The story “The Man Without a Country” used to be standard reading matter for seventh graders. In fact, it was the first “real” book—as opposed to those tedious Dick and Jane readers—that I was assigned in school.
It was exciting compared to Dick and Jane and the rest, since it dealt with an actual story that had some actual drama to it. It struck me as terribly sad—and unfair, too—that Philip Nolan was forced to wander the world, exiled, for one moment of cursing the United States. “The Man Without a Country” was the sort of paean to patriotism that I would guess is rarely or never assigned nowadays to students.
Patriotism has gotten a bad name during the last few decades. This trend seems to have taken root (at least in this country) with the 60s, the Vietnam era, and the rise in influence of the left. But patriotism and nationalism were rejected by a significant segment of Europeans even earlier, as a result of the devastation both sentiments wrought on that continent during World War II. (Of course, WWII in Europe was a result mainly of German nationalism run amok, but it seems to have given nationalism as a whole a very bad name, a trend that began after the carnage of World War I.)
Here’s author Thomas Mann on the subject of nationalism, writing in 1947 in the introduction to the American edition of Herman Hesse’s Demian:
If today, when national individualism lies dying, when no single problem can any longer be solved from a purely national point of view, when everything connected with the “fatherland” has become stifling provincialism and no spirit that does not represent the European tradition as a whole any longer merits consideration…
A strong statement of the post-WWII idea of nationalism as a dangerous force, mercifully dead or dying, to be replaced (hopefully) by a pan-national (or, rather, anational) Europeanism. Mann was a German exile from his own country who had learned to his bitter regret the excesses to which unbridled and amoral nationalism can lead. His was an understandable and common response at the time, one that many decades later helped lead to the formation of the EU. The waning but still relatively strong nationalism of the US is seen by those who agree with him as a relic of those dangerous days of nationalism gone mad without any curb or consideration of morality.
But the US is not Nazi Germany or anything like it, however much the far left may try to make that analogy. There’s a place for nationalism and for love of country. Not a nationalism that ignores or tramples on human rights (like that of the Nazis), but one that embraces and strives for and tries to preserve them here and abroad, keeping in mind that—human nature being what it is—no nation on earth can be perfect or anywhere near perfect. The US is far from perfect, but it is a very good country nevertheless, always working to be better, with a nationalism that recognizes that sometimes liberty must be fought for, and that the struggle involves some sacrifice.
So, I’ll echo the verse that figured so prominently in “The Man Without a Country,” and say (corny, but true): …this is my own, my native land. And I’ll also echo Francis Scott Key and add: …the star-spangled banner, O long may it wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
[Neo-neocon is a writer with degrees in law and family therapy, who blogs at neo-neocon.]
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Nation states to this day are also the best delivery system to facilitate the exercise of human rights.
I remember that book well, its story struck a nerve in me at about 9.
Of course, I also remember when they taught about the Founders and Burr and the details of American History in schools, too, instead of self-esteem, diversity, transgender issues, and trigger warnings. So, I’m getting pretty old!
Patriotism does have a bad name, especially among the leftist elite, who sneer at it, like the Obamas’ clear impatience with formal flag ceremonies.
Odd they get so defensive about questioning their patriotism when they go so far out of their way not to have any.
Patriotism does have a bad name, especially among the leftist elite, who sneer at it
But they just love ‘solidarity’ with their fellow political cultists, don’t they. And they can’t get enough of ‘the struggle’, either.
No sympathy, lefties.
I went to East Berlin with my family as a young teen. I had been told that East Berlin was a mess, and West Berlin was a modern city. The contrast, they told me, was due to the difference between our system of freedom and democracy, and communism. This was before the wall came down. We would enter East Berlin through Checkpoint Charlie.
To my deep surprise, it was all true.
The West Germans had re-built the city, except for an area of about two blocks, which was still rubble, and preserved so as a memorial to the war. East Berlin was a desiccated mess, with bullet holes still visible in nearly all the buildings. The streets were empty, and the few shops with large windows had very large poster ads hiding the interior. They were Western ads. I remember that one was Revlon.
You can be told, and told truly, and still not understand.
Man, that’s an understatement. In lieu of patriotism, they have warped minds and hate.
How’s this one?
Michelle Obama Tells Graduates to ‘Shape the Revolutions’
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/michelle-obama-tells-graduates-shape-revolutions_955208.html
We’re just sitting back and letting this all happen. Not that we need to rush into the streets and start burning things (will it come to that?) but we do tolerate the two most pathetic assholes in American politics leading the GOP House and the Senate – men who might otherwise use the power of Congress to stop Obama from gleefully taking the nation down the drain. We have a say whether these two bozos keep their jobs, but too many of us are silent and just watch in wonderment as the traitor in the White House promotes hate, economic depression as well as streamlining the path to WW3 and a nuclear attack on the US homeland.
Boehner and McConnell make Neville Chamberlain look like a visionary.
Sadly, I was the only one I could see for many blocks around my place that had The Flag posted outside. Not a good trend.
Deceased Film director Robert Altman: “When I see an American flag flying, it’s a joke.”
“Altman was an outspoken marijuana user, and served as a member of the NORML advisory board. He was also an atheist and an anti-war activist. He was one of numerous notable public figures, including the linguist Noam Chomsky and the actress Susan Sarandon, who signed the “Not in Our Name” declaration opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq.” Wikipedia
The Extreme Irony surrounding all of the aforementioned, particularly for Altman: Altman lived most of his sheltered and privileged life in Malibu under the implicit national protection of the U.S. military-those who honored the flag in life and then were honored by the flag in death. Poor, poor pot head Altman, all wrapped up in himself.
While nationalism – the word – is in disrepute (in Europe and in the more quote-enlightened-unquote parts of the USA), the nationalist sentiment is harder to eradicate.
See George Orwell’s classic essay, “Notes on Nationalism,” (http://www.resort.com/~prime8/Orwell/nationalism.html) and follow the news. You’ll find plenty of nationalism out there.