Nationalism: The herpes of politics
If you’d like to learn about the true nature of nationalism in less than 10 minutes, go ahead and check out this surprisingly well-conceived piece in the financial journal TheStreet.com. If you don’t have that long, maybe just examine the cartoon below for a reminder of why the resurgence of nationalism is not good news.
Cartoon by Jen Sorensen.
Nationalist Rogues Gallery
Let’s begin with a very brief list of notable nationalists:
- Kim Il-sung
- Augusto Pinochet
- Benito Mussolini
- Rodrigo Duterte
- Slobodan Milošević
- Xi Jinping
- Napoléon Bonaparte
- Fidel Castro
- Adolf Hitler
- Donald Trump
Not coincidentally, we often find these same names on lists of cults of personality alongside additional figures like Mao Tse-tung, Joseph Stalin, Francisco Franco, Pol Pot. A commonality among Trumpuppets is their nescience of such figures—much less an understanding of how nationalism is an indispensable tool used by them to bludgeon the people. The first “key point” from Alpha History’s Cult of Mao page brings to mind a certain Murican billionaire:
A cult of personality is a campaign of rhetoric and propaganda that exaggerates the importance of a particular leader. They are features of totalitarian systems and are used to assert and increase the leader’s control over the people.
Most educated Muricans who speak frankly about the issue admit they’ve not seen this phenomena in their lifetime (in their own nation) until now. While tyranny may be inseparable from the human condition, the travesty of contemporary U.S. politics could easily have been avoided. Mr Trump is in office due to a perfect storm of volatile variables aligned in an unholy posture long enough for the worst-case scenario to occur; he himself felt amazement at the absurdity of Murica when handed the keys on one fateful election night.
Yes, Donald, you certainly are a nationalist… specifically, a white nationalist.
Mr Trump sitting as BLOTUS diminishes the possibility of patriotic sentiments in any fair-minded person. Regardless of 2020 election results, the current complacency with a white nationalist mythomaniac as leader provides more than enough data to evaluate the worth of the nation. Rediscovering the extent to which so many of your countrymen are obedient, reality-challenged simpletons is disquieting, and their readiness to willingly double down on falsehood (at least, when such anti-truths are convenient in supporting beliefs) is still stunning, every time, to anyone with critical thinking skills. No matter who holds office in 2019 or 2021, the thought of never again setting foot in the USA is 100% fine with me.
In future U.S. History books, a full-page boxed text panel titled “The Resurgence of Nationalism” will be dedicated to Mr Trump, classifying him with his contemporaries of Duterte, Viktor Orban, Matteo Salvini, and Jair Bolsonaro. In fact, many believe that Mr Trump leads the resurgence of nationalism around the globe. Ironically, for all his talk of walls and flags, the orange fathead will be remembered as a POTUS who inherited a rescued, upwards-bound economy and then proceeded to pad the courts and funnel the nation’s wealth up to his own economic class by every means available to him. This all is in plain sight for anyone to see (if willful ignorance is not a goal), yet is lost on his ignorant supporters in the here and now.
Deplorable Violence
Demagoguery grants few unfavorable consequences for Mr Trump himself, yet his words apparently have profound consequences for others. Cesar Sayoc, the GOP terrorist who presents as the latest symptom of a national disease, will be excused with the same tactics the GOP uses to dismiss mass shootings—i.e., not discussing the elephant in the room (think AR-15 rifles). Predictably, Cesar will be referred to as “just some nut” who wasn’t (??) indoctrinated by the propaganda techniques of BLOTUS. Nothing to see here, move along. Thoughts and prayers.
And a final note. When considering Mr Trump, always take into account the raison d’être of white nationalists; the following is quoted from the SPLC website, as we can’t reasonably define the state of affairs more succinctly.
“Adherents of white nationalist groups believe that white identity should be the organizing principle of the countries that make up Western civilization. White nationalists advocate for policies to reverse changing demographics and the loss of an absolute, white majority. Ending non-white immigration, both legal and illegal, is an urgent priority — frequently elevated over other racist projects, such as ending multiculturalism and miscegenation — for white nationalists seeking to preserve white, racial hegemony.“
Further reading on nationalism:
The Continuing Appeal of Nationalism