Authoritarians always appropriate patriotism for themselves. That appropriation is part of what they do and who they are. Theodor Adorno, father of the authoritarian personality literature, called this patriotism “collective narcissism.” He tied authoritarian patriotism to the idea that authoritarians, lacking in self-esteem and self-worth, compensate for their sense of inferiority by inflating the worth of their nation.
So, another Fourth of July has arrived. The Fourth of July, like all nationalistic holidays, is a blessing for authoritarians. They get to barbecue, beat their chests, condemn America’s critics while condemning their own government, embrace as their own the Air Force jets flying overhead, and spend a lovely day drinking and hating. How nice for them! Well, the Fourth of July is my holiday and your holiday, too.
I have been thinking a lot about my time in the military—I was in the Army from 1965 to 1968—and about the military in general. I am not a pacifist. The right has never been stopped by pacifism. Those bullies who stream out of the sewers baring their teeth and screaming hatred, who despise their betters and see everyone as their betters, are constrained by nothing gentle and humane. They laugh at compassion and roar with laughter at the idea called loving kindness.
They have an energy that only force defeats. It is fine to possess the institutions that we have. May we revere them and defend them forever! But when millions of human beings are lunatics of hate, those institutions had better have bayonets attached.
Critics of our culture, our times, and our systems—for example, critics of neoliberalism who see the free market as hell itself—are correct to point out the meta-truth that we are all colluding in our own ways in keeping an unjust “global economy” in place. That is true and not so easy to live with.
That truth makes us want to separate ourselves from a tarnished and corrupt world and live off the grid as well-read survivalists who likely wouldn’t last a week in the wilderness. Well, we are not abandoning the grid, good coffee, and air conditioning; and we are bound to continue colluding every time we buy something made on someone’s back. At the same time, we can and must resist.
I know that we are tired of fighting the authoritarians who surround us. But we must keep fighting. We are not equal to that fight but we are also not without some power to resist.
We are tired but we must find reserves of energy to match their maniacal energy. Have a hot dog—and start your political donations again. Find a Congressperson to support. Have some lemonade and rejoin the fight.
Let the Fourth of July be our holiday, too. Let us not hand it over to the authoritarians, who would love to monopolize it for themselves. Let us celebrate—and fight.
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