Thursday, January 27, 2005

National Unity

I can't help but acknowledge that part of the identity shift I mentioned yesterday is due to the fact that it is becoming difficult for me to see myself as fully American in the current political situation. Part of it is due to the foreign policy and the propaganda circulating to support it, which I reject completely on both ethical and political grounds. Another part is due to the essentialism proposed by the extreme right (in an American context that never means the neo-nazis or associated groups, it means super-duper-conservatives and sometimes neoconservatives). Another is the militant religiosity that is so common here. And I'm not alone. I've seen a lot of LiveJournal posts lately voicing sentiments of alienation, from all kinds of people. So much for national unity.

2 comments:

Global Girl said...

that way you don't have to feel ashamed about having a moron like Bush being the leader.Ah, but I do, by association. Unless I disassociate myself completely from the US, he's my president too, to some extent. At least, that's how most people seem to see it. You represent the political leaders in your country to the rest of the world, even if you hate them and didn't vote for them. That just sounds like a cop-out to most.

Global Girl said...

Even when the middle ground people speak, the media does not report on that as the crazy people make for better stories. It has been proposed that the middle ground has shifted to the right, as both neoconservatives and neoliberals stand to the right of their respective non-neo counterparts.