4th of july thoughts condensed revolutionary war was a terrible idea ex ante america is a lovely floating signifier and its crazy to try to burn it down pls stop if you are doing this battle hymn of the republic is the real national anthem send tweet
-
-
but I think it's something analogous to rebellions in (eg) old countries where the rebels would frequently fight to "free the king from the clutches of his wicked counselors" or (maybe? sketchy) compare China's the Mandate of Heaven speaking of whichhttps://twitter.com/turrible_tao/status/796225851444658176 …
Show this thread -
hahaha and of course megan mcardle wrote a column about this, why do I even bother tweetinghttps://twitter.com/asymmetricinfo/status/1014496999356461056 …
Show this thread -
ok new thought after playing Crusader Kings 2 a bit and mulling over some news from Byzantium I think I am most objecting to American _Iconoclasts_ explicitly I don't think burning flags or attacking our dear Founders or whatever should be illegal! however . . .
Show this thread -
per above these things have important value as signals and I deeply object, socially, to their routine denigration we live in a society . . . which mostly works better with some common floating signifiers and What America [is] About are the best extant signifiers I know of
Show this thread -
I would be happy to embrace some new, better icons but at a national level I don't think we have any good replacement set at the moment idk lack conviction and drown the ceremony of innocence at our collective risk I guess
Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
-
-
that specific one only existed in the wake of WWII. it died when that generation died. before that the national identity was about expansion and conquest
-
I'm not sure that's true though! That was definitely there, and seemed to wind down with global imperialism, but there was another, older / deeper thread Another possibility: US used to define itself against the conservative European order, which died forever with WW2?
-
there was the jeffersonian yeoman farmer identity, which was in contrast to european landed aristocracy, but that was only ever real in certain parts of the country
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.