Once again President Macron of France has captured the attention of the world with his Armistice Speech in which he rebuked the Heads of State for being – well – Heads of State. Apparently he thinks that they should be Heads of Globalism. We know how President Trump reacted to the speech, and I can’t imagine that the reaction of Netanyahu or Putin was much different. Even if Macron had a legitimate point to make, it was inappropriate to lecture these Heads of State on this occasion. I say “even if” he had a point, but in fact he didn’t. The idea that nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism defies all logic. Of course, the French are known for redefining terms to suit their purposes, but in order to separate patriotism from nationalism, one must not only throw Webster out the window; one must ignore the famous French dictionary Le Robert.
However, the really interesting issue in this speech lies behind Macron’s rather juvenile comments. The fact that Macron felt compelled to make these comments reflects a certain desperation on the part of the globalists to fortify their position. The globalist critics of nationalism have tried to identify today’s nationalism with fascism of the 1930s. The identification is, however, historically and sociologically absurd. I challenge anyone to point out convincing parallels between the National Socialism of Germany in the 1930s and the Republican focus today on the economic and social interests of the US. In fascist societies, the mainstream media outlets do not ridicule the president of the country. And in Hitler’s Germany, Special Counsel Mueller would have been executed before day one of his investigation. Of course, the globalists know that the parallels are bogus; sounding the alarm about fascism is nothing more than a scare tactic designed to conceal a deeper reality, an economic one. Then globalism is an economic model that has made a small group of people around the world incredibly wealthy. This is not the place to recount the history of globalism. Suffice it to say that corporate powers began a campaign for the globalization of capitalism immediately following the end of WWII. The breakthrough finally came in the 1990s with the establishment of the World Trade Organization. The WTO operates on a transnational level and has deprived individual nations to a large extent of their sovereignty.
In my opinion, this economic model is unsustainable in the long term for several reasons. Clearly, it concentrates too much wealth in the hands of a few people and has been very detrimental to the middle class. But more importantly, globalism ignores a crucial aspect of human nature. Life becomes meaningful for human beings within much smaller boundaries. Information flow may indeed be global, but meaning is derived from the relationships with family and friends, from the participation in small groups, from community events and finally from identification with the history and traditions of a nation. The globalists have tried to destroy our history and traditions, but their efforts have not and cannot be successful. Human nature is not suited for globalism as they intend it. Succinctly stated, information may flow globally, but meaning always begins locally. Thus we see around the world today a resurgence of interest in local and national traditions. The rootless, nationless world of the globalists is not fit for human habitation, and sooner or later human beings will insist on having their local customs and national traditions. Of all people, a Frenchman should know that!
Jack E. Brush is a Villager and a frequent contributor to Villages-News.com
