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C. Plouffe, Jr. and Timothy O'Boyle
Kutztown University
Thank you, it's very nice to be here. The title of the talk is "terrorism and super-patriotism". I thought I would start by talking about super-patriotism. I see it as kind of a myth. Let me explain what I mean by myth. There was a noted anthropologist named Bronislaw Malinowski who said, we use myths in two different ways. First, a myth is something that is not true, just a made up story. But there's another way that the word "myth" is used. Malinowski says myths in primitive societies are not idle tales that are just there for amusement. They are very powerful legitimating tools. They are the Miranda and the Sacranda, the admired and sacred beliefs of society. They legitimize existing class relationships. Myths are used as legitimizing stories or images that are a means to sanctify existing class relations or totem relations among the Trobriand Islanders.
I would argue that in modern secular industrial society, technological society, we have the same kind of legitimizing myths and they are even more insidious because they are not openly predicated on fantasy and imagination the way primitive myths are. They rest on the rather systematic manipulation of information and the manipulation of vast inundations of images. Specifically, in regards to super-patriotism, these are the myths about the founding of nations, the nature of political leaders, the nation's historic role in the world and the nation's relation to supernatural powers, to God specifically.
What do I mean by superpatriotism? A super-patriot - as compared to a regular good old patriot, like me, for instance - is someone who is intolerant of criticism directed at his (or her) rulers. The super-patriot immediately calls it anti-American if you criticize the government's global policies. You should love America or leave it and that's that. A superpatriot plays "follow the leader" in a time of crisis. Instead of sharpening his or her critical perceptions about things, he or she suspends critical perception and urges others to do the same and rally around the flag. The flag, of course, is wrapped around the president usually, or a leader of one kind or another.
Patriotism is often linked to militarism and somehow the...