I am a “millenial” and it literally PAINS me that there are not enough institutions and people (in media, academia, etc...) —> safekeeping the historical narrative about World War II. (Among other events of history.)
I am not advocating jingoism or indiscriminate patriotism, nor should we ever glorify war —> but we need to own our victories. Our contributions to the world.
We need to know why and how we won the Second World War. We need to know how and why Nazism took root beyond “Hitler was mean” “oh and people hated Jews.”
We need to understand what the Cold War vs USSR was about...we need to know why communism is so evil and how big of a threat it actually was beyond simplistic textbook definitions.
We need to know how: in spite of all our imperfections as a nation, we continue to have the moral high ground and have stood on the right of history during the world’s most crucial junctures and turning points.
In Russia, the most-watched TV broadcast every year is their Victory Day parade. That’s their “Super Bowl.” Stalin statues and portraits are en vogue again and any deviation or dissent expressed for the narrative causes one to be shunned. Dare to protest Crimea or the bloodshed in East Ukraine, and you’ll be deemed a foreign agent or extremist warranting arrest.
No joke.
On the other side of their border, the tiny country of Estonia has NATO and US troops march in *their* Independence (from Russia) Day parade at their capital in Talinn.
Not advocating military parades —> if anything, the fact we don’t have them, the fact we have antiwar protests and dissenting views expressed instead says something about our country and attests to its freedom and capacity for self-criticism and reflection...
But we are at a point now where even conservative-minded Americans are so skeptical and disillusioned to the point of being self-loathing.
Needs to change. Trump is only the beginning.