We appear to be searching for an 'empathic' form of nationalism that recognises and respects the same impulse in others.
The distinction between political and cultural nationalism is certainly valid here. I tend to think of myself as a nationist rather than a nationalist - which I now think means I am concerned more with cultural nationalism than I am with political nationalism.
I would argue strongly for the celebration and protection of a distinctive Welsh culture, for example, but have no interest at all in the [re]creation of a separate Welsh state. Nationalism (political nationalism) always has at its root the nation state. Nationism (cultural nationalism) does not require the continued existence of a nation state. It is rooted more in the idea of the 'nation' as a large body of people united by a shared history, culture, language and occupancy of a territory.
Wokeism, mass immigration etc is more an attack on the nation than it is on the nation state. And national populism likewise is rooted more in the nation than it is the nation state.
But I wonder if this matter is actually really about the nature of nationalism or the form of Government (and thus in Trump's case the man)? I think the major problem lies in the fact that the US has got itself trapped in a vicious cycle of swinging between Left and Right authoritarianism.
On the Left, this tends to manifest in the 'Party', or the bureaucracy. The Biden regime was authoritarian - e.g. it's weaponization of the justice system and the labelling as 'domestic terrorists' [!!] of parents concerned about ideological indoctrination in schools. It was partly a backlash to Trump 1.0 and to national populism. The current UK Government is also Left authoritarian - e.g. its obsession with 'misinformation', creeping censorship, demonization of the 'Far Right', schoolboys about to be referred to police counter terrorism for watching Andrew Tate videos etc.
On the right, it tends to manifest as the "strong man" or "hero" who's expected to 'fight back' against the worst excesses of the other side to 'save' the country and the people. A very particular personality type tends to fill that role. How many people voted for Trump because they were so fearful of the Biden 'regime' and what it was doing to the country that they wanted a 'strong man' to fight back against it?
That's surely the problem. Both fear, and the experience of authoritarianism itself, tends to encourage further authoritarianism. And as we lurch from Left to Right authoritarian, we find ourselves under the rule of a very particular personality type.
"We appear to be searching for an 'empathic' form of nationalism that recognises and respects the same impulse in others".
Well the right authoritarian personality type just ISN'T the guy for that!!!
Hence this rather interesting brand of foreign policy now.
And his behaviour now risks sparking another Democratic administration backlash, redoubling its efforts to demonise and crush the "MAGA Republicans" and to transform the country even more radically in pursuit of that aim....
...which, in turn, will encourage the conservatively minded to look for another "strong man" to fight back against it on behalf of the people etc etc ....
The US needs to find someone who can win graciously, seek common ground and break this cycle.
I think Trump has done a good job on DEI and did an good job on the Supreme Court last term. Why? Because of experts like you. Anti-DEI has developed a good group of elites, institutions and policy recommendations. And the Federalist society helped Trump with the Supreme Court.
Elon has done an excellent job lobbying for Trump but his DOGE is not a mature institution. But more importantly there are not prominant cultural nationalist institutions that Trump can give power to. That is our fault. We need to develop those cultural nationalist institutions so that the executive/legislative powers can transfer power to them.
What the US and the rest need is the Swiss system of real democracy; it makes most of the debate in demicracies about populism, political parties, Trump, lobbies, woke, etc., irrelevant, superflous, chit-chat, because castrates elected politicians, all lobbies and academics and media who make a living performing all sorts of mental pirouettes. TheSwissPoliticalSystem.com
To be a nationalist don’t you have to respect national borders? If so, you need to go along with the idea of territorial integrity. Trump it appears doesn’t, and neither does Putin. They’re more imperialists than nationalists.
Interesting. But I would note that your referring to self-described Populist groups; a weaker and more divided international right if it is accompanied by substantial degradations of the planetary economic and political imperial structures of Globalization would be conducive to boosting actual small “p” populism….
I'm interested in the extent to which you think Poilievre is hurt by Trump. While true to some degree, it has to be attenuated by how poor a candidate Carney is shaping up to be.
Perhaps we need to get beyond Left and Right. Mass immigration is going to further radicalize European politics regardless what Trump says or does. Trump’s budget is also not very populist but more like warmed-over Reaganism. MAGA base didn’t vote for Trump to
Increase the military budget and cut Medicaid and Medicare.
We appear to be searching for an 'empathic' form of nationalism that recognises and respects the same impulse in others.
The distinction between political and cultural nationalism is certainly valid here. I tend to think of myself as a nationist rather than a nationalist - which I now think means I am concerned more with cultural nationalism than I am with political nationalism.
I would argue strongly for the celebration and protection of a distinctive Welsh culture, for example, but have no interest at all in the [re]creation of a separate Welsh state. Nationalism (political nationalism) always has at its root the nation state. Nationism (cultural nationalism) does not require the continued existence of a nation state. It is rooted more in the idea of the 'nation' as a large body of people united by a shared history, culture, language and occupancy of a territory.
Wokeism, mass immigration etc is more an attack on the nation than it is on the nation state. And national populism likewise is rooted more in the nation than it is the nation state.
But I wonder if this matter is actually really about the nature of nationalism or the form of Government (and thus in Trump's case the man)? I think the major problem lies in the fact that the US has got itself trapped in a vicious cycle of swinging between Left and Right authoritarianism.
On the Left, this tends to manifest in the 'Party', or the bureaucracy. The Biden regime was authoritarian - e.g. it's weaponization of the justice system and the labelling as 'domestic terrorists' [!!] of parents concerned about ideological indoctrination in schools. It was partly a backlash to Trump 1.0 and to national populism. The current UK Government is also Left authoritarian - e.g. its obsession with 'misinformation', creeping censorship, demonization of the 'Far Right', schoolboys about to be referred to police counter terrorism for watching Andrew Tate videos etc.
On the right, it tends to manifest as the "strong man" or "hero" who's expected to 'fight back' against the worst excesses of the other side to 'save' the country and the people. A very particular personality type tends to fill that role. How many people voted for Trump because they were so fearful of the Biden 'regime' and what it was doing to the country that they wanted a 'strong man' to fight back against it?
That's surely the problem. Both fear, and the experience of authoritarianism itself, tends to encourage further authoritarianism. And as we lurch from Left to Right authoritarian, we find ourselves under the rule of a very particular personality type.
"We appear to be searching for an 'empathic' form of nationalism that recognises and respects the same impulse in others".
Well the right authoritarian personality type just ISN'T the guy for that!!!
Hence this rather interesting brand of foreign policy now.
And his behaviour now risks sparking another Democratic administration backlash, redoubling its efforts to demonise and crush the "MAGA Republicans" and to transform the country even more radically in pursuit of that aim....
...which, in turn, will encourage the conservatively minded to look for another "strong man" to fight back against it on behalf of the people etc etc ....
The US needs to find someone who can win graciously, seek common ground and break this cycle.
I think Trump has done a good job on DEI and did an good job on the Supreme Court last term. Why? Because of experts like you. Anti-DEI has developed a good group of elites, institutions and policy recommendations. And the Federalist society helped Trump with the Supreme Court.
Elon has done an excellent job lobbying for Trump but his DOGE is not a mature institution. But more importantly there are not prominant cultural nationalist institutions that Trump can give power to. That is our fault. We need to develop those cultural nationalist institutions so that the executive/legislative powers can transfer power to them.
What the US and the rest need is the Swiss system of real democracy; it makes most of the debate in demicracies about populism, political parties, Trump, lobbies, woke, etc., irrelevant, superflous, chit-chat, because castrates elected politicians, all lobbies and academics and media who make a living performing all sorts of mental pirouettes. TheSwissPoliticalSystem.com
To be a nationalist don’t you have to respect national borders? If so, you need to go along with the idea of territorial integrity. Trump it appears doesn’t, and neither does Putin. They’re more imperialists than nationalists.
Interesting. But I would note that your referring to self-described Populist groups; a weaker and more divided international right if it is accompanied by substantial degradations of the planetary economic and political imperial structures of Globalization would be conducive to boosting actual small “p” populism….
Thank you for saying it
I'm interested in the extent to which you think Poilievre is hurt by Trump. While true to some degree, it has to be attenuated by how poor a candidate Carney is shaping up to be.
Perhaps we need to get beyond Left and Right. Mass immigration is going to further radicalize European politics regardless what Trump says or does. Trump’s budget is also not very populist but more like warmed-over Reaganism. MAGA base didn’t vote for Trump to
Increase the military budget and cut Medicaid and Medicare.