Healthy
The 2016 UEFA European Championship: I was struck with the
team from Iceland. This team made it to
the quarterfinals, finally losing to host nation France. Iceland has a population of some 330,000
people. It was reported that up to ten
percent of the island’s population were attending the team’s matches in
France. When the team returned to
Iceland from their eventual defeat to France, they were greeted by what seemed
to be the entire population of the island.
A real feel-good story.
Which caused me to reflect: why feel good about this display of national
pride?
I suspect every person in Iceland has not more than one or
two people in between them and a player on the team. A community, happily cheering for people with
whom there is a personal connection; like cheering for your child, your cousin,
or your friend from gymnasium.
In other words, a nation in the healthiest sense of the
word. Unfortunately, there are not too
many countries that offer such a possibility: decentralization to the point
where nation, country, and state correspond much closer to natural
relationships.
Pathological
Today’s example is to be found in American football: American
football – like most American sports – cannot be separated from the
military. Every game includes some honor
or another to or regarding the military: from a presentation to a “wounded
warrior,” to a flyover, to the home team wearing camouflage-style jerseys. People cheer louder for the military and for flag
worship than they do for a touchdown.
An American football player decides not to stand for the
national anthem. He has apparently done
this before, but it is only now news. The
reaction was (only verbally, so far) violent: how dare he disrespect the
troops! Except he didn’t. His protest was against the treatment of
minorities in America; he could not stand for the anthem or flag of such a
country. But to the masses, “nation” (as
represented by the anthem) equals military and state. This player disrespected the troops, no
matter what he says.
The semi-thoughtful commentators (as opposed to the totally
ignorant) were able to process this distinction: “thank God he didn’t
disrespect the troops.” Translations: it
is OK to protest over an SJW cause, “just
don’t protest about the troops”; “they fight and die for us to have the freedom
to protest.” This passed for
thoughtful commentary.
The even more thoughtful offered: if we cannot remain seated
for the anthem, what does that say about America. Totalitarian governments demand such things, not us!
Let’s see if they say such things when someone refuses to
stand for the troops. Because protesting
regarding the police treatment of dark-skinned people in the US is acceptable;
protesting regarding the US military treatment of dark-skinned people in other
countries…well…we know the answer.
As one talking mouthpiece said: “I don’t know a single
person who doesn’t support the troops.”
To which I say, move to Iraq, Syria, Libya, or Afghanistan. See how you feel about it then.
Or, stop by here,
here, and here once a day: it will be physically much safer,
but intellectually and emotionally crushing.
Conclusion
Iceland. Given the
size and relative cohesiveness of the population, one place where I envision the
possibility of country, nationalism, and state reasonably co-existing: a possibility
for healthy, all-encompassing patriotism.
In a place like the United States? Patriotism equals a sickly
self-identification with international murderers and criminals; it also means crucifixion
for those who don’t go along. Pathological.
We should all sit - or even boo! Can you imagine the fright of our rulers?
ReplyDeleteThe US government has indoctrinated citizens into the myth of military heroism. What C.S. Lewis says about past national hero stories could be equally applied to our present military "hero" cult:
ReplyDelete"The actual history of every country is full of shabby and even shameful doings. The heroic stories, if taken to be typical, give a false impression of it and are often themselves open to serious historical criticism. Hence a patriotism based on our glorious past is fair game for the debunker. As knowledge increases it may snap and be converted into disillusioned cynicism, or may be maintained by a voluntary shutting of the eyes."
If the US were just 50 countries, I might actually watch international sporting events.
ReplyDeleteIt’s a bit of a conundrum. We live in a world that most likely requires selfless (or not too bright) individuals to defend against predatory threats. However, the powers that be use them for aggressive purposes. Do you stigmatize the troops or the voters who are the prime cause of the misuse? The voters appear to be as at sea as the troops.
ReplyDeleteTomO
There is plenty of blame to go around (politicians, mothers who must put a positive spin on the senseless loss of a son, the people who stand and applaud in church every time a child announces he has "signed up to serve"), but the buck stops with the guy pulling the trigger.
DeleteThey join voluntarily, therefore they kill innocent people voluntarily.
What do the selfless troops do to defend against the following predatory realities?
ReplyDelete(1) The income tax - is there anything more predatory than the proposition that some entity takes any portion of the fruits of one's labor? The more it is argued that such theft is wholesome or necessary, the more profligate it becomes.
(2) Asset forfeiture, i.e., highway robbery perpetrated by the state's domestic privileged purveyors of violence.
(3) The War on Cash - SARS (Suspicious Activity Reports) and all the rest. Is there anything more predatory than tracking the entirety of an individual's transactions?
(4) The War on Drugs - nuff said.
(5) Occupational licensure -
(6) Gun laws - what could be more predatory than seeking to infringe, in any way, upon the absolute right of one to keep and bear arms?
We live in a world that would be better off with a final solution for all those who would wear the imprimatur and uniform of Caesar.
THE ZIONIST NEO CON ISRAELI FIRSTERS WERE THE FIRST TO GET ON THEIR MSM S AND YELL TRAITOR RACEBAITER CRIMINAL MOVE TO ANOTHER COUNTRY ETC.I PERSONALLY WILL NOT ATTEND ANY PUBLIC FUNCTION SPORTING EVENT AUTO RACING/NASCAR ETC BECAUSE I WOULD BE IN THAT PREDICAMENT.I JUST WENT TO A CAR SHOW IN A SMALL NO ILLINIOS TOWN .AND HAD NO IDEA THAT AT 12:00 NOON THEY WERE GOING TO GO INTO THIS MILITARY DIATRIBE.THEY HAD LOUD SPEAKERS SET UP TUNED TO THE HIGHEST DECIBEL THEN THEY GAVE PRAISE AND A PRAYER TO THE MILITARY ,THEN CAME THE ANTHEM AND LITERALLY EVERY PERSON STOOD AT ATTENTION AND EITHER SALUTED OF HAD THEIR HAND OVER THEIR HEART.I HID IN AN OBSCURE SPOT TO NOT BE SEEN AS I COULD NOT DO THAT.
ReplyDeleteMaybe don't yell next time.
DeleteI was at Stone Mountain last year, lying on a blanket with my family watching the fireworks. The finale was patriotic and a voice came over the loudspeaker, "Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for our national anthem."
ReplyDeleteI stayed on my blanket, as did my family around me, and everyone else got up and stood, looking down at us quizzically from time to time. I thought how great it was that no one bothered us about it. There's some freedom left here.
But interesting how it's not just the schools that condition us, but the businesses as well (or do they reflect the "education"?). Everyone is instructed to rise at the song's beginning, and everyone does so because everyone else is doing it too. No thought required.
This reminds me of the old story wherein four generations of women are together for Easter dinner. While prepping a ham, the youngest asks her Mom why she cuts of its end. Unknowing, she asks the Grandmother. They each agree that that's the way it's always been done. They then ask the Great Grandmother who is sitting in the next room. She yells back, "Because that's the only way I could fit it into the pan!" :)