The first #StarWars film, later called #ANewHope, was released on #ThisDayInHistory in 1977. What so many viewers continue to miss is the politics: #GeorgeLucas was critical of US #imperialism & #jingoism, e.g. #Vietnam, and linked the American empire to the #racist #Nazi empire.

I don't like jingoism ever since the era of 9/11 and the Iraq invasion. Been through this before and just can't get into the mood for these celebrations, especially this year under this administration.

#jingoism #trumpadministration

A quotation from Henry Commager

Who are those who are really disloyal? Those who inflame racial hatreds, who sow religious and class dissensions. Those who subvert the Constitution by violating the freedom of the ballot box. Those who make a mockery of majority rule by the use of the filibuster. Those who impair democracy by denying equal educational facilities. Those who frustrate justice by lynch law or by making a farce of jury trials. Those who deny freedom of speech and of the press and of assembly. Those who press for special favors against the interest of the commonwealth. Those who regard public office as a source of private gain. Those who would exalt the military over the civil. Those who for selfish and private purposes stir up national antagonisms and expose the world to the ruin of war.

Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1947-09), “Who Is Loyal to America?” sec. 3, Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 195, No. 1168

More about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #henrycommager #America #civilliberties #civilrights #corruption #demagoguery #democracy #disloyalty #division #firstamendment #freepress #freespeech #freedomofreligion #freedomofspeech #freedomofthepress #injustice #jingoism #justice #loyalty #loyaltyoath #military #patriotism #publicoffice #religiousfreedom #unAmerican #usvsthem #votersuppression #votingrights #war #warmongering

Commager, Henry Steele - Essay (1947-09), "Who Is Loyal to America?" sec. 3, Harper's Magazine, Vol. 195, No. 1168 | WIST Quotations

Who are those who are really disloyal? Those who inflame racial hatreds, who sow religious and class dissensions. Those who subvert the Constitution by violating the freedom of the ballot box. Those who make a mockery of majority rule by the use of the filibuster. Those who impair democracy by…

WIST Quotations

A quotation from Orwell

I think one must engage in politics — using the word in a wide sense — and that one must have preferences: that is, one must recognise that some causes are objectively better than others, even if they are advanced by equally bad means. As for the nationalistic loves and hatreds that I have spoken of, they are part of the make-up of most of us, whether we like it or not. Whether it is possible to get rid of them I do not know, but I do believe that it is possible to struggle against them, and that this is essentially a moral effort. It is a question first of all of discovering what one really is, what one’s own feelings really are, and then of making allowance for the inevitable bias.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1945-05), “Notes on Nationalism,” Polemic Magazine (1945-10)

More about this quote: wist.info/orwell-george/46470/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #orwell #georgeorwell #bias #cause #endsandmeans #ideology #jingoism #moralcharacter #moralduty #nationalism #objectivity #politicalopinion #politics #prejudice #selfawareness #selfexamination #selfimprovement #subjectivity

Orwell, George - Essay (1945-05), "Notes on Nationalism," Polemic Magazine (1945-10) | WIST Quotations

I think one must engage in politics -- using the word in a wide sense -- and that one must have preferences: that is, one must recognise that some causes are objectively better than others, even if they are advanced by equally bad means. As for the nationalistic loves and…

WIST Quotations
Why The Rest Of The World Thinks Americans Are BRAINWASHED

YouTube
After that, it becomes more pathetic every century. Was there some truth buried in there? Ofc. But it sure as hell was not number magic. Pythagoras is to Western #jingoism what "Columbus" is to American exceptionalism: a poster boy meme. #Music history refutes this simplistic, reductionist claim.

One has to remember that the ‘press’ in the UK is largely foreign owned and predominantly right wing. The mainstream media is exactly what is says, state media with little interest in questioning whatever administration is in place normally.

https://www.thenerve.news/p/iraq-war-observer-dodgy-dossier-jingoism-iran-trump-press

#Jingoism #War #Iraq #Iran #Blir #Lying

The public remembers Iraq. Why doesn't the press?

Seven in 10 Britons are sceptical about UK involvement in Iran, but their newspapers have other ideas. Some of us recall the last time Fleet Street was so disastrously in favour of war, writes former Observer home affairs editor Martin Bright

The Nerve

A quotation from George Orwell

By “nationalism” I mean first of all the habit of assuming that human beings can be classified like insects and that whole blocks of millions or tens of millions of people can be confidently labeled “good” or “bad.” But secondly — and this is much more important — I mean the habit of identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognizing no other duty than that of advancing its interests.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1945-05), “Notes on Nationalism,” Polemic Magazine (1945-10)

More about this quote: wist.info/orwell-george/16966/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #orwell #georgeorwell #civicduty #classification #devotion #duty #evil #good #goodandevil #ingroup #jingoism #moralduty #nation #nationalism #nationality #outgroup #population #racism #stereotype #tribalism #usvsthem

Orwell, George - Essay (1945-05), "Notes on Nationalism," Polemic Magazine (1945-10) | WIST Quotations

By "nationalism" I mean first of all the habit of assuming that human beings can be classified like insects and that whole blocks of millions or tens of millions of people can be confidently labeled "good" or "bad." But secondly -- and this is much more important -- I mean…

WIST Quotations