Why does "Restoring America" make me nervous? Why do words like that, coupled with flag-waving and angry crowds make me more nervous?
Having watched the replays of Glenn Beck's "Restoring America" rally, let's start with what we didn't see. Glenn didn't bring his chalkboard to the rally this time. He didn't bring up his conspiracy theories, and left his Malia and Sasha impressions back on his radio show. The tea-partiers in the audience played along and left their signs home for the most part, so we didn't get to see pictures of President Obama with a Hitler mustache. After all, with the amount of publicity this rally generated, Glenn had to keep his act clean.
So what did we see? Glenn Beck has seen religion. That's nothing new, but he put a lot of emphasis on it in this rally; the subject brought him to tears (I know, shocking.) There was the usual flag-waving and adulation of the military. Also, there were heaping helpings of stories and quotes from the Founding Fathers, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. and other historical figures.
But the thing I noticed the most, which gets the hair standing up on the back of my neck, and should be getting yours standing up as well, was the heavy dose of palingenetic rhetoric. Follow me to find out why...
So what is palingenesis?
While Sarah Palin may be using palingenetic rhetoric, the term actually has nothing to do with her.
Palingenesis is a Greek term that means "rebirth", and in political science circles, refers to a narrative of bringing a nation or state through a Phoenix-like process of rebirth from its ashes. The story of palingenesis has the country in a state of decadence, corruption and decline, then shows the country being "reborn" and being returned to an idealized state of former glory through the actions of patriots and warriors fighting to defeat the decay and destruction wrought by whatever unpopular out-groups are convenient scapegoats.
When tea-partiers shout "I want my country back!", that's a direct product of palingenetic thought.
When Glenn Beck talks about "Restoring America", that's palingenetic rhetoric. In fact, since "Restoring America" was the name of this rally, the entire theme of it was palingenetic.
Why does palingenesis make me nervous? This is when I go Godwin. Given Glenn Beck's tendency to go Godwin, I'd normally have cause to hesitate. I prefer to have something more than my own ranting and raving to back me up when I use the Nazi card, which is more than can be said about Glenn Beck when he slings swastikas.
Let me bring up the research of Roger Griffin of Oxford University. Dr. Griffin spent a great deal of his career researching fascism, and he created a definition of fascism, which is "palingenetic, ultra-nationalist populism."
Dr. Griffin justifies his definition here. Also check out David Neiwert's book The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right for more discussion of palingenesis and fascism.
For full disclosure, I should point out that not everyone in academia agrees with Roger Griffin's definition of fascism. Others have built lists like the 14 Points of Fascism, or emphasized things like the alliance of big business and authoritarian government, or the advocacy of inequality and construction of hierarchies. I think that a lot of the problems with defining fascism exist because fascism doesn't really have a coherent ideology in the same way that Marxism, progressivism or libertarianism does. Fascism is an ideology of raw emotion. Adding to the confusion is the popular abuse of the term, especially by characters like Glenn Beck.
But I digress... Regardless of the definition of fascism, palingenesis is a powerful recurring theme that appears in fascist movements. Or to put it succinctly...
Palingenesis is fascist mythology.
That's why hearing the words "I want my country back!" makes my skin crawl. And I get even more concerned when I see "Take our country back!" rhetoric coupled with jingoistic flag-waving and large, angry mobs. As Roger Griffin called it, "palingenetic, ultra-nationalist populism..."
Glenn Beck and the Tea Party should not be dismissed as being merely stupid or crazy or ignorant. This movement is very dangerous for America, and if the Tea Party gains significant political power, they can lead America down an unimaginably destructive path. Many people make the mistake of thinking that characters like Adolf Hitler were near-mythical aberrations that couldn't take control of American democracy. Hitler was a real human being, and wasn't especially unique. He was far from the only person on Earth with fascist ambitions and the political talents to achieve power. In fact multiple countries from Germany to Spain to Italy to Argentina have fallen victim to fascism. It can happen here in America, and if we're not sufficiently vigilant, it very well might happen here. American democracy is more fragile than we think.
Sinclair Lewis wasn't far off the mark. When fascism comes to America, it might be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross, wearing a silly hat with dangling teabags, and led by a demagogue with a chalkboard. Don't laugh, because they're not laughing...
(Note, this post originally available at http://www.meldroc.com/...