House of Eratosthenes

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.

[…] Cross-posted at House of Eratosthenes. […]
- Cassy Fiano » “Patriotism is Highly Toxic” | 07/05/2010 @ 18:00
Socialism is the egg that hatches Fascism. Nationalism may be the sperm that fertilizes it.

But when I wave the Flag of the Republic For Which It Stands, I celebrate it because of it’s non-statist philosophy encoded in its Constitution — a far cry from the all of the state, all for the state philosophy of Fascism.

Remember, the whole idea that Fascism/Nazism is “Right Wing” comes from an argument within the Socialist camp itself. National Socialists are “Right Wing” only because they are to the right of Global Socialism. Sort of like “10” is just to one side of “11” on a The Volume Control dial (“but … it’s ELEVEN!!!”).

The rest of us don’t even figure into the argument. If we’re to the right of the Global Socialists, we must be “Right Wing” and therefore Nazis.

Like it or not, Progressives, Fascists and Nazis were Socialists. Nazi was short for the National Socialist German Worker’s Party. The Facists were in effect the national socialist Italian workers party. Fascist coming from the latin “fascis” or “bundle” — it was a collectivist ideal which used nationalism as a tool to transfer all meaningful power to the state. Progressives admired and supported and thought we should emulate Fascism … and Nazism …. Hitler was admired and Mousilini was practically a hero to Progressive “thinkers” — here in the United States before we got involved in WWII.

Our American Flag Wavers do not want more power transferred to the state. For the most part, they want the state to leave them alone. They celebrate a Republic that promises to do that.

But, come to think of it, the day our American Progressives pick up the flag again and start waving it, perhaps that WOULD be the time to worry.
- philmon | 07/06/2010 @ 07:57
When Samuel Johnson said that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, he apparently had never stopped to consider the possibilities of the word “dissent”.
- Rich Fader | 07/06/2010 @ 08:36
This shit head hates nationalism because it gets in the way of international socialism- for that reason and only that reason.
- thebastidge | 07/06/2010 @ 10:55
Agreed. These anti-nationalists are a bunch of Tooheys.

About a quarter or a third of the way through Fountainhead, there is a mini-biography of Ellsworth Toohey, the chief villain. The bottom line is that every single friend he has, he has because when people spend too much time around him they feel helpless without him. So he reduces people into empty shells of their former selves. And hte sickness spreads, because it’s human nature that when you don’t feel independent you don’t want anyone else to show any independence either.

They don’t want any Americans to feel good about America…because that might lead to feeling good about themselves. They want abject helplessness, or the feeling of same.
- mkfreeberg | 07/06/2010 @ 14:11
[…] This is too much effort to be spent rebutting an article that contains the sort of anti-July-the-4th arguments that were really daring in junior high in the 1970s. […]
- You don’t even go here | Spleenville | 07/06/2010 @ 21:39

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“Patriotism is Highly Toxic”Monday, July 5th, 2010

“Patriotism is Highly Toxic”
Monday, July 5th, 2010