those we fight are depraved barbarians. Our enemies deserve death. God is on our side. Victory is assured. Our soldiers and Marines are heroes. Deviate from this cant, no matter how many military tours you may have served, and you become despicable. The vaunted patriotism of the right wing is about self-worship. It is a raw lust for violence. It is blind subservience to the state. And it works to censor the reality of war.

“A lot of soldiers who’ve come back from war see themselves as anything but a hero,” Fanning said. “To throw that term around loosely is dangerous. It’s a way to manipulate soldiers. It buys their silence.”

.....(snip).....

“We’re sold the idea of—we’re going to liberate people, we’re fighting terrorism. Then we realize we’re the ones terrorizing people,” Hanes said. “That torments you psychologically. I’ve lost a few friends to suicide.” .................(more)

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_lie_of_patriotism_20160403

[Laxman]

1. This Is A Message...

that needs to be spread far and wide. It points out the danger and the power of nationalism gone awry and there are plenty of historic examples of where this can lead. The problem is that people for whom understanding Mr. Fanning's message is most vital-well, you'd probably be better off trying to teach your dog to fly an airplane than get a Trump supporter to grasp what he says in this article. Thank you for posting this.

[marmar]

2. Yep. Im posting this on all of my social media accounts this morning.

[Ghost Dog]

3. Kick

& Rec.

[Festivito]

4. We dream of being Luke Skywalker and wake up realizing we became stormtroopers. eom

[MisterP]

5. right--all the past violence of Europe became a hilarious blip when France

took the lead in nationalism 1792--when every hameau and mountain village saw the recruiter, when they engineered the raising of armies not seen since Rome

[Albertoo]

7. Nationalism was far more hideous during the 30 Years War

At least, a good part of the 1792 French were fighting for an idea.

[marmar]

6. Nite kick

[JEB]

8. K&R Excellent post and link. Well worth a thoughtful read.

[pampango]

9. Nationalism" is the one common thread uniting far-right groups

If there is one ideological doctrine about which there is almost full consensus regarding its importance for understanding the far-right worldview, it is that of nationalism. Historically, the literature on nationalism has taken diverse directions and is extremely rich, but in its varying guises it usually refers to the association between ethnic, cultural and/or linguistic identity and political expression, or more simply put, the convergence of a cultural framework with a political entity.

In the context of the far-right worldview, nationalism takes an extreme form of full convergence between one polity or territory and one ethnic or national collective. Two elements are required for the fulfillment of this version of the nationalist doctrine. The first is that of internal homogenization, i.e., the aspiration that all residents or citizens of the polity will share the same national origin and ethnic characteristics. The second is the element of external exclusiveness, the aspiration that all individuals belonging to a specific national or ethnic group will reside in the homeland.

The racist movement is comprised of white supremacy groups such as the KKK, neoNazi groups such as the National Alliance and Skinheads groups such as the Hammerskin Nation. The groups comprising this movement are interested in preserving or restoring what they perceive as the appropriate and natural racial and cultural hierarchy, by enforcing social and political control over non-Aryans/nonwhites such as African Americans, Jews, and various immigrant communities. Therefore, their ideological foundations are based mainly on ideas of racism, segregation, xenophobia, and nativism (rejection of foreign norms and practices).

The antifederalist rationale is multifaceted, and includes the beliefs that the American political system and its proxies were hijacked by external forces interested in promoting a “New World Order” (NWO) in which the United States will be absorbed into the United Nations or another version of global government.

http://www.ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/ChallengersFromtheSidelines.pdf

Nationalism, racism, xenophobia and nativism all seem to be common threads with the violent far-right. Not surprising since they all play into the "US vs THEM" ideology that motivates the far-right.

Trump's "make America great again" is based on the right's flawed sense of nationalism. Immigrants, foreigners, ethnic and racial minorities do not fit in the right's vision of "nationalism" which relies on 'enforcing social and political control over non-majorities such as African Americans, Jews, and various immigrant communities', expanded by modern republicans to include Hispanics and Muslims.