Discussion Questions

Nationalism, like many feelings, is comprised of varying levels of intensity and direction.
The level of intensity is often reflected and reinforced by acts of banal nationalism.
Direction is a product of ideology. In your individual post, identify one act of banal
nationality common in the life of US Citizens and discuss how it reinforces a level of
nationalism. Then, identify an aspect of US ideology (either current or historical) and
discuss how it has impacted national actions.

As a group discuss which aspects of banal nationalism and ideology have had the
greatest influence on American history and culture.

In my opinion sporting events are very potent acts of banal nationalism. From
a young age children are taught to arbitrarily root for one team and despise
the next. I believe this act of banal nationalism primes children to accept
arbitrary Us vs. Them mentalities and draw lines in the dirt. Adults will
literally fight another person who simply wears the jersey of a supposed rival.
The reality is that sport teams are owned by millionaires played by
millionaires and its ridiculous to find some form of comradery in the welfare
of the teams. Besides the social conditioning of accepting arbitrary
differences between groups of people, the Olympics offer a form of ritualized
warfare where citizens of one country feel as if by winning the swimming
competition their country has defeated their rival country. Im all for the
meeting of humanities best athletes who push the limits of human potential
and exertion, but the overt nationalism in the Olympics is unwarranted. One
aspect of American ideology is intense individualism. In some countries the
community or nation should be taken into consideration, but in the united
states this is not promoted. I think this intense individualism has shaped
American history. The pursuit of land for pioneers regardless of if belonging to
Native American land or the exploitation of the third world may be an
example of American individualism manifested in intern-national dealings.
Now I want to leave this discussion on a high note however. I think one
positive aspect of American ideology is the concept of democracy and free
speech. Americans for all their flaws are still stalwart defenders of free
speech and while this may be expressed by hate groups, it has also allowed
radical thought in the US to ferment and alter American history.

True, Maslows hierarchy has belonging as one of the fundamental human

needs. Odd, however, that we dont find belonging in the human race instead
of small different groups.
Your right in that there are important part sin creating a sort of nationalism,
but I argue a more civic humanistic sort of nationalism where we sense

brotherhood for all people and not along racial lines.

I completely agree! I had the same little lapse when I was younger. Blindly
patriotic and loyal. There was this one time where we went over Texas history
and the textbooks were super racist against Mexicans but I didnt notice. Up
until we saw the Alamo we would play battles and everyone wanted to be a
Texan. But, when I saw the movie and I realized how similar the soldiers
looked like my father and myself and how different the heroes looked to me
and I felt a pit in my stomach. I think there is room to teach students about
civics and what it means to be a citizen of a democracy, but this blind
patriotism is very powerful and dangerous.
Totally, something I appreciated from watching the BBC or Aljazeera was that
I was able to see news from a non-American lens. Sometimes the media was
critical of Americans and I thought that was really interesting because it
offers a different perspective.