Hatriotism: The Other “Nationalism”
Fascism is nationalism on steroids, amphetamines, and bath salts - muscular, energetic, and it’ll eat your face off.
Any sane person who has even lightly perused history frets a return of this hypernationalism (not to be confused with patriotism or a healthy love of nation), and it's perfectly understandable that many are ultrasensitive and antagonistic toward any political group even faintly resembling it.
However, in our vigilance against such a nationalist ideology (particularly from the right), we have allowed another type of face-eating nationalism to come into being. How can there be two types of nationalism, you ask?
Well, this other nationalism is what we might call Obverse Nationalism. But the best term for it, I think, is hatriotism (hate-tree-uh-tiz-um).
Hatriotism is like fascism, but turned inside out and upside down: instead of chauvinistic adoration of the state, there is a hysterical irrational loathing of the nation.
In the mind of a rabid nationalist, the state is the center point around which all of life orbits. In hatriotism, the state is also the center of life, but in place of kneeling to it, they’d like to destroy it.
In fascism, the citizens of the country are thought to be genetically superior superhumans; conversely, in hatriotism, one’s fellow citizens are believed to be historically and exceptionally terrible people.
To uber nationalists, the country’s history is all glorious and any crimes committed are justifiable; any failure was caused by “weak men” and traitors. On the other hand, to hatriots, the nation's past is nothing but an endless tale of felonies, tortures, and oppressions.
In fascist states, the physical land, the actual geography, of the country is thought to be sacred, magical, and often viewed as bequeathed by God to an elected people; while on hatriotism, the nation’s land is cursed, stolen, and haunted.
Psychotic nationalists create police states where there is constant surveillance for low patriotic spirit. Hatriots are politically correct morality police who demand you loathe the nation too - or else.
Fascists view most other nations and peoples as cowardly, dirty, and worthy of contempt or subjugation; while hatriots often view other lands (usually tyrannical states) as alluringly exotic ideals.
Nationalists drape themselves excessively in national paraphernalia, but hatriots will never display their nation’s flag - unless it is to stomp on it or to burn it.
Extreme nationalists arrogantly promote their culture while hatriots mock, diminish, and/or deny their culture.
Fascism worships the government and its leaders while hatriots view their government and leaders as reincarnations of history’s most abhorrent evildoers.
Note that both fascism and hatriotism are prone to conspiracy and scapegoating - typically the right wing is paranoid about a small cabal machinating behind the scenes while hatriots often irrationally fear the workings of malign, invisible forces. (Of course, the left can believe in tiny secretive cadres pulling strings, and the right in ubiquitous dark forces at work.)
Lastly (though I could go on), fascists worship violence as a way to demonstrate vitality and “bravery,” while hatriots love violence also, as a show of “revolutionary will.”
You might ask, where does hatriotism come from?
Chronologically, it seems, in America at least, it began to set in in the 1960s and 70s. A confluence of factors led to fanatical hatriotism: the Vietnam War, the spread of post-modernism and far-left ideologies on campus, and of course, the palpable racism of the Deep South.
In the 80s and early 90s, the hate seemed to wane some, but in the aughts, hatriotism came roaring back after 9/11 and the Iraq War (many of the most prominent post-9/11 hatriots had been indoctrinated in the 60s and 70s intellectual climate). Interestingly, another source of hatriotism began in the late 90s to early 2000s with the rise of leftwing political comedy shows, which made it seem sophisticated and hip to denigrate the country.
In the 2010s, the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown led to the promotion of Critical Race Theory, which had been somewhat contained in the university, to a national audience. Critical theories, like postmodernism, are by default extremely anti-American. This decade also saw the election of Donald Trump, which escalated hatriotism further. Trump was a catalytic agent for the movement as the caricature they hysterically held in mind of an American fascist, essentially sprung into being in his person.
In the 2020s, hatriotism reached some of its highest levels ever, after the death of George Floyd and a slew of lies about policing in the United States. This then metastasized to commentary about the general nature of America being pervaded with “white supremacy.” More yet, January 6th helped hatriots recruit new members, and confirmed to them that their disgust with the country was warranted and that the nation and many of its citizens were, in large part, “fascist.” (Note that January 6th could also be seen as a rightwing version of hatriotism).
How prevalent is this nation hating movement? Well, first we should note that there seem to be two levels of hatriotism: white hot and lukewarm.
The white hot hatriots are that 71% of progressives who think “most laws and major institutions need to be completely rebuilt because they are fundamentally biased against some racial and ethnic groups.”
The lukewarm hatriots are that 88% of young people (18-34) who, according to a recent Gallup poll, feel no great pride in America.
So, I’d estimate, it’s tens of millions of people, perhaps 15% of the population. It’s a very large movement, and seems to be growing.
In sum, it’s sickening and boggling how many people in America truly despise or simply dislike the country. I'm the first to worry about the rise of rightwing chauvinistic nationalism, but we are in denial if we don't think that leftwing hatriotism isn't an equal, if not more dire, threat. It too is a type of nationalism on steroids, amphetamines, and bath salts - and yes, it also wants to nibble on your face.
Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author's own.
 | A guest post by
|
Extreme nationalism doesn’t really come into existence except as response to an attack of the kind that came from the left during that era when, as you correctly pointed out, it became “hip” to denigrate one’s own country. As the denigration evolved to open hatred and scorn, the need to defend became greater along with an increased appreciation of exactly what was being defended. Symbols of the nation, particularly the flag, became invested with greater power than during more normal times when we hang the flag outside on July 4.
In ordinary times, nationalism takes the form of a comfortable and ever present affection for one’s own place and culture. It’s similar to the love of family in that it doesn’t demand perfection; we love it because it’s ours. Occasionally, say on the fourth of July, we think more deeply about it and celebrate our feelings in public. But for most of the time, it’s not a showy thing, not something we constantly proudly proclaim. It’s the comfortable background within which we live our lives. When that is attacked there is an inevitable response that is likely to be proportional to the cause of it.
“In fascist states, the physical land, the actual geography, of the country is thought to be sacred, magical, and often viewed as bequeathed by God to an elected people.”
I disagree that this is a characteristic of fascism; I believe it’s man’s natural state. It’s something we see in pre-industrial cultures where there is still a close connection to the land. If one believes in a God, then it follows that He caused you to be born where you were, and it’s not illogical to see that as God having bequeathed that land to you and yours. The sense of the land as sacred and magical is the natural condition of people who live closely with it, and it’s not dependent on patriotism or particularly connected to it or to any political stance. Disconnection from the land in the industrialized world, the sense that land is just something to be used, is part of the desacralisation of the world that has allowed us to dump chemicals into the water and spray our crops with poison. Why not? It’s just dirt.
Our country is, at present, under attack from without but, more importantly, from within. That attack comes, in this instance, from the left. The middle and the right have shown a range of response, from loud and, I think, understandable displays of patriotism to a kind of astonished paralysis in the face of a hatred that frequently comes from the most privileged - those who have benefited most from the freedoms available to us.
The pendulum, once set in motion, always swings as far as is needed to bring a return to balance and to normal life. Those who set it in motion rarely think of the inevitable consequences. I hope our country will survive them.
Well said, Dillon, well said. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.