Image by Marcus O. Bst via Flickr
by Howard Zinn
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Repost from July 3, 2010
crossposted at The Progressive (2006)
July 4, 2017
On this July 4, we would do well to renounce nationalism and all its symbols: its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed.
Image by Henrik Ström via Flickr
by Gaither Stewart
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rome, Italy
Originally posted June 12, 2008
May 20, 2017
“We work for the moral and traditional values which Socialists neglect and despise….”
–Benito Mussolini
It’s their strutting. That detestable image of the strutting that links them, the strutting and prancing Fascists and their swaggering and parading military cousins, up front for their conveniently concealed corporatist controllers. A strutting and swaggering couple they are, Fascism and the entrenched class of war. Their distorted visions of gallantry and nation come so naturally to both. The spick and span generals, employers of mercenaries and killers, chin in, chest out, and their majors and their colonels (especially the generals in the offices and the majors in the tents), thick chests covered with ribbons and medals and rows of multicolored decorations—awarded for killing. And the political Fascists! Defiant chins thrust forward, hard fists clinched, swaggering and prancing and strutting across the stages of piazzas nations and continents—in support of the killing.
Image by Mayu Shimizu via Flickr
Originally published Sept. 27, 2007
by Michael Parenti
Writer, Dandelion Salad
michaelparenti.org, 1996
January 26, 2017
Fascism is a false revolution. It makes a revolutionary appeal without making an actual revolution. It propagates the widely proclaimed New Order while serving the same old moneyed interests.
Repost from July 3, 2010
Image by dfbm via Flickr
by Howard Zinn
Writer, Dandelion Salad
crossposted at The Progressive (2006)
July 4, 2015
On this July 4, we would do well to renounce nationalism and all its symbols: its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed.
Repost from July 3, 2010
Image by dfbm via Flickr
by Howard Zinn
Writer, Dandelion Salad
crossposted at The Progressive (2006)
July 4, 2014
On this July 4, we would do well to renounce nationalism and all its symbols: its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed.
by William Blum
Writer, Dandelion Salad
www.killinghope.org
July 29, 2013
Image by Abode of Chaos via Flickr
That most charming of couples: Nationalism and hypocrisy
It’s not easy being a flag-waving American nationalist. In addition to having to deal with the usual disillusion, anger, and scorn from around the world incited by Washington’s endless bombings and endless wars, the nationalist is assaulted by whistle blowers like Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden, who have disclosed a steady stream of human-rights and civil-liberties scandals, atrocities, embarrassing lies, and embarrassing truths. Continue reading
Repost from July 3, 2010
Image by dfbm via Flickr
by Howard Zinn
Writer, Dandelion Salad
crossposted at The Progressive (2006)
July 4, 2013
On this July 4, we would do well to renounce nationalism and all its symbols: its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed.
by Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Truthdig
June 28, 2012
Image by greenwise art via Flickr
“The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion”
A book by Jonathan Haidt
Jonathan Haidt’s book “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion” trumpets yet another grand theory of evolution, this time in the form of evolutionary psychology, which purports to unravel the mystery of moral behavior. Such theories, whether in the form of dialectical materialism, Social Darwinism, biblical inherency or its more bizarre subsets of phrenology or eugenics, never hold up against the vast complexity of history, the inner workings of economic and political systems, and the intricacies of the human psyche. But simplicity has a strong appeal for those who seek order in the chaos of existence.
by Andrew Gavin Marshall
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
http://andrewgavinmarshall.com
April 9, 2012
This is part 2 of the series, “Class War and the College Crisis.”
Part 1: The “Crisis of Democracy” and the Attack on Education
In Part 1 of this series, I examined the elite assault on education – through the Chamber of Commerce, right-wing think tanks, and the Trilateral Commission – which arose in response to the massive social and political activist movements of the 1960s. The threat of popular democratic participation – that is, active and activist participation of the population in the decision-making process of a community or nation – was too much to bear. The fact that a significant degree of this activism had been mobilizing from the universities was enough reason for elites to declare a “crisis of democracy” and demand more apathy, complacency, and pacification from the population, more authority for themselves, and more control over the society as a whole. Continue reading
by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
April 4, 2012
Image by ElvertBarnes via Flickr
Once again in election season the drums of patriotism are being beaten. Politicians on the stump and their Madison Avenue flacks are exhorting us to rally around the tattered flag. Their drumming sounds feeble and hollow, though, like cheerleaders trying to rouse the fans while the team goes down to defeat.
by Andrew Gavin Marshall
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
http://andrewgavinmarshall.com
March 5, 2012
The following is a research sample of a chapter on the American Empire in the Middle East in The People’s Book Project. This chapter was made possible through donations from readers like you through The People’s Grants. The new objective of The People’s Grants is to raise $1,600 to finance the development of two chapters on a radical history of race and poverty. If you find the following research informative, please consider donating to support The People’s Book Project.
The following sample is a compilation of unedited research, largely drawn from official government documents of the State Department, CIA, Pentagon, White House, and National Security Council, outlining the development of the Eisenhower Doctrine and the American imperial perceptions of the threat of ‘Arab Nationalism.’
by Shawn S. Grandstaff
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
February 27, 2012
I believe the problem is it’s just very difficult for some people to grasp the concept that there is only one race and that is the human race. I think our battle with the powers that be which is in the hands of a few multinational corporations and banks would be much easier to overcome if we could just get over loving a nation more than loving people.
Image via Wikipedia
with Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Sept. 11, 2011
Russia Today
Sept. 10, 2011 Continue reading
by Michael Parenti
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
www.michaelparenti.org
July 5, 2011
Image via Wikipedia
City Lights Books, 2004
How hype, fear, and mindless flag-waving are supplanting informed debate, commitment to democracy, and real patriotism.
“In this skillfully argued book . . . with wit and humor and penetrating analysis, Parenti invites the reader to connect the dots.” — Rufus Browning, co-author of Protest Is Not Enough
https://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/
replaced video April 9, 2013
BBC
Three Films About the Power of the Past was the second major documentary series made by British film-maker Adam Curtis. This series investigated the way that history and memory (both national and individual) have been used by politicians and others. It was transmitted on BBC Two in the spring of 1995.
In this episode, the Imperial aspirations of Margaret Thatcher were examined. The way in which Mrs Thatcher used public relations in an attempt to emulate Winston Churchill in harking back to Britain’s “glorious past” to fulfill a political or national end.
