'Among the Republicans' - V.S. Naipaul in 1984

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Since everyone else is too much of an intellectual coward to engage with this, I'll risk upping my posts-per-day count by asking the following: Arendt observed what she believed to be a disagreeable tendency in some continental European parties to, for reasons she associated with multi-party systems, tend to--both rhetorically and in the form of political parties--raise the "nation" above politics as an ideal, and one that should not be besmirched by political bickering. This, she presumably tied to the growth of authoritarianism. While it's very easy to say that id-based "love it 'er leave it"-style "patriotism" is harmful to democratic practice, would it be fair to say that Naipaul sees not just that, but a shift away from ideology as classically formulated to this, and that this movement in itself is bad?

Let's remember that Hannah Arendt lived through the nightmare of Europe in the early 20th century much as did Orwell. Arendt paid more attention to the formality of bad politics and Orwell paid more attention to the moral depravities of the elites. Orwell is more widely read because he is grimly amusing in Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm.

Now to the point: in the Enlightenment, nationalism wrapped itself in the struggle for freedom. Thus the American and French Revolutions. Napoleon, a liberal for his time, tried to use nationalism to support his dreams of empire. He tried to unite much of Germany and Italy -- and sponsored the semi-independent Duchy of Warsaw. He could not extinguish Prussia, Austria, or Spain, but he could obliterate weak oligarchies and despotic orders. In more recent times, nationalism has become a pretext for economic imperialism, exploitation of workers, and suppression of minorities. If Samuel Butler said that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, he certainly got fascism right before there was anything like fascism.  

The authoritarians learned how to exploit mass sentiments, especially the love of tradition. The Nation, and eventually "race", became pretexts for the worst in exploitation, regimentation, graft, repression, and militarism.  Thus fascism, which made a Moloch out of a nation. If you wonder what "Make America Great Again" means -- you have it there.

Nationalism is even more effective than tradition in sponsoring authoritarian and totalitarian rule.  It may be American traditions that take down our current President instead of sponsoring his despotic or dictatorial tendencies.

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In regards to the article itself. 
1.It definitely captured the spirit of the 1980s and the Republican Party's place in it.  'The Greed Decade.' 

Until the Oil Crunch, people generally took American prosperity and opportunity for granted.

When times get tough or even when they stay tough, people are greedy and materialistic. Just think of Fiddler on the Roof. Such songs as "Matchmaker"  (make him as rich as a king) and "If I Were a Rich Man" indicate people who see themselves in economic distress for no fault of their own, and seeing wealth as the solution to all their problems, especially personal dignity. "Anatevka", like most of the Russian Empire, was a miserable place to live unless one was fantastically wealthy.

Well, stagflation made times tough. People got greedy in the 1970s, and in the 1980s they expressed themselves in their possessions. That was the heyday of the shopping mall. So suspect a word as luxury became an objective.   

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It's really Calvinist, with people believing that if they are prosperous, then God has somehow chosen them to prosper. The real Puritans and Quakers recognized that evidence of one's Godliness was that one did not need ostentatious display.

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Self expression through culture ('60s) -- or through display of possessions ('80s)? Culture is harder to create and buy. Any dimwitted schmuck can express himself with a gaudy car and furnishings.







Guess who! The gilt is seemingly everywhere, but there are practically no books. The painting is a fake.

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Excusable because he isn't American and can be expected to miss subtle changes that only people here know about.

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Most political slogans are hollow, whether "Back to Normalcy", "A Chicken in Every Pot and a Car in Every Garage", "I Like Ike", "Nixon's the One", "Morning in America", or "Make America Great Again". And there I have only Republican slogans. Ronald Reagan had a solution for people who disliked the hardship of holding down a dead-end job that one hated that didn't quite meet the bills. Take another such job to supplement the meager pay of the inadequate job, and always remember to smile, and be thankful that only then can you do the Great American act of going to the shopping mall and buying something. Always remember, of course, to show that theatrical "Happy to Serve You" smile even if you hate your life.There are always ways in which you can find life even more odious.