A
nationalist is one who thinks solely, or mainly, in terms of competitive
prestige. He may be a positive or a negative nationalist – that is, he may use
his mental energy either in boosting or in denigrating – but at any rate his
thoughts always turn on victories, defeats, triumphs, and humiliations. He sees
history, especially contemporary history, as the endless rise and decline of
great power units, and every event that happens seems to him a demonstration
that his own side is on the up-grade and some hated rival on the down-grade.
But finally, it is important not to confuse nationalism with mere worship of
success. The nationalist does not go on the principle of simply ganging up with
the strongest side. On the contrary, having picked his side, he persuades
himself that it is the strongest, and is able to stick to his belief
even when the facts are overwhelmingly against him. Nationalism is power hunger
tempered by self-deception. Every nationalist is capable of the most flagrant
dishonesty, but he is also – since he is conscious of serving something bigger
than himself – unshakeably certain of being in the right.
One of the reasons I and so many others
love the writing of George Orwell is his unshakeable instinct for what was
coming next, how people think and why they think that way. As a big fan of
Orwell’s novels, I recently took out The
Penguin Essays of George Orwell from Sussex’s library, just to dip into.
What’s most striking about Orwell’s writing is its ability to transcend
generations, in the sense that what he wrote in the 1930s and 40s are as
relevant today as they were when he wrote them. After a fairly restless night
waiting for the results of the US election, I thought I’d take a look at
Orwell’s essay on nationalism. His descriptions of ‘the endless rise and
decline of great power units’ strongly echo Trump’s campaign slogan of ‘Make
America great again’. It almost seems as though Orwell is describing the
incoming president when he says a nationalist is ‘able to stick to his belief
even when the facts are overwhelmingly against him’, despite the fact that the
essay was published the year before Trump was even born. Without wishing to
state the obvious, Orwell couldn’t see into the future. Rather, he had a
distinctive ability to make judgements about human nature, some of which have
manifested themselves in many world events, not least in this election. What
part of human nature has been seized by Trump and can account for his success?
A success which, one has to admit, has been absolutely huge and unprecedented.
Other European nations have big choices to
make in upcoming elections. France can choose to dissolve the European Union by
the choices they make at the ballot box. In order to avoid this, the
pro-European French media and political left need to champion what’s positive
about immigration, the EU and increased integration. If it chooses the path of
negativity, another backlash of the Brexit/Trump kind could happen, the domino
effect will continue with significant consequences for the future of Europe and
the West.