Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Newsvine
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
TechnoratiDelusion of Exceptionalism
Nationalism is perhaps the most interesting delusion of modern times. Its power is illustrated by the fact that lots of otherwise sensible people are unapologetic nationalists, even though nationalism requires its adherents to subscribe to various bizarre beliefs.
For example, the nationalist believes that while other nations act invariably on the basis of self-interest, his country is historically unique, in that it makes great sacrifices for the good of others. This thesis has been put forth with complete seriousness by many a well-credentialed supporter of the Iraq war, such as the historian Francis Fukuyama, who argues that the invasion of that country represented a kind of "virtuous imperialism."
Fukuyama's main regret about the invasion is that the unpleasant consequences of the occupation (such as the deaths of between 1 and 5 percent of Iraq's population and the transformation of a significant minority of the rest into refugees) might deter similarly "idealistic" efforts to use American military force to advance democracy and human rights.
Fukuyama is a neo-conservative, so his surreal interpretation of events comes as no surprise. But his view is shared by legions of liberal hawks, who five years ago lined up behind President Bush's proposed invasion like so many well-trained parrots, thus providing crucial political cover for the extraordinary decision to invade a nation that no rational person believed posed a real threat to the United States.
Consider the words of The Washington Post's Richard Cohen: "The Iraq war is not the product of oil avarice, or CIA evil, but of a surfeit of altruism, a naive compulsion to do good. That entire collection of neo- and retro-conservatives - George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and particularly Paul Wolfowitz - made war not for oil or for empire. This is why so many liberals, myself included, originally supported the war. It engaged us emotionally. It seemed . . . well, right - a just cause."
The irony is that Cohen is on one level correct. I have no doubt that both the neo-cons and their liberal hawk enablers believe that their devotion to neo-imperialism is based not on the crass considerations that have always driven international politics, i.e., power and money, but on a virtuous urge to use whatever means were necessary to bring what Mark Twain referred to as The Person Sitting in Darkness into the light of freedom, democracy, etc., etc.
That every imperial power since the dawn of time has claimed exactly the same thing has not the slightest effect on this touching faith in the purity of our own motives.
Similarly, it never gives the nationalist pause that he would burst into incredulous laughter if he were to hear a citizen of any other country make such claims.
The American nationalist believes that, in the words of Michael Cohen of the "liberal" blog Democracy Arsenal, America is "inherently good," and that therefore our imperialist adventures have nothing in common with those of other great powers.
Try this thought experiment: Imagine Nicolas Sarkozy defending French foreign policy by pointing out that France is "inherently good," or Vladimir Putin claiming the right to imprison suspected terrorists for life without trial, because the Russian security forces can be trusted not to make mistakes.
Yet when similarly absurd nonsense is spouted by apologists for "American exceptionalism" - basically, the doctrine that the rules don't apply to us, because we're special - it's treated with the utmost respect by supposedly serious people.
In short, when a political leader claims he is the head of a unique nation, anointed by history or even God himself to be a light unto the world, we tend to consider him either an amusing crank or a dangerous lunatic.
Unless that leader happens to an American president - then he's merely stating a self-evident truth.
Paul Campos is a professor of law at the University of Colorado. He can be reached at paul.campos@colorado.edu.
© 2007 Rocky Mountain News
53 Comments so far
Show Allvery few people are making the israel connection. i think the war was for american hegemony where the oil is, but it was equally made possible by the israel supporters like wolfowitz, libby, lieberman and on and on and on.
trying to be politically correct, afraid of being labeled antisemitic, one ignores this influence at one's peril.
read what seymour hersh has to say about jewish influence and the coming attack on iran.
i heard his interview on amy goodman's democracy now
the most ancient and civilized remedy..love and compassion...unfortunately our adversary is anti-life and has zero zip zilch love or compassion..life is based on hard science...you have to meltdown a shitload of neptunium(love)and add a tubful americum,to produce PLUTONIUM (absolute evil)dont you think,they are aware of this ??the science...scary,huh??we better get our asses out in the streets-nothin to lose........still i believe love and compassion to be the most powerful antidote,we have been bestowed........
Paul:
"Bush's approach seems to be more akin to piracy on all sides"
nice very nice..
ken
"The spiritual response to America's global status springs from deep moral conviction. Initially the hope was that America - by becoming a superpower - would save the world. Today the fear is that America - having become a superpower - will desroy it." - Rev. Forrest Church
If our shortshighted, self-righteous, coroporate flacks in Congress could see beyond their selfish worldview, the U.S. could very well become a superpower of "exceptionalism".
The Fukuyama neocons who equate hegemony with "virtuous imperialism" need to get a grip on reality before their irresponsible and insane politics totally destroy this country and the rest of the world.
Diverting wealth and power in the hands of a few is neither moral or exceptional. It is arrogant, corrupt, injust and extremely dangerous to the well being of humanity.
whitewatersally:
Agreed -- we should be so lucky to have imperial ambitions at this point. If there's any wealth from our mideastern colonies to be generated, it's going offshore to Dubai/Cayman based Halliburton, British oil companies, or simply evaporating into thin air (pockets of military contractors?). At least in a well-run Empire, one would expect colonial wealth to return to the Crown -- and occasionally be spent on architectural wonders, giant cathedrals, even infrastructure.
Bush's approach seems to be more akin to piracy on all sides.
if altruism was still a reason in this country...bush would have invaded africa.if justice was still the impetus in this country...bush would have invaded saudi arabia.in this country,altruism is just a synomyn for greed.the greedybastards running our show,dont even care about AMERICAN imperialism or AMERICAN hedgemoney...they wouldnt be siphoning-off every single penny in america and kicking their own people to the curb(die,you poor useless eaters)..so they can afford to kick up their heels in dubai,with all the other "royalty".......when the talk began,about invading iraq....i also predicted every single horrible thing that came to pass and i wrote letters to the white house and all our representatives,citing all the very good reasons for not perpertrating an insane act.i am a laymen,yet i did not need a crystal ball...it did not hurt that i have read the koran(translated)and that earlier in the year,i had read 'the history of al-tabari'=a historian of bagdad in the year,200 a.d. in the year 199 ad.they overthrew an evil dictator,named hussein,who had two evil sons,poised to take over the country...the sunni were in power..etc..etc..so nothing had really changed in 2000 years.it didnt take a genius to predict all the things that went wrong in iraq....but obviously nobody in congress,senate or the white house,ever did a lick of homework,didnt read and were embarassingly and stupidly uninformed.....
"Man is the only Patriot. He sets himself apart in his own country, under his own flag, and sneers at the other nations, and keeps multitudinous uniformed assassins on hand at heavy expense to grab slices of other people's countries, and keep them from grabbing slices of his. And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood of his hands and works for "the universal brotherhood of man"- with his mouth."
(from "The Lowest Animal")
"Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel".
"There are many humorous things in the world among them the white man´s notion that he is less savage than the other savages."
"Statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception."
This wisdom should be remembered every time Bush opens his mouth about bringing democracy and freedom to other countries in the form of another war.... especially in the context of the "War on Terror" and the demonization of Iran...
All Quotations are from Mark Twain, a truly great American thinker
funeocons --
You're absolutely correct. Thanks for pointing out the limitations of my comparison.
Spain and France at least seem to have learned the limits and drawbacks of their imperialist legacies. The same cannot be said for America's belief in its own exceptionalism. There is still plenty of evidence that huge segments of our population steadfastly cling to a circular, self-justifying view of American military actions: If we do it, it must be right.
Perhaps the website below which i just started is nothing more than naive idealism, but lately i'm filled with furious indignation and mounting frustration with our incredibly broken system of governance not doing the People's will, and for the sake of my two daughters, i can't in good conscience sit idly by.
http://www.peoplesproclamation.com/
"A surfeit of altruism"? One demonstrates a surfeit of altruism by the shock and awe bombing of a civilian population? Kind makes you wonder what we would have done had we not had their best interests at heart.
A surfeit of altruism. What a riot. This guy is a columnist for the Washington Post?
pacplyer,
I'd clarify that a couple different ways:
* Governments and powerful corporations alike are pyramidal power structures.
* There is no clean differentiation between the two in practice. The most influential of one are the most influential among the other.
* Therefore, we would need both small/emergent/populist government AND local/community-based economics.
I must have this incredible psychic ability that enables me to predict the future with some accuracy.
I am sure it is a special gift from the spirits of who knows where, but they have given me this power to prophesize how events will unfold.
I know it is a special gift that allows me to portent the future because most people including many intellectual liberals were unable to predict how an invasion of Iraq would cause the chaos that we now have.
Strange as it may seem, my crystal ball was able to tell me with accurate details that the invasion of Iraq would bring on an insurgent guerilla war and a civil conflict similar to what transpired in Vietnam. And that many thousands of innocent civilians would die.
The truth is, of course I have no special powers and I am just an average bear in intelligence, so why is that I was able to clearly foresee the tragic consequences of invading a sovereign nation and these elite prognosticators were not?
Perhaps half-baked liberals like Cohen, Friedman, Lieberman, and others become staunch conservative idiots when it comes to Israelis interests.
But ultimately I must blame the stupidity of the American people and our jingoistic nationalism for this exceptionlism attitude and for following the drum beat leading us into an unjustified war.
The arrogance of the bloodthirsty mob ready to kill anyone even innocent people for revenge of the 911 catastrophe or to bring democracy to a foreign country is difficult to accept or comprehend.
This group of thoughtless crazy fanatics who are so careless with justice and the lives of blameless people are the real tragedy of what has happened to America.
Yet we continue to allow these fools to deplete our treasury in a vainglorious attempt to bring democracy to the Middle East and we are now following the same worthless drummer into another more devastating war with Iran.
America my cherished home for 66 years, you have become a foolish drunken dishonorable nation I am almost ready to give up on your irresponsible behavior.
Is Brittany Spears and her cohorts now running America?
Scurvybro wrote: "What they also have in common is that none of them led to a military invasion and occupation of a country that hadn't attacked and was not a threat to us, has led to thousands of deaths of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians, and has fostered international resentment and animosity toward the United States that will endure for generations."
Are you kidding? Maybe not in your lifetime, but Spain and France (along with the English) wrote the book on imperialism -invading, murdering, and occupying foreign countries for centuries. And all in the name of the white man's burden to "civilize" the "savages" (while they robbed them blind of their natural resources and turned the people into slaves). Why do you think they speak Spanish in Latin America, and French in Africa?
The belt-buckle that German soldiers wore,said 'Gott mit uns' (God with us).
Nationalism is a problem when it is not tempered with reason. It is ok to believe that your country is superior when it behaves as a better world citizen and learns from it's own and other's mistakes.
It is nearly impossible to believe the USA is trying to be the most compassionate and best nation in the world. Anyone who attempts CONSTRUCTIVE criticism of the US government is dismissed as giving comfort to one of a host of real or imagined enemies.
We have been at times exceptionally bad and others times exceptionally good. The problem that we have now is that we don't even try to be an exceptionally good nation. We are asses and dang proud of it. Just look at our leaders.
Richard Cohen: "The Iraq war is not the product of oil avarice, or CIA evil, but of a surfeit of altruism, a naive compulsion to do good."
i do believe there was an altruistic motive, but this altruism was directed towards israel, not the US.
israel wanted the US to destroy iran for them, but since the US wanted to start with iraq, they went along with that.
now the pointman for aipac/israel connecticut's lieberman is making sure that iran doesn't escape attack.
yes, a very interesting altruism, mr. cohen!
liberal hawks are either directly in favor of aipac's plans or are too scared to cross them/
according to seymour hersh the attack on iran will certainly take place.
i dont believe they have any desire to do good for anyone or anything.i dont believe they even like democracy...they would all rather be pharoahs.i dont believe its even about american neo-conservatism,anymore.....its just about flat-out imperialism,no matter where in this world,they find it.these are all people who can be bought,only there isnt enough money or power in this world,to satiate them.they wouldnt mind if all americans,except for a few thousand worshippers and laborers,disappeared,they do not want to share their toys and they are born that way........
RichM,
"Just in the last 24 hrs, the Senate voted 92-3 to spend another $150 billion on the wars. IOW, virtually every Democrat went along with it."
Not only that, but Hilary, Dodd, Biden, and Obama all absented themselves from the vote.
And as far as slimeball Richard Cohen and the Washington Pst, still milking its rep from Watergate (as Bob Woodward continues to do) -- no real humane person supported the war for a moment, and the fact that he was suckered, the fact that Hilary voted for it (and now pretends she didn't) and that Kerry "voted for it before [he] voted against" -- nothing reveals character than the course of action or inaction when a vast injustice is underway.
So many of us without national audiences were doing everything we could, not just to prevent the invasion of Iraq but to alert people to the real purpose behind the invasion of Afghanistan, which many "liberals" still support -- and they chose to abet true evil and true tyranny.
Jack37 -- I'll have to check out your link, but it would hardly surprise me; and yes, I agree entirely that the murderous enterprise that defines the USA is part of the code of the colonists from the start.
Right now listening to Mike Molloy commenting on psychokiller Erik Christofascist Prince, CEO of Blackwater --
If all the murder and destruction were, in truth, not for 'oil avarice' and personal gain; then, let those who have profited so well from it give all the increase to their personal fortunes to a needy group of poor, damaged people.
this a laughable.
there is no doubt of the complete devotion americans have to their mythology of being superior to everyone else. true, pure, white, clean.
no question there.
while there is little to no evidence to support that fantasy it is understandable, in a strange way. not everyone feels that way, though, about a) their country or b) the world.
the articles blabs on:
"I have no doubt that both the neo-cons and their liberal hawk enablers believe that their devotion to neo-imperialism is based not on the crass considerations that have always driven international politics, i.e., power and money, but on a virtuous urge to use whatever means were necessary to bring what Mark Twain referred to as The Person Sitting in Darkness into the light of freedom, democracy, etc., etc."
huh?
what?
a million dead iraqis, 2-4 million refugees, depleted uranium fall out all over the country, but especially in places like bagdad and fallujah.
ah fallujah, depleted uranium and white phosphorous poured onto the "city of mosques."
(and americans were culturally offended when the taliban destroyed the 2 thousand year old buddhas.)
blackwater revenge was all that was.
i hope they explained to those dead people that the nuclear poison they were drowned in was straight out of the deepest and most sincere heart of the united states of america. the true nature of american goodness.
that would gave been comforting.
the author's premise proves beyond a doubt that he is an utter fool.
hazmat,
Yeah, that's what I meant -- the ueber-elite has no use for being limited by the bounds of nationalism, though they certainly exploit those bounds to their advantage.
There doesn't seem to be an equivalent opportunity for ordinary people. Nationalism serves only to box us in and cause people who probably have the same class interests to fight against one another.
America's exceptionalism isn't that exceptional, though. Probably most any country's Joe Sixpacks entertains at least a little chauvenism for his country's "more sensible" approach to everything. America may be special in that among Western nations its people probably harbor the worst opinion of its own leadership than any other.
The US suffers from a terrifying lack of reality. It's the outcome of the consumption-based society, whose only peace, false and fleeting, derives from the habit of squandering both time and money on baubles and nonsense.
Ortega y Gasset said that "the Carlismo (a very conservative political trend) it's cured by reading, and nationalism by travelling", but the USAlander's nationalism is a peculiar brand: it grows on a very poorly informed population. The lack of information of the common USAlander is amazing; this is most notorious when they are in foreign lands, when their peculiar "black & white" vision of the world makes itself into evidence. This makes them very dangerous as a nation, but on the other hand, ignorance gives them some kind of inocence, this is why they wonder "Why they hate us!", seeing the towers fall...
One day a californian lady, old enough to have voted for Reagan to Governor, told me that she was sure that Pinochet was a democrat.....because he was enemy of communist...!
From faraway shores of springtime
Machi
"America" as a colony is rooted in The Bible, and The Bible is rooted in a delusion that you can separate yourself from the rest of the peoples of the world. "Come out from among them" (as if you can) "and reckon yourselves not among the nations" as the O.T. says, over and over and over. If you measure only the short term fruits of violence, this was a very good way to organize people who by and large were getting along all too well. It started in America with the "Pilgrims" (laughed out of Europe for their self-righteous narcissism) and the Puritans---who launched their first major war against the Pequots in 1637. As I'm sure will surprise most people, as it has surprised all the historians who never bothered to read the books while walking the actual land of Connecticut, the Puritans had literally no idea where they were going; could not speak Native languages or tell one tribal person from another; were sure they could march unnoticed across Connecticut to surprise and massacre the Pequot village of Mystic; and there, THEY GOT THEIR ASSES KICKED into the Atlantic Ocean. But because no rank-and-file Englishmen there were allowed to report their actual non-results, the Puritans covered up this COMPLETE FIASCO and, instead, started teaching their children that this was the way to fight Indians and take their wealth: don't learn, don't listen, don't befriend them, just put your innocent imperial family members out there on the frontier where, because of your own crimes, they would be killed and so you'd acquire the sacred right to exterminate those whose wealth you wanted in the first place. Over and over and over again. But these are the roots of the psychotic colonizers we've become.....http://ancientgreece-earlyamerica.com
Hey lew --
Those examples you cited from France, Spain and Switzerland are marketing slogans. Here are some others: "Coke is it!" "Please don't squeeze the Charmin'." "I can't believe I ate the whole thing."
What they also have in common is that none of them led to a military invasion and occupation of a country that hadn't attacked and was not a threat to us, has led to thousands of deaths of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians, and has fostered international resentment and animosity toward the United States that will endure for generations.
Outside of that, however, your parallel is on the mark.
The idea of American excptionalism and superiority over any other nation in the world is nothing new. Since the beginnings of USA history, there are examples of claiming they are better than every other nation - and feel entitled to destroy as much as possible throughout the world. Interestingly enough, the Americans have never come up with original reasons why. The feel entitled to take over the world and to make as many nations as possible be like Americans, have their same political systems and attitudes on morality...as if they are truly entitled to such honor!
A global paradigm shift is required, one that combines nationalism, which will never go away, with the obvious need to work towards mutually beneficial goals.
Our model? The NFL. Seriously. Everybody's team is "the best," (nationalism,) but all play by the rules, which include good sportsmanship. If someone cheats or gets out of line, the penalties are swift and harsh. Players' salaries are capped, and media revenues are shared equally - in other words, there's plenty to go around, no reason to illegally invade the other team's city for it's resources, no matter how much you "hate" those damn Cowboys.
Enough with the killing and the bombing and the lying and the stealing already...
Its a lot simpler than all of your obeservations suggest.
Just as in the school yard, most kids stick with the winners and avoid the losers. Siding with losers, even when you know its the right thing to do takes courage and effort.
Its a lot easier to stick with the winners.
Building upon earlier propaganda campaigns (including Hitler's), the neocon propaganda machine was been refined over the past 3 decades to sell nationalism to the masses.
Although our parents and teachers always told us that actions speak louder than words, the neocon propaganda machine has rendered that concept obsolete. The machine can blame any conceivable event on terrorism or the Democrats and the nationalists will fall for it.
Einstein also said :
"Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of truth & knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods."
The gods must be rolling- too bad it's not really that funny.
[willo, The quote you refer to was made by Richard Cohen of the Washington Post, not by Paul Campos]
Excuse me Mr.Campos. Thanks for correcting me rebelnow.
I am sorry, but while the pathetic platitudes about bestowing the blessings of liberty upon those unfortunate enough to be born "elsewhere" may serve to cover the baser motives behind the invasion and occupation, the underlying motive was, is, and always will be oil. The platitudes only serve to mask what we all know to be the true reason for the U.S. presence in Iraq.
This underlying truth is apparent if one only considers Dick Cheney's secretive energy meetings in the earliest days of the Bush misadministration when the map of Iraq was brought out and the major oil fields were delineated for future control by US energy corporations.
rivals, Why do you say, "The US general public is their tool to accomplish their goals, not their master or even their friend."
That was true at one time, after the bombing of 9/11 -- remember all the little flags on the antennas of so many cars. Now 77% of the American people hate Bush, or at least most think he's doing a crummy job and want us out of Iraq.
willo, The quote you refer to was made by Richard Cohen of the Washington Post, not by Paul Campos.
ezeflyer, "But at least Putin hasn't rolled over in submission to BushCo."
True, but it does appear that he, like Bush, has usurped power. How long before we may see two ego-maniacal idiots go head to head over power plays for the worlds resources. Is a new cold war brewing?
Dear MaxheMust,
This is well said. My sole/Soul purpose is to remember who I am: I Am That I Am, inseparable and ultimately, indefinable. By definition, I create a separatism of self from the other. In Reality, there is no other. The greatest challenge I have is to recognize that there is only One, and that each one I define as the other, whether person, place or thing, is simply an aspect of me which I have created to experience the phenomenon of duality. Clearly, this discussion cannot even approach Reality because with human consciousness, I are naturally limited in my perception by my perspective. As I open to the possibility of a wider existence, I may experience greater vision. In the meantime, I seek experiences that reveal the greater potential for me and my alternate selves.
This just my train of consciousness, for this moment.
peace,
st john
"This is why so many liberals, myself included, originally supported the war. It engaged us emotionally. It seemed . . . well, right - a just cause."
Pual Campos
Paul I never supported the war. If you had been anywhere near up to speed on the issues you wouldn't have either. Uh, only about a million dead now. How does it feel? How many of the deaths do you get credit for?
"Nationalism is a curse."
I remember reading that somewhere a few years ago.
I have never found any reason to disagree.
Their Samurai Francis Fukuyama needs to duel with our Samurai David Suzuki for our macho political establishment.
The liberal Cohens turn into arch-conservatives whenever Israel's interests are involved.
Sarkozy is a reaction to France's Muslim riots.
But at least Putin hasn't rolled over in submission to BushCo.
re: lew -- Deutschland uber alles
or
"King of Kings am I, Osymandias. If anyone would know how great I am and where I lie, let him surpass one of my works."
re: Ed -- China wouldn't be that stupid. They know that the first country into Iran loses.
James Carroll argues this point brilliantly, and shows its origin deep in the religious roots of the country.
Ultimately, this destructive imperialism of the US is rooted in good old fashioned proselytizing of the righteous to the heathens. If the heathens cannot accept Jesus rationally, then must be cleansed with fire.
That's the psychological level where all this is operating.
Trouble is, we are just lately finding out about our shadow side. It's a difficult bridge to cross as a nation and as an individual. Birth is always painful, but ultimately, brings joy. We are at a crossroads -- just look at the opinions on what to do to get out of this quagmire of the Iraqi War, but also of the Bush/Cheney coup. Do we want to fingerpoint, give up, or stand up despite all the odds seeming to be against us? I for one, urge us all to stand up as one. Say in writing, in demonstrations, to one another, Stop the War; Bring Our Troops Home! And . . . IMPEACH!
re PaulBramscher 2:23pm
"It's clear that the large Fortune-100's have no use for nationalism."
nationalism no, but nations yes. at least for the present, i don't see anybody willing to march in a wal-mart uniform, or to bomb a hospital for johnson&johnson. the abstract concept of a nation is still necessary to rally the troops. on second thought, this may change sooner rather than later, now that we've entered the age of blackwater.
I'm not quite sure what Mr. Campos means by this paragraph
"The irony is that Cohen is on one level correct. I have no doubt that both the neo-cons and their liberal hawk enablers believe that their devotion to neo-imperialism is based not on the crass considerations that have always driven international politics, i.e., power and money, but on a virtuous urge to use whatever means were necessary to bring what Mark Twain referred to as The Person Sitting in Darkness into the light of freedom, democracy, etc., etc."
If he really thinks that these people had good intentions, he is sorely mistaken. I am also at a loss that he could have ever believed that they did. I for one have not been fooled for an instant. The Samuel Clemens(Mark Twain) piece that he references is a satire, completely devoted to illuminating the contrary. "To the Person Sitting in Darkness" could have been published in the run up to the current conflict in Iraq back in 2003. Here is a link to the piece in whole,
http://www.logosjournal.com/issue_4.3/twain.htm
a very good read, especially considering it was written 100 years ago, we know this stuff already and yet have been fooled again!
MaxheMust,
Living things, and phenomena that resemble living things (such as human societies), are made up of feedback loops that are in part internal and part external. The life form grows and prospers with helpful feedback and withers and dies with harmful feedback. And so the life form, and particularly the human, in order to survive, must concentrate on developing the most helpful feedback loops.
Humans for many thousands of years only had such feedback loops through small groups, but through population increases and increased interaction (leading to innumerable mergers of groups) these groups became larger and larger. During the time of kings, the group assumed the form of what we now call a nation, and nations, usually with one dominant language and culture, provided a stable environment in which internal feedback loops could be formed and grow. And because of these advantages, the group as nation continued long after the reign of kings. Now through modern communications and available translations we have unprecedented interaction with others around the globe and are forming innumerable worldwide feedback loops and a world culture and the group as nation appears less and less appropriate or advantageous.
I would argue that for Bush and Cheney the nation has already ceased being the group (maybe that was even true for Bush's Nazi-trading grandfather). Bush is far closer to the Saudi royal family than he is to middle class Americans, and Cheney is much closer to energy CEOs, regardless of nationality, than to working Americans. For them the group is a set of super-elite international businesspersons and other tycoons. The US general public is their tool to accomplish their goals, not their master or even their friend.
I've wondered what would happen if China decided that Iran posed a threat to the world by refusing to abide by UN mandates. Because of this they launch a 'shock and awe' bombing compaign in Tehran and send in 250,000 Red Army troops to bring stability to this backward nation. How would we feel if they did to Iran what we have done to Iraq? American exceptionalism means it's OK for us but not for China!
"The three modes whereby the forces of darkness seek to control humanity, are: hatred, aggression, and separativeness.
The three great spiritual counterparts are: love, selfless sharing, and synthesis."
"...The little conclusions of the little minds are some of the most dangerous factors today in world affairs."
Djwhal Khul
Nationalism is a wedge to divide people from organizing in the way that multi-national, pan-national and non-national corporations organize. People have been divided-and-conquered by sex, race, creed, religion, age, and -- of course -- nation.
It's clear that the large Fortune-100's have no use for nationalism. One need look no further than their outsourcing, basing themselves in tax-free havens, registering ships to Liberia, obtaining Swiss Bank accounts, basing in the Caymans, Dubai, etc. Our top politically-connected corporations do this. In a nutshell, we have another case of socialism for the wealthy, capitalism for the poor.
Global freedom for the wealthy, nationalism for the poor.
The modern nation-state has become little more than an overgrown plantation or fiefdom. The lord of the manor may come and go at will, but the laborers are bound to it. IT's perfectly fine for IBM to move to India, Ford to move to China, or Goodyear to move to Mexico and employ foreign labor. But it's verboten for the world's laborers to freely relocate themselves.
As a result, "nationalism" is very difficult to define. In practice, nations are little more than economic cartels for the powerful to exploit at the cost of the world's working population.
Some examples, off the top of my head:
France: l'exception Francaise - "the French exception"
Spain: España es diferente - "Spain is different"
Switzerland: Sonderfall Schweiz - "Switzerland, a special case"
Every country seems to indulge in thinking it's special.
Perhaps Einstein said it best when he said:
"Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind." Albert Einstein
==========
Eventually, everyone will know that we're all one, that each atom in the cosmos is connected... that the needless suffering of anyone has an adverse impact on all of us.
The fanatic Americans who act like they think that God must be an flag waving American like themselves are just not very good at thinking yet. They haven't been all the way around the block yet and are very young souls. Fortunately, their reign in power is coming to an end now.
Onwards through the fog!
Max
======================
"A human being is part of the whole, called by us 'Universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest--a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." Albert Einstein
==========
The "... 6th ray influence has been responsible not only for sectarianism, but also for nationalism and patriotism, dogmatic, doctrinal exclusiveness, narrowness of view in science and philosophical schools of thought -- in short, it has stimulated the individualistic and separative tendencies in humanity." Benjamin Creme
jpbreeze - what the article is talking about applies to "liberal Democrats" every bit as much as to "conservative Republicans." The Democrats have gone along with every single one of Bush's crimes. Just in the last 24 hrs, the Senate voted 92-3 to spend another $150 billion on the wars. IOW, virtually every Democrat went along with it.
Finally, someone states the obvious - Thanks Mr. Campos. I do think the basis for this belief is ultimately religious, religion itself being the worst kind of 'exceptionalism'.
jpbreeze, read Overthrow by Steve Kinzer. You'll see the character traits in this article cut across party and ideological lines. (Though if I did my math right, it does appear that Republicans have acted on the delusion more in the last century than Dems, by far.)
I seem to remember a quote--the greatest curse of the gods is to become their "chosen people"... as long as Americans or any other people regard themselves as "chosen", we will continue to see the kind of arrogance that leads to invasions of other countries.
This delusional exeptionalism comes from thier inabilities to tell the truth, even to themselves. This is what happens to conservative repubicans when they get a college degree. They think they know it all, are always right and know what's best for everbody else!!
Well, if you don't know by now greenman, even our so-called evil stems from well-meaning virtue. That is the point--we are virtuous, godly, a beacon of democracy, liberating the oppressed, fighting off injustice, curing disease, bringers of hope, aiding the dispossessed, cleaning up corruption, getting the bad guys, wearing the white hats, sacrificing so others can be free, riding the world of despots, tyrants, commies, dictators, spreading liberty, feeding the hungry, generous of spirit, spreading good will, why we are god's own guardian angels leading the backwards masses into the light.
Don't you know?