One thing that has bothered me for a while is our blind nationalism. Don't get me wrong, I think pride in our country and the good that we have achieved as a nation is a good thing. I do think however that our pride often blinds us to our many faults and leads to a complacency towards improving our country. It is when pride is coupled with our ignorance and unwillingness to objectively evaluate how we can improve that I think it becomes pernicious and actively works against us.
What do I mean? In politics it is a common rallying cry that America is "the greatest country in the world!" What is not said here is the basis on which this judgment is made. If we look at our country objectively, we are the largest single economic and military power in the world. But this is only true if we look at things in a vacuum on a country level. We as a nation are a collection of 50 states, the European Union is a collection of countries. Not so different. Yet the EU has a larger GDP than the USA. So are such claims really based on our economy?
Another area where we are not leading the world is in education. While we spend a large amount of money per pupil, our educational outcomes are below much of the rest of the first world, and even some members of the developing world. I will spare you all a recitation of the depressing facts, but suffice it to say, our claims of greatness are not based on our claims of educational superiority.
So what about our military strength? While we by far and away spend more money than any other country (we are first at $711 billion annually, China is second at $143 billion), we do not have the largest number of active military members (China has 2.3 million active to our 1.45 million). But here a solid argument can be made that we are the foremost military power on the planet today because we spend the most money on it.
But here is the crux of the issue, I do not think this sort of analysis is what is going on. After all, how many people would really agree that military strength is the sole basis on which to judge greatness? How many politicians? How many Republicans and how many Democrats? Yet they all make such claims around election time.
Instead, I suggest the claim is one to nationalism. A rallying cry to political forces that appeals to human needs beneath reason. After all, much of America will have trouble finding all the countries in the Group of 20 on a map. Yet ask any of these people which is the greatest country in the world, and odds are they will say the USA. When politicians ask it during a stump speech, people will chant it over and over again. Instead this is an appeal to people who WANT to believe this is true, that they are a part of something that is great. Unfortunately, politicians use this as a way to drum up support without their base thinking critically at that politician's record in office. When used as a political tool, it is an appeal to unreason.
This is where it gets pernicious. For in appealing not to political philosophy, track record, or even the candidate's own competence, but to blind nationalism, we skew national policy. Instead of shoring up our failing infrastructure, we are spending more on our military. Instead of simplifying the tax code we are waging class wars as a cover for raising taxes. Instead of shrinking our bloated government and focusing on necessary areas for government action, Washington has become a vehicle for political patronage. And while this is not solely a function of our nationalism, I think a little less knee jerk nationalism and a little more self knowledge would go a long way towards correcting many of the ills that plague our nation.
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