Monday, May 15, 2006
(12:01 PM) | Adam Kotsko:
Patriotism
Unfogged is discussing the idea of taking part in a resistance movement in the event of a fascist takeover of one's (totally hypothetical, of course) country. The post itself includes a long section about patriotism, which makes me deeply uncomfortable -- I don't think that something like "love of country" is a very good reason to oppose fascism.But of course, I've never been in favor of patriotism, nor much understood it, to be honest. I can understand pride in a particular city, or even a particular state. For instance, coming from the Flint area, I'm proud of the role the city played in the labor movement, and I have a particular affection for the small town of Davison, where I grew up. I don't want anything bad to happen there, although the ship has already sailed on that with Flint. The same with Bourbonnais and Kankakee, and now with Chicago. But on the level of the entire country? I don't know. It's just too abstract, and I think that's a big part of what makes it dangerous.
Even in my own experience, which is far from patriotic, discussion of the US as a whole is always very abstract -- to follow national politics in the US is almost always to be a spectator. On the other hand, almost no one is really paying attention to local politics -- local newscasts are probably the worst thing on TV, and local newspapers are definitely struggling. I could probably have a bigger effect starting a campaign to get the CTA to extend the Red Line to 130th Street before building the Circle Line than I could conceivably have on federal judicial appointments, for instance -- but from that realization, what course of action necessarily follows? If I'm not going to actually start said campaign (or work with a campaign that already exists), then isn't this just a matter of which TV shows I'm going to watch, what media I'm going to consume? Is local politics more "indie" and authentic? ("Everyone's talking about George W. Bush, but have you heard of this Mayor Daley guy?")
