[Peace-discuss] Letter to editor

[C. G. Estabrook]

[This week's 250 words.  Comments welcome. --Carl]

Editor, News-Gazette:

At the end of the Second World War, George Orwell (author of the
anti-totalitarian novels 1984 and Animal Farm) wrote an essay in which he
insisted, "Nationalism is not to be confused with patriotism."

By patriotism, Orwell meant "devotion to a particular place and a
particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but
has no wish to force on other people."  But nationalism, he thought, "is
inseparable from the desire for power. The abiding purpose of every
nationalist is to secure more power and more prestige, not for himself but
for the nation or other unit in which he has chosen to sink his own
individuality."

Orwell's contrast is on display every Saturday afternoon on Prospect
Avenue in Champaign.  As you drive north from I-74, you will pass a group
of nationalists who proclaim that they "support our troops" in their
assault on a nearly defenseless country in the Middle East (perhaps the
first of several) -- an assault based on outright lies by the Bush
administration.  The cheers of this group, perhaps more suitable for a
sporting event, suggest that Orwell was right to say that nationalists
"sink [their] own individuality" in the nation.

Beyond the nationalists you will find a group of patriots, "anti-war
protesters," who have been on North Prospect every Saturday through the
winter, demonstrating their devotion to the people and political
traditions of the United States by calling on the government to reverse
its illegal and immoral war policy.

  ============================
  Carl Estabrook
  Five Litchfield Lane
  Champaign IL 61820 USA
  office    217.244.4105
  mobile    217.369.5471
  residence 217.359.9466
  <cge at shout.net>
  <www.carlforcongress.org>
  ============================