SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
'Greatest Nation' Rhetoric Roars Back
Jan 03, 2011
My greatness as a writer is simply a fact.
You don't agree? Well, then obviously you are churlish or malevolent.
If
I were serious about such a claim of superiority, now would be the time
to stop reading -- on the reasonable assumption that I'm a dull-witted
bore with no capacity for critical self-reflection. What applies to
individual declarations is also true of nations, yet in the United
States such statements about our greatness are common.
Rich Lowry of the National Review
closed out 2010 with a particularly bombastic piece reasserting U.S.
greatness. Though Lowry is a conservative, his argument is conventional:
The United States has brought prosperity to the world, protecting all
that is decent against evil. Yes, we've had to muscle others out of the
way on occasion, but that was necessary to bring order and liberty. Yes,
we've made some mistakes along the way, but those are all safely in the
past and, besides, they have to be understood in context.
His
conclusion: "Our greatness is simply a fact. Only the churlish or
malevolent can deny it, or even get irked at its assertion." ("Yes, the
Greatest Country Ever".)
This
expression of American exceptionalism is unexceptional in U.S.
political history, but it roared back stronger than ever in 2010,
especially in the rhetoric of the Tea Party movement. As it becomes
harder to ignore the United States' decline as an economic power --
which will limit the capacity for imperial marauding around the world --
the inclination of most mainstream politicians to assert our greatness
will intensify.
Those
of us with radical or progressive politics need to challenge these
kinds of slogans when we talk with friends, family, and co-workers. In
my 2004 book Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity,
I offered common-sense responses in plain language, and as we get ready
for a more right-wing Congress and the political discussions that lie
ahead, I thought it would be helpful to revisit some of those points.
With
the permission of publisher City Lights Books, I have posted online two
chapters from that book -- one that deconstructs "the greatest nation"
rhetoric and another that challenges the concept of patriotism.
It
is neither churlish nor malevolent to want to honestly assess the
accomplishments and failures of one's country. Rather, it is the
obligation of every citizen.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Robert Jensen
Robert Jensen is an emeritus professor in the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Texas at Austin and collaborates with the
New Perennials Project at Middlebury College. He is the author of
It’s Debatable: Talking Authentically about Tricky Topics, coming this spring from Olive Branch Press. This essay is adapted from his book An Inconvenient Apocalypse: Environmental Collapse, Climate Crisis, and the Fate of Humanity, co-authored with Wes Jackson.
My greatness as a writer is simply a fact.
You don't agree? Well, then obviously you are churlish or malevolent.
If
I were serious about such a claim of superiority, now would be the time
to stop reading -- on the reasonable assumption that I'm a dull-witted
bore with no capacity for critical self-reflection. What applies to
individual declarations is also true of nations, yet in the United
States such statements about our greatness are common.
Rich Lowry of the National Review
closed out 2010 with a particularly bombastic piece reasserting U.S.
greatness. Though Lowry is a conservative, his argument is conventional:
The United States has brought prosperity to the world, protecting all
that is decent against evil. Yes, we've had to muscle others out of the
way on occasion, but that was necessary to bring order and liberty. Yes,
we've made some mistakes along the way, but those are all safely in the
past and, besides, they have to be understood in context.
His
conclusion: "Our greatness is simply a fact. Only the churlish or
malevolent can deny it, or even get irked at its assertion." ("Yes, the
Greatest Country Ever".)
This
expression of American exceptionalism is unexceptional in U.S.
political history, but it roared back stronger than ever in 2010,
especially in the rhetoric of the Tea Party movement. As it becomes
harder to ignore the United States' decline as an economic power --
which will limit the capacity for imperial marauding around the world --
the inclination of most mainstream politicians to assert our greatness
will intensify.
Those
of us with radical or progressive politics need to challenge these
kinds of slogans when we talk with friends, family, and co-workers. In
my 2004 book Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity,
I offered common-sense responses in plain language, and as we get ready
for a more right-wing Congress and the political discussions that lie
ahead, I thought it would be helpful to revisit some of those points.
With
the permission of publisher City Lights Books, I have posted online two
chapters from that book -- one that deconstructs "the greatest nation"
rhetoric and another that challenges the concept of patriotism.
It
is neither churlish nor malevolent to want to honestly assess the
accomplishments and failures of one's country. Rather, it is the
obligation of every citizen.
Robert Jensen
Robert Jensen is an emeritus professor in the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Texas at Austin and collaborates with the
New Perennials Project at Middlebury College. He is the author of
It’s Debatable: Talking Authentically about Tricky Topics, coming this spring from Olive Branch Press. This essay is adapted from his book An Inconvenient Apocalypse: Environmental Collapse, Climate Crisis, and the Fate of Humanity, co-authored with Wes Jackson.
My greatness as a writer is simply a fact.
You don't agree? Well, then obviously you are churlish or malevolent.
If
I were serious about such a claim of superiority, now would be the time
to stop reading -- on the reasonable assumption that I'm a dull-witted
bore with no capacity for critical self-reflection. What applies to
individual declarations is also true of nations, yet in the United
States such statements about our greatness are common.
Rich Lowry of the National Review
closed out 2010 with a particularly bombastic piece reasserting U.S.
greatness. Though Lowry is a conservative, his argument is conventional:
The United States has brought prosperity to the world, protecting all
that is decent against evil. Yes, we've had to muscle others out of the
way on occasion, but that was necessary to bring order and liberty. Yes,
we've made some mistakes along the way, but those are all safely in the
past and, besides, they have to be understood in context.
His
conclusion: "Our greatness is simply a fact. Only the churlish or
malevolent can deny it, or even get irked at its assertion." ("Yes, the
Greatest Country Ever".)
This
expression of American exceptionalism is unexceptional in U.S.
political history, but it roared back stronger than ever in 2010,
especially in the rhetoric of the Tea Party movement. As it becomes
harder to ignore the United States' decline as an economic power --
which will limit the capacity for imperial marauding around the world --
the inclination of most mainstream politicians to assert our greatness
will intensify.
Those
of us with radical or progressive politics need to challenge these
kinds of slogans when we talk with friends, family, and co-workers. In
my 2004 book Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity,
I offered common-sense responses in plain language, and as we get ready
for a more right-wing Congress and the political discussions that lie
ahead, I thought it would be helpful to revisit some of those points.
With
the permission of publisher City Lights Books, I have posted online two
chapters from that book -- one that deconstructs "the greatest nation"
rhetoric and another that challenges the concept of patriotism.
It
is neither churlish nor malevolent to want to honestly assess the
accomplishments and failures of one's country. Rather, it is the
obligation of every citizen.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.