Macron and the illumination, Trump and the FBI, Buma's switch to the Short-Term Party and nationalism/patriotism

Media digest #2

It's a week later and here's the second media digest! As I happen to publish this just right again on Thursday, I wondered if “media digest” is catchy enough and wouldn't we be better off using a bland alliteration like “DWARS Discussion Things on Thursday”. Here's where I will come back to it.

Anyway, it's been quite a busy week! Macron is the new president of France, Trump seems to have read Richard Nixon's memoirs only up to about ⅔ and this morning it came out it is rumbling within the CDA regarding Sybrand Buma's green ambitions.

• Let's start with Macron. While no one within DWARS was in favour of Le Pen, there were also considerable reservations surrounding Emmanuel Macron. Apart from his pro-EU and pro-democracy stance (which is sometimes lost on Le Pen), he is not really a suitable candidate for many DWARSers. Infowars.com, a US alt-right website shared this ridiculous article about Macron. Although there was particular laughter at this article, it is still scary how mainstream the conspiracy theorists of Infowars have become. Even if Macron were to belong to the illuminations, he seems to have the climate well in mind so he can count on our support.
• There was also much to do about another head of state: the news surrounding Trump's firing of FBI director James Comey was closely followed. The New Yorker had a strong analysis and the “explainer” from Vox is also very good. This will definitely get a tailwind!
• This morning, a interview with CDA-prominent Herman Wijffels in the Parool. He delivered sharp criticism. The last passage in particular was very harsh: ‘You are now acting as if Buma is the Dutch Trump on climate who wants nothing to do with the Paris climate agreement.“Yes, that too! Buma used that same lack of understanding during the election campaign. That man doesn't know anything!”‘ The question now, of course, is whether this interview was good news. On the one hand, the CDA supporters are confronted with their front man's lack of vision; on the other, Buma could only become more obstructive in the formation. A number of DWARSers are at least recommending that Buma might switch to The Party Against the Citizen Whether the Short-term party to make.
• There was also a sharp discussion in our discussion group about the difference between nationalism and patriotism, following this item in Across. At some point, a DWARSers came up with George Orwell's definition of the two terms and, of course, no one could get over that. So let me conclude this media digest (or was it DWARS Discussion Things on Thursday?) with Orwell's views on nationalism and patriotism:

“By ‘nationalism’ I mean first of all the habit of assuming that human beings can be classified like insects and that whole blocks of millions or tens of millions of people can be confidently labelled ‘good’ or ‘bad’. But secondly - and this is much more important - I mean the habit of identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognising no other duty than that of advancing its interests. Nationalism is not to be confused with patriotism. Both words are normally used in so vague a way that any definition is liable to be challenged, but one must draw a distinction between them, since two different and even opposing ideas are involved. By ‘patriotism’ I mean 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. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally. Nationalism, on the other hand, 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.”

Jan, board member external communications

(Have questions/complaints about this post or these articles? Feel free to send an email to jan.amsterdam@dwars.org)