Albert Einstein once said that "nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind". The truth of this is even more evident in today’s ever shrinking world of jet travel, international financial entanglement between nations, and cultural blending. In fact, nationalism far too often has become just another form of racism and xenophobia, cloaked in a flag. It is illusion, an attempt to feel safe amidst a rapidly changing, scary, ever shrinking world. Lines in the sand as the tide washes in.
Fascism is a form of governance nationalists often turn to and one we have recently witnessed with Donald Trump. Blind allegiance to a leader, a father figure (almost always male) whose instincts, according to him, supersede law, science, even reality itself - his instincts always right. Simple, and if you can convince yourself that it’s true, pretty reassuring.
Fueled by ignorance, fear, and ‘patriotic’ nationalism, fascism is a rigid, black and white approach to nation, to life. But despite knowing, at least deep down, that fascism ultimately fails by its own rigid limitations, it is nevertheless too tempting, too xenophobic, to hate filled, and too 'safe', for nationalists not to have grasped at it, at least for the short term, all throughout history. The world as it really is just all too much - they haven’t the knowledge or critical thinking skills to properly deal with it - and so they grasp at false, fabricated simplicity through exclusion, hate, and altered reality.
Up until recently we thought of fascism as an arcane historical relic. Mussolini and Hitler modern day aberrations, most likely the result of someone briefly opening the gates of hades. How could such a limited, ignorant, self-confining approach to life and governance be possible amidst our ever-shrinking world, our ever more literate population – with the greatest access to information ever before seen on earth?
And yet 74 million Americans voted for a fascist in 2020 whose successful election would have meant the end of our democratic republic. Why?
The reasons are elusive in both their number and complexity, no doubt, but seem to be centered on ignorance, fear, and misinformation. Today’s world is a scary world. The blurring of borders and traditions disrupts the comfort found in familiarity and old ways. A sense of change threatens people’s very identities and their ability to continue to provide for their families in the future. Combine that with a willingness of political parties and media outlets to distort reality and to outright lie to enhance power and profit, and the curtain begins to pull back. A lot of these people begin with a lack of knowledge of their world, and an inability to critically assess things even if they had the knowledge. Now deliberately create a separate reality laced with fear, cynicism, and blame and people become capable of almost anything.
We are at a critical inflection point in this country. Action to save the very soul of this country is needed. It will require a three prong approach:
1. Create enough wealth opportunity for all.
2. Hold media – be it mainstream or ‘social’ - and internet platforms – to basic standards of truth.
3. Place an emphasis on teaching critical thinking skills and world view in our schools and give them the resources to do so.
President Biden’s Americas job plan begins to address the first approach. It is an investment in America, imparting a sense of optimism, growth, and prosperity that is so refreshing as compared to the greed and cynicism of Washington these last decades. We have been living amidst a sense of decline, greed, corruption, and massive wealth inequality in this country emanating from Washington for decades now – is it any wonder why people want to circle the wagons, exclude ‘outsiders’, and grab as much as they can for themselves when clearly they do not believe there is enough to go around? The America’s job plan is an investment in the soul of this country, a promise of more prosperity, that can only increase tolerance, and diminish divisiveness. And it’s about time!
The second approach is one already in place in Canada and Europe. Holding media – be it mainstream or social, and their internet platforms - accountable, when they deliberately distribute, or allow the distribution of, misinformation. Canada and Europe have regulations forbidding purposeful mistruths. It used to be law in Canada but the Canadian supreme court ruled it unconstitutional. Nevertheless, regulatory bodies forbid media lying and its working. Here, as in Canada and Europe, this is not a first amendment issue, and it needn’t even be law. This is social responsibility. It is not an inalienable right to have unfettered access to millions of people through media outlets – it is a societal privilege that comes with responsibilities – one of which must be a good faith effort to report truth. And as difficult as some would have us believe that the determination of truth is or recognizing deliberate lying or distorting the truth is – it isn’t. And yes, it can be done without encroaching on the first amendment through regulatory bodies. As you don that attorney cap and prepare to argue free speech – first look at this country. We have no choice. We simply must all agree on one reality. We can argue what to do about that reality – but we simply cannot have a functioning democratic republic if we cannot even agree on reality.
The third step is the more difficult one. In these last few decades of greed, corruption, wealth inequality, pessimism, and a sense of decline in this country, we have become a society focused on materialism, consumerism, wealth, and profit instead of knowledge, reason, and truth. Tolerance, even kindness, exchanged for fear and divisiveness – with no shortage of scoundrels willing to spread fear for profit to an ill-informed society seemingly no longer capable of critical thought. Ignorance, fear, hate, divineness, all manipulated, bought, sold, and encouraged in a rudderless society adrift on an ocean of selfishness, greed, materialism, profit. This must change. And whereas America’s job plan and legislation to coral media misinformation will help, ultimately our society has got to refocus our school’s missions onto teaching critical thinking skills and on the importance of knowledge, reason, and truth. Navigating today’s world is difficult. Knowledge and the ability to critically assess information are absolutely the best weapons we have to combat fear and the temptation to tribalism and hate. The world is shrinking, but opportunity, tolerance, and kindness need not be. It begins with the quality of our schools, with what we teach our children, and societies commitment to do so.
