Loyalty, Patriotism and Nationalism

From New Zealand thru Scotland to South-East London

Dr Johnson once argued that patriotism was the last refuge of a scoundrel, and we march into tricky territory immediately, because meanings of words subtly change. In his address of 1774, entitled "The Patriot", Johnson stated:

"It is the quality of patriotism to be jealous and watchful, to observe all secret machinations, and to see publick dangers at a distance. The true lover of his country is ready to communicate his fears, and to sound the alarm, whenever he perceives the approach of mischief. But he sounds no alarm, when there is no enemy; he never terrifies his countrymen till he is terrified himself. The patriotism, therefore, may be justly doubted of him, who professes to be disturbed by incredibilities; who tells, that the last peace was obtained by bribing the princess of Wales; that the king is grasping at arbitrary power; and, that because the French, in the new conquests, enjoy their own laws, there is a design at court of abolishing, in England, the trial by juries."

Well, let us start by means of example: I am a New Zealander. Am I a New Zealand patriot? If anyone asked me this, I would be inclined to you 'Do you mind? Such a question is beneath my dignity.' I would automatically ask myself whether such a person was a scoundrel, who wanted to pursue some activity I did not approve of, and wanted to accuse me of lack of patriotism if I opposed or expressed disagreement with it. But if I were asked if I were "jealous and watchful, to observe all secret machinations, and to see publick dangers at a distance" Well, I am a tad lazy, but I would say I am 'jealous and watchful' not of enemies, but the NZ government itself, which would often happily sell the family silver (i.e. privatize it) to overseas interests. But I wonder if this is the modern sense of patriotism: I would rather say loyalty, but I would certainly accuse any government that sold the family silver to overseas interests of being unpatriotic.

Any NZ government that allowed Mr Ruipert Murdoch to buy NZ Newspapers - even a certain weekly paper called 'Truth' - would certainly count as unpatriotic in my eyes. In fact any politician of any country that puts the interest of a wealthy international élite before the soundness of his/er country's economy is certainly unpatriotic.

But I also have Scots blood in me. Loyalty is a tricky word, since I don't live there, I live in England, in London in fact, though I regard myself as living in Britain not England, and see London as the capital of Britain. When you include the 60k kiwis, quarter of a million Australians, Scots, Irish and Welsh, London is surely the capital of Britain for most Londoners.

So loyalty to Scotland is a tricky word. Loyalty does not require you to be either pro- or anti-independence. But I am still enraged at some of the silly things that some of the English say about Scotland. Am I jealous and watchful, to observe all secret machinations [against Scotland], and to see publick dangers at a distance? Absolutely! Am I one who is ready to communicate his fears, and to sound the alarm, whenever he perceives the approach of mischief. Again absolutely, not least the March of the Mars Bars in Batter, sadly so dear to many a Scottish heart. And what about Nationalists: I have every loyalty to the idea that if independence is the right thing, the SNP (Scottish National Party) will be right for the wrong reasons.

But why do I not take the next step? After living briefly living in Scotland, I came to South-East London. Am I a Londoner? I do live in London. But my loyalty is really to South-East London. Would I follow the behest of Mr Norman Tebbit and cheer for a North London team? Where's that? Anything north of Waterloo Bridge does not exist. And do Bromley and Bexley belong to South-East London? Of course they do, and if they don't, we should jolly well take them over, after all we could do with their council taxes.

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But normally the British don’t do nationalism: neither the English nor other British nations would associate themselves with this term. Probably those who says that the term is to be reserved for foreigners (at least non-English) are in fact nationalists, though I think the Conservatives see themselves see themselves as loyalists rather than nationalists. And perhaps it’s Gordon Brown rather than the Tories who would talk about patriotism.

In fact there was a clearly Europhile Belgian correspondent who described the Tories as the nationalists par excellence. Not at all, they were merely Eurosceptic, and of course’ jealous and watchful, to observe all secret machinations [against Britain], and to see publick dangers at a distance”. And this brings us to one of the most insidious phrases: a ‘Good European’. To my mind being a Good European is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

Martin Prior

Philosophy Takeaway Newsletter 55

Patriotism

In Defence of patriotism - By Samuel “The People’s Poet” Mack-Poole

“Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” – James Boswell.

“Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” – Adlai Stevenson.

April the 23^rd. Does that date mean anything to you? Or, my dear philosophers, is it just another day? For your information, just to keep you in the know, it is Saint George’s day. This, for me, is a day of vital significance; it is one I will celebrate with vigour. I will aim to explain why in this piece of philosophy. Whilst in conversation with Mark Tannett and Eliza Verethilo (but not at the same time), both members of The Philosophy Takeaway were quite hostile to patriotism. So, let’s define our terms: patriotism is defined as, “devoted love, support, and defence of one's country; national loyalty.”

Patriotism is an act of violence - By Eliza Veretilo

Here is the debate: what are the things we have caused and can be accounted for and what are the things we have not and can therefore not feel responsible?

Nationality is as accidental as eye colour. We did not consciously choose them. We cannot yet say they are our fault or responsibility.

Another example is the current war in Iraq. People do not currently feel their actions or lack of them are part of the reason for this ongoing massacre, even though our life-style might be part of the reason. Nonetheless, we hear countless amounts of people feeling proud of this or that empire’s achievements, regardless of the destruction it has brought upon others. Maybe your ancestors were very active in it. I do not know. But I have seen people very willing to ascribe the achievements of certain historical periods upon themselves; and of course, we have a selective memory on what events really took place, and which ones we are ‘proud of’.