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SuperPatriotism
by Michael Parenti
City Lights Books
2004
Superpatriotism is a response to the extremes of amerikan nationalism since 9/11. With some good information and a lot of good criticisms, Parenti himself succumbs to a pro-amerikan rallying cry, ending with an attempt to define a "real patriot." His mistakes stem from a lack of discussion of the national question despite its obvious relevance and his usual denial of the labor aristocracy.
Parenti attacks MIM and others for spelling "amerikkka" with a "k" or three, saying that we play "directly into the hands of leaders who opportunistically sought to treat their own war policy as a manifestation of true Americanism." (p. 14) He later claims that the lack of pro-war rallies compared to anti-war rallies indicate that the amerikan people are not behind these policies. But the point is that being a parasite doesn't require a lot of effort: that's what makes it so appealing. In fact, not having to engage seriously in politics has been an amerikan tradition for some time now. (1)
Parenti does not believe that amerikans are bought off allies of imperialism, but rather "the vast majority of us are not rich." (p. 25) On the contrary, even a minimum wage earner working full time in the united $tates is in the top 12% of the richest people in the world (2). Parenti goes on to talk about "some 80 percent of our population, who live with chronic money concerns and little or no net financial assets." (p.25) While the proletariat is worrying about food, water and basic medical care, Parenti wants us to feel sorry for those who lack stock options while having access to resources that far surpass anything the majority of the world has experienced. Yes, most amerikans have bills to pay each month; it may be a pain, but it is the pain of privilege.
Continuing the theme of the exploited amerikan, "As with oil, so with our wealth in general: a select coterie at the very top of the economic ladder control more of it than all the rest of us combined. We just produce it with our hard work. They pocket it." He is correct to assert that a minority controls most of the wealth, but he is incorrect about where that wealth came from. In fact, amerikans are able to earn extravagant wages at non-productive jobs. Meanwhile, the minority who remain in productive industry, excluding non-citizen labor and prisoners, earn many times as much money as their counterparts in the Third World. (3) This is all possible because of the vast amounts of surplus labor being extracted from the oppressed nations.
In discussing the redneck cracker factor, Parenti writes, "In fact, working Americans are less the promoters of superpatriotism and more its consumers and victims." (p. 87) There is truth in this statement in that the imperialists are the biggest promoters of national chauvinism for their own interests. And they certainly will turn on their fellow amerikans as needed. But there is a reason why white trash is "white." It is the justified identification with an oppressor nation that leads many of the poorest sectors of white amerika to militantly fight for amerikan nationalism. It is justified because from amerika's earliest days of genocide, white people helped out white people in this country, even as the definition of "white" continued to change.
In the same chapter, Parenti is correct to point out that amerikans did not develop a fear of communism on their own, but as a result of years of government propaganda. Yet, we still must face the reality that the red scare did catch on in the united $tates, while it wouldn't work in a place like Nepal where the majority of the country support some form of communism. This difference is tied up with the national question, which he amazingly leaves out of this discussion. In the conclusion, Parenti states that "real patriots are internationalists." (p. 158) It's a good idea, but in practice this is not the case. Despite the efforts of the Democrats and liberals to reclaim a kinder, gentler patriotism from the Bush regime, imperialist country nationalism is inherently parasitic and chauvinistic. On the other hand, oppressed nation nationalism is applied internationalism in that their struggle for self-determination is part of the global struggle against imperialism.
SuperPatriotism has a selection of good facts for such a short book. And many of his criticisms are useful in encouraging a split between the imperialists and the amerikan petty bourgeoisie. But the one that we cannot take on is the economic argument. Arguing that amerikans are somehow exploited leads down the road of amerikan chauvinism that Parenti appears to be attempting to oppose. Unfortunately, after many years and many books on imperialism, he fails to see the main contradictions that can lead us to a solution.
Notes:
(1) see
http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/agitation/iraq/sanctionspolls.html AND
http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/agitation/iraq/iraqsanctions02202005.html
for recent research on what amerikans should have known about Iraq if they
cared
(2) www.globalrichlist.org
(3) Imperialism and its Class Structure in 1997. Chapter C-5.
http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/mt/imp97/imp97c5.html