Scoundrels and Patriots

Samuel Johnson said ‘Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel’. ? It was a comment upon the horrors imperialist Europe visited upon the rest of the world in the 18th century.? It seems as apropos today as it was then. It should not be lost on us that the term ‘chauvinism’ means an exaggerated patriotism.

The defence of one’s homeland, appealing to one’s sense of patriotism, has long been a tool for governments.? It is the leverage that coerces many of humanity’s young men and women to kill other people, to commit unspeakable acts of violence upon perfect strangers (who, in Australia’s case, are very rarely ever within cooee of our homeland).?

Quite sadly, our fearless leaders (who rarely tread the battlefield themselves) fail to see the bitter irony in patriots from two nations defending their respective homelands' honour.? 'If two men say they’re Jesus, one of them must be wrong? '?

I have asked many people over the years to articulate how to identify an Australian.? It seems a simple enough question. But, once it is considered with any application of intellect, one realises there is no simple answer.? Mostly, the idea of what an Australian is is defined by what it is not. It’s not a Kiwi or a Muslim, Hindu or Frenchman. It’s exclusive, not inclusive.? And lacking any precise definition in a positive descriptive sense, it lends itself to ready and unreasonable discrimination against other members of humanity who we are not. ?

Which, of course, shows the whole concept of national pride and patriotism as complete nonsense.? Here, we have 8 billion people on the planet, most of whom define themselves and their nationality anyway, not by reference to some clear idea of who they are but by whom they believe they are not. The very idea of nations is no more than an idea and a very silly one when you look at it like that.

And then when we come back to the very idea of killing people for that idea.? It seems not just preposterous but evil. Yet, it occurs on a daily basis throughout the world, and I expect it will continue to do so until people start to identify themselves by reference to something more than just an idea: their humanity.