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The Problem of Nationalism
The Daily Signal ^ | December 15, 2019 | Kim Holmes

Posted on 12/16/2019 8:31:46 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks

At first glance, the new nationalism of conservatives will seem benign and even uncontroversial.

In his book “The Case for Nationalism,” Rich Lowry defines nationalism as flowing from a people’s “natural devotion to their home and to their country.” Yoram Hazony, in his book “The Virtue of Nationalism,” also has a rather anodyne definition of nationalism. It means “that the world is governed best when nations agree to cultivate their own traditions, free from interference by other nations.”

There is nothing particularly controversial at all about these statements. Defined in these terms, it sounds like little more than simply defending nationality or national sovereignty, which is why Lowry, Hazony, and others insist their definition of nationalism has nothing to do with the most virulent forms involving ethnicity, race, militarism, or fascism.

Here’s the problem. I suppose any of us can take any tradition that has a definite history and simply redefine it to our liking. We could then give ourselves permission to castigate anyone who doesn’t agree with us as “misunderstanding” or even libeling us.

But who actually is responsible for the misunderstanding here? The people who are trying to redefine the term, or the people who remind us of nationalism’s real history and what nationalism actually has been in history? Which raises an even bigger question: Why go down this road at all?

If you have to spend half of your time explaining, “Oh, I don’t mean that kind of nationalism,” why would you want to associate a venerable tradition of American civic patriotism, national pride, and American exceptionalism at all with the various nationalisms that have occurred in the world?

(Excerpt) Read more at dailysignal.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2020election; america; americanrevolution; biggovernment; cohesion; conservatism; cuck; dnctalkingpoint; dnctalkingpoints; election2020; ethnicity; ethnonationalism; exceptionalism; france; freedom; frenchrevolution; germany; history; ideals; kimholmes; liberty; mediawingofthednc; nationalgreatness; nationalidentity; nationalism; nationstates; neoconservatism; partisanmediashills; presstitutes; richlowry; smearmachine; sovereignty; values; yoramhazony
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1 posted on 12/16/2019 8:31:46 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
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To: 100American; 3D-JOY; abner; Abundy; AGreatPer; Albion Wilde; AliVeritas; alisasny; ...

PING!


2 posted on 12/16/2019 8:35:23 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Show me the people who own the land, the guns and the money, and I'll show you the people in charge.)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

A fine article. Although long winded, verbose, and repetitive, you can skip to the last paragraph which says it all, nicely, tritely.


3 posted on 12/16/2019 8:38:57 PM PST by Fungi
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

America’s system IS exceptional and too many damned Leftist globalists don’t like our standard of living and our personal liberty.

Barack Obama said that Americans could just set their thermostat at whatever temperature they wanted when other people in the world didn’t even have AC or heating units. President Obama said that we were selfish when we wanted to own our own cars and drive them wherever we wanted to go.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsburg said that our Constitution is not a good model for other countries.


4 posted on 12/16/2019 8:40:16 PM PST by a fool in paradise (Recall that unqualified Hillary Clinton sat on the board of Wal-Mart when Bill Clinton was governor)
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To: a fool in paradise

couldn’t set their thermostat


5 posted on 12/16/2019 8:40:49 PM PST by a fool in paradise (Recall that unqualified Hillary Clinton sat on the board of Wal-Mart when Bill Clinton was governor)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

America !! The constitution!!! The founding documents !!! Yessir !

There is no other !

There will never be another !!!


6 posted on 12/16/2019 8:41:01 PM PST by Truthoverpower (The guv mint you get is the Trump winning express !)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Any ism, separated from God and morality, will become toxic. And that includes the isms you might plan to replace the other isms with.

I does little good to criticize an ism that has gone toxic if you don’t understand what made it so, and why the new ism is going to go just as toxic.


7 posted on 12/16/2019 9:15:53 PM PST by marron
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To: marron
Any ism, separated from God and morality, will become toxic. And that includes the isms you might plan to replace the other isms with.



8 posted on 12/16/2019 9:19:51 PM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

But Nations are still the most natural way to divide people up according to language and culture.

Think of a neighborhood. Houses are the “nations”, every household, has common resources that are shared, and usually there is compatibility amongst the members of the household.

Neighbors can be of different cultures, and yet they can still be good neighbors.

Imagine, however, trying to place two families of different cultures under the same roof, where now they compete for the shared resources of the house, you can see the inevitable conflicts that will result. It’s not to say one culture is necessarily better than the other, but still, it is a less than ideal situation to put them in.

That’s why we have nations.


9 posted on 12/16/2019 9:23:56 PM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

While I agree with this guy, what percentage of people read to the last paragraph?

Man you have to make your point early on, and then hammer it home with your logic until people can’t deny the truth of it.

Here the guy raised the questions beautifully early on, and that could result in a lot of people totally missing his point.


10 posted on 12/16/2019 9:24:22 PM PST by DoughtyOne (Pledge: "...and to the Democracy for which it stands..." I give up. Use the democRat meme...)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
We could then give ourselves permission to castigate anyone who doesn’t agree with us as “misunderstanding” or even libeling us.

Just like Progressives do with everything.

Climate, race, "gender identity," firearms, taxes, wages, meat, sexism, secure borders, ...

Yep, nationalism could become a real problem if conservatives start acting like Progressives!

11 posted on 12/16/2019 10:04:14 PM PST by TigersEye (This is the age of the death of reason.)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; ...
The problem of fake journalism.

12 posted on 12/16/2019 10:25:47 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

“and our democratic way of government that made America the greatest nation in the history of all nations.”

That phrase near the end of the article innocuously slips in what I believe is a MAJOR problem... promoting democracy.

Democracy has been poisonous to our Constitutional Republic for a long long time. The great majority of our citizens are not even slightly aware of the damage it has done, and will do as long as it’s allowed to influence and dominate their thinking.

We need to do what we can to educate, first ourselves, then as many others as possible. Otherwise America, and possibly the world, will languish in an everlasting competition to be the ‘Majority’... and never know peace.


13 posted on 12/16/2019 10:36:57 PM PST by 1_Of_We
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
I suppose any of us can take any tradition that has a definite history and simply redefine it to our liking. We could then give ourselves permission to castigate anyone who doesn’t agree with us as “misunderstanding” or even libeling us.

This is standing operating procedure for leftists.

14 posted on 12/16/2019 10:50:19 PM PST by MortMan (Americans are a people increasingly separated by our connectivity.)
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To: All

The right wing and left wing concepts are irrelevant now. Republican ans Democrat monikers don’t matter.

Politicians are either one world government globalists or nationalists.
That’s the only distinction that matters.

Trump is a nationalist.

The one world government will eventually happen thiufgband be taken over by the Antichrist. But... we know the ending.

For now, we fight the good fight.


15 posted on 12/16/2019 10:50:21 PM PST by TigerClaws
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

We are going down this road because the left, trans-national corperations, and the cheap cultural marxists who have hijacked libertarianism are at war with the nation state, the nation, cultural idenitity and sovereignty, and there is a push back. Not all nations are the same. Not all countries are teh same, and not all nationalisms are the same.


16 posted on 12/17/2019 12:06:09 AM PST by rmlew ("Mosques are our barracks, minarets our bayonets, domes our helmets, the believers our soldiers.")
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To: TigerClaws

Politicians are either one world government globalists or nationalists. That’s the only distinction that matters.


Perhaps it is, but it is wrong. It should be Western Civilization (Christianity + Greek Thought) against the others.


17 posted on 12/17/2019 3:18:17 AM PST by Czech_Occidentalist
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Let me know when the Left attacks the “left wing” nationalism of “indigenous pipples” and “people of color.”


18 posted on 12/17/2019 7:06:56 AM PST by Zionist Conspirator (Modernism began two thousand years ago.)
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To: Czech_Occidentalist

19 posted on 12/17/2019 9:44:46 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Show me the people who own the land, the guns and the money, and I'll show you the people in charge.)
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To: Zionist Conspirator

They can start with the Black Hebrew Israelites, BLM, La Raza; MEChA and even the Alt-Right and Neo-Nazis. All these folks are poison to our Republic, along with the Left in general.


20 posted on 12/17/2019 9:46:14 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Show me the people who own the land, the guns and the money, and I'll show you the people in charge.)
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