The Editor of The Progressive explains why he doesn’t celebrate July 4th:
It’s July 4th, my least favorite holiday.
And I’m not referring to the bugs, or the crowds, or the traffic on the highways.
I’m talking about the mindless patriotic bubble bath we’re all supposed to soak in all weekend long.
Well, not me.
My heart does not beat faster at the strains of the Star Spangled Banner, much less at the sight of F-16s flying overhead to kick off the show.
You see, I don’t believe in patriotism.
You can call me unpatriotic if you’d like, but really I’m anti-patriotic.
I’ve been studying fascism lately, and there is one inescapable fact about it:
Nationalism is the egg that hatches fascism.
And patriotism is but the father of nationalism.
Patriotism is not something to play with. It’s highly toxic. When ingested, it corrodes the rational faculties.
It gulls people into believing their leaders.
It masks those who benefit most from state policy.
And it destroys the ability of people to get together, within the United States and across boundaries, to take on those with the most power: the multinational corporation.
Plus, it’s a war toy, wheeled out whenever a leader needs to improve his ratings by attacking some other country—often after invoking God’s name, too.
It’s been so since the Spanish-American War and World War I and right up through the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War.
American patriotism has also gotten in the way of solving global warming. Many in the United States, which consumes 25 percent of the world’s resources but has just 4 percent of the world’s population, believe we have the God-given right to use up all the resources we can. And there is an all-too-common attitude that we don’t need to listen to any other countries, or the U.N., or obey any international agreements because we’re Americans, and we’re better than everybody else.
We’ve got to get over patriotism, and we’ve got to cure the American superiority complex.
So celebrate the 4th if you like.
But as for me, between God, country, and apple pie, I’ll take the apple pie.
Oh, where to begin. What a party animal huh? Wouldn’t you just love to invite this character over for Thanksgiving? Or anything.
So he’s been reading about Fascism. I don’t know this individual personally, but I just get the feeling that if I did, I’d want to stick some kind of a big sign on his head that says “please do not allow this person to go anywhere near a book.” Bad things ensue, and nothing good ever comes from it. It’s just the vibe I’m picking up.
Your Wikipedia talk page on Fascism has, as of this writing, 35 pages of archive. Hmmm, that’s a big problem. Another problem: The main article is decidedly confused about the answer to its own question, which is: Is it fair to characterize Fascism as “right wing”? Nobody else was wondering. And yet the article offers this, and then is forced to question it.
The Merriam-Webster definition creates many more problems for this supposition:
1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control
I would bring two things to Rothschild’s attention here, with regard to this definition.
One, it seems to be a perfect description of England under King George III.
Two, it also seems to be a nearly-perfect description of the United States under Barack Obama.
But let us stick to the first of those two things for the time being. The title of Rothschild’s piece is “Why I Don’t Celebrate July 4th,” and I’m afraid after I read all of it, I still don’t understand why this hater of Fascism doesn’t celebrate. Not when I keep in mind what July 4th represents…which, frankly, I don’t think Rothschild himself has managed to do this. He’s lost track of the vision here. It seems all that retains meaning to him is this: He’s a progressive and progressives hate the United States (although they’ll move to stigmatize, every single time, anybody who notices this including Yours Truly).
But if you hate Fascism it’s just stupid and nonsensical to protest, oppose or countermand Independence Day. That really is the whole point of the exercise: That we have natural rights, and if anybody interferes with them we’re not going to tolerate it.
It is the ultimate anti-Fascism commemoration.
So let’s see if there’s anything else in Rotschild’s rant that might make some sense:
Many in the United States…believe we have the God-given right to use up all the resources we can.
Who are these people? Please list them.
Personally, I think when my survival and standard of living depend on the consumption of renewable resources, and the people who represent me or have some power over me are being swindled and hoodwinked by charlatans who insist these resources are non-renewable, I do have some God-given rights that are being infringed upon. So that’s the issue as far as I’m concerned: Renewability versus non-renewability. But — I have a God-given right to consume as many resources as I possibly can? Eh, not so much. Maybe as long as they’re renewable, then yes. I think I have a right to do whatever I want so long as it doesn’t interfere with the rights of others.
In this sense, I have a difference of opinion with people like Rothschild. He’s mis-stating what this issue is because, I believe, he feels that if he states it honestly there will be too many people seeing the wisdom and logic of my side. And so he has to lie.
And there is an all-too-common attitude that we don’t need to listen to any other countries, or the U.N., or obey any international agreements because we’re Americans, and we’re better than everybody else.
Yeah right. Again, point ’em out. Who thinks America can ratify treaties and then ignore them? As far as the “international agreements” we have not yet made…well, yeah. America doesn’t have to listen to other countries — if we don’t want to. And the U.N. has no power over us, just like they have no power over other countries unless those other countries expressly give that power away.
See, Rothschild’s argument is phony from top to bottom. He’s presenting it as some kind of a Good Fight against American exceptionalism, the notion that “we’re better than everybody else.” There really is no reason for him to present his argument this way, other than a calculation that this will arouse greater sympathy. A calculation with which I happen to agree.
But what he’s really saying is that he doesn’t like the idea that America is as good as anybody else. And that, whether Rothschild thinks it important or not, is quite a different thing. People like him want America to come last, to be inferior. He isn’t being honest about his motives.
We’ve got to get over patriotism, and we’ve got to cure the American superiority complex.
So we can substitute it with what? Probably with the pride and superiority complex of…something else. Am I right or am I right?
Cross-posted at Cassy’s place.
New data show that the gaps in after-tax income between the richest 1 percent of Americans and the middle and poorest parts of the population in 2007 was the highest it’s been in 80 years, while the share of income going to the middle one-fifth of Americans shrank to its lowest level ever.
As a blog, we go back to 2004, the year of Facebook’s origin…way before it emerged as any kind of a phenom. It’s just hard for us to see it as a serious player.
It’s actually “mine” only in the sense that I really like it, I didn’t invent it. But I do have it down to an efficient, effective process and can pretty much make it in my sleep. It’s one of my more useful talents.
For the first time in U.S. history, 