Here in the Us we have ab election quickly approaching and while the candidates slug it out the rise of populism is barely noticed…..nationalistic fervor is on the rise…..not only in America but in Europe as well…..
The question could be asked with the rise of a form of populism is it doing damage to “mainstream” politics?
Candidates like trump and Sanders are energizing voters like they have not been so in the past…..I pressed an excellent article on this phenom….it is mostly about the EU but it can be applied to the USA as well…..
This triumph of populism is not solely a European problem. In the United States presidential elections often tempt fringe candidates to try their luck, but when the moment of truth comes, responsible people get the top job. For Europeans, similarly, it used to go without saying that though the EU might be confronted by severe threats, overcoming them always led to an even stronger union.
Source: The self-emasculation of mainstream politics | European Council on Foreign Relations
Somebody had better start getting a little case of “Nationalism” going on because if they don’t the forces that are chopping off their heads will make sure there are no more nations to embrace Nationalism.
Really John? You want Americans top suffer from the things that nationalism brings on?
I remember that we were intensely nationalistic during the days of the Second World War … Patriotism was everywhere … rhetoric was rampant … Americans were united in the common cause of protecting their nation from the encroachments of the Axis criminals and the misguided militancy of The “Japanese Empire” — and there were posters and parades and memorial services and it was preached from the pulpits of the land and America was strong and united and we overcame the enemy and yes … I am waiting for America to get their Nationalism on once again instead of trying to appease the very forces that want to annihilate us all.
Good luck…..this country will be destroyed from the inside….and we have begun the process….there is the rub….too many think other Americans are their enemies….
Which they may well be … Remember the Civil War?
There are more guns now than in 1860…so time will tell.
The problem is that the overwhelming majority of Americans are now self-obsessed fucktards who can’t see past their dicks, stomachs and other base urges. They have little, or no, concept left of a national collective. If America is anything now, it’s motto is “I’m the centre of the universe and it’s every idiot for himself.”
“USA! USA! USA!” is not some reasoned, patriotic, response to promote the supposed values of the nation (freedom, democracy, human rights, etc). It’s just something you chant when Hulk Hogan power-slams the badguy…for your personal entertainment.
It’s pretty easy to divide & conquer a nation of fools who think only of themselves and their base urges. They’ve lost all proper context. They easily get irrational, hostile and scared of their own shadows. They shout for Big Brother to protect them from people who can’t even hurt them. They call for discrimination/torture/killing/etc of anybody not like them. Even if it means destroying the freedom, democracy, human rights, etc, that made the nation worthwhile.
“Smash the badguy for me, Hulkster! I want to feel safe from ISIS at the mall again.”