Different people growing up in different environments are going to try different things to attract and mobilize their neighbors into their nascent movements. And it does help if you see them as experimenting unsuccessfully, rather than Fed-pilling yourself into believing every :LIB:-raised leftist convert trying to play a particular rhetorical angle to galvanize support is a special agent run out of Langley.
Worth taking an autopsy on why this particular effort turned sour. But it just gets obnoxious when everyone and everything is declared an OP.
I literally don't think this is an op, the social patriotism thing has the ambition of summarizing what the post-left is all about vis a vis what they (and when I say they I mean the same three people on twitter) deem is the "mainstream left" which is already subscribed to a skewed vision of who controls the conversation regarding left-wing politics in the US (it's not breadtube). If you're really interested in some sort of post-mortem of the social patriotism thing even though it never gained a single bit of traction anywhere except a handful of twitter spheres, Sean has a good succint thread on it
I mean... I absolutely have done blockwalking and I don't know how true this statement is.
The old "Converts make the best zealots" line is as true for migrants as sectarians. First and second generation hispanic and asian families can be some of the most nakedly patriotic. Migrants routinely drape themselves in the flag to pass as locals. Anyone working independent contracting or operating small businesses will try to stand out as exceptionally patriotic to avoid harassment and cultivate a local clientele. Lots of these communities are filled with refugees from America's last war - Cubans down in Miami, Vietnamese folks in Texas and California, Iraqis and Somalis and Afghanistani ex-pats showing up in the Midwest - and either explicitly or implicitly had to show loyalty to get on the last plane out. They've already been filtered.
Similarly, I know a few black families that take particular pride in their military memberships. I also see echoes of nationalist sentiment in college fandom, local sports fandom, and other regional identity politics. Houstonians of all stripes love their rodeo, New Orleans folks love their Creole culture, everyone in New Mexico tries to claim their part Native, etc.
I think the dissonance is in trying to bind Socialism (an implicitly anti-American philosophy) with Nationalism. In my experience, disillusion with the existing government presages exploration of leftist political philosophy. Trying to get nationalists on board with an anti-capitalist philosophy is difficult in a capitalist nation. Similarly, trying to get socialists on board with a pro-nationalist message when disgust with Bush-Era nationalism paved the road they traveled to get here is going to cause your base to balk.
The folksy appeal of star-spangled imagery isn't the problem for minorities and migrants. Its pairing a soft-conservative image with a plea for revolutionary change that causes problems.
i think it's just a post-left rebrand that failed really quick
Different people growing up in different environments are going to try different things to attract and mobilize their neighbors into their nascent movements. And it does help if you see them as experimenting unsuccessfully, rather than Fed-pilling yourself into believing every :LIB:-raised leftist convert trying to play a particular rhetorical angle to galvanize support is a special agent run out of Langley.
Worth taking an autopsy on why this particular effort turned sour. But it just gets obnoxious when everyone and everything is declared an OP.
I literally don't think this is an op, the social patriotism thing has the ambition of summarizing what the post-left is all about vis a vis what they (and when I say they I mean the same three people on twitter) deem is the "mainstream left" which is already subscribed to a skewed vision of who controls the conversation regarding left-wing politics in the US (it's not breadtube). If you're really interested in some sort of post-mortem of the social patriotism thing even though it never gained a single bit of traction anywhere except a handful of twitter spheres, Sean has a good succint thread on it
I mean... I absolutely have done blockwalking and I don't know how true this statement is.
The old "Converts make the best zealots" line is as true for migrants as sectarians. First and second generation hispanic and asian families can be some of the most nakedly patriotic. Migrants routinely drape themselves in the flag to pass as locals. Anyone working independent contracting or operating small businesses will try to stand out as exceptionally patriotic to avoid harassment and cultivate a local clientele. Lots of these communities are filled with refugees from America's last war - Cubans down in Miami, Vietnamese folks in Texas and California, Iraqis and Somalis and Afghanistani ex-pats showing up in the Midwest - and either explicitly or implicitly had to show loyalty to get on the last plane out. They've already been filtered.
Similarly, I know a few black families that take particular pride in their military memberships. I also see echoes of nationalist sentiment in college fandom, local sports fandom, and other regional identity politics. Houstonians of all stripes love their rodeo, New Orleans folks love their Creole culture, everyone in New Mexico tries to claim their part Native, etc.
I think the dissonance is in trying to bind Socialism (an implicitly anti-American philosophy) with Nationalism. In my experience, disillusion with the existing government presages exploration of leftist political philosophy. Trying to get nationalists on board with an anti-capitalist philosophy is difficult in a capitalist nation. Similarly, trying to get socialists on board with a pro-nationalist message when disgust with Bush-Era nationalism paved the road they traveled to get here is going to cause your base to balk.
The folksy appeal of star-spangled imagery isn't the problem for minorities and migrants. Its pairing a soft-conservative image with a plea for revolutionary change that causes problems.