Steven Johnston

This Patriotism Which Is Not One

The essay explores the resurgence of patriotic thought, focusing on the recent work of Richard Rorty and a classic essay by John Schaar. Patriotism, it is argued, names a permanent possibility lodged in the human predicament. It routinely seeks transcendent assistance to support its political operations. This move, in turn, may help account for patriotisms narcissistic, self-destructive character and the danger it ultimately poses to democracy. For both Rorty and Schaar, curiously, the Vietnam War looms large in their narratives. By engaging them on the question of Vietnam, the dangers and cruelties endemic to patriotism emerge full-blown. Subsequently, any patriotism worthy of the name, it is suggested, would have to end by suspending itself.