Orwell Castigates Wells, Defends Patriotism

I have frequently criticized our country for it behavior throughout the Twentieth Century. On the other hand, while doing so I simultaneous hold in my mind the conviction George Orwell put forth in his essay titled "Wells, Hitler and the World State" which was originally published in August 1941 in Horizon magazine. 

In this essay Orwell castigates H.G. Wells for his optimistic belief in scientific progress and a rational world state, which Orwell argued was naive in light of the rise of totalitarianism, particularly Hitler’s regime. Orwell saw Wells’ views as dangerously out of touch with the realities of power and human nature.  

For me, there were two significant takeaways here. First, I hadn't realized how long this idea of a "one world government" was being formulated and seriously discussed. Second, the importance of patriotism.

In his essay Orwell showed how H.G.Wells derided military analysts and experts as alarmists, insisting Hitler was little more than a grotesque caricature—dangerous only insofar as he fools the credulous. Orwell then shredded Wells with facts.

He then moved to his main point, that Wells was a one-world government advocate. Orwell saw this vision not just as naïve, but as fundamentally disconnected from human experience. “What is the point of pointing out that a World State is desirable?” Orwell asked. “What matters is that not one of the five great military powers would think of submitting to such a thing.”

“Whereas for the common-sense, essentially hedonistic world-view which Mr. Wells puts forward,” Orwell writes, “hardly a human creature is willing to shed a pint of blood.”

 

That sentence alone arrests the reader. Orwell’s point is not merely military. It is psychological and civilizational. In moments of existential peril, high-minded cosmopolitanism is no substitute for visceral, ingrained loyalties—loyalties which many elites had spent the past decades trying to dissolve.

This is precisely the point at which many have often struggled. When it comes to U.S. behavior on the world stage, we have much to be ashamed of. BUT... At America's core is there something left to believe in? Something worth fighting for? Even dying for?

This is the message of Stephen Kinzer's The True Flag, which documents America's imperialist aggressions on the world stage. The "true flag" is a metaphorical symbol representing the American flag as an emblem of human rights, self-determination, and serving as a positive example to the world, rather than a banner of conquest, imperialism, or military domination.

At America's heart, there really is something to believe in. 

A Betsy Ross Flag Story and Our Silly PC Ways

Sometimes the wind blows in from the West, and other times from the East. Sometimes we get arctic blasts and sometimes winds from the South that make us swoon. All this is normal.

That fashions change with the shifting winds is also commonplace as skirts rise and fall in conjunction with the stock market. (That is a Wall Street joke.)

Being PC is a bit more challenging because if your efforts step on toes and are considered offensive, no one cares that it was an innocent mistake. And why is it that PC rules that apply to one do not apply to another?

For the 2019 Fourth of July Nike had created a new Air Max sneaker design featuring the 13-star Betsy Ross flag on the heel. For most Americans this is a patriotic symbol. The special edition Air Max 1 Quick Strike aimed to insert a bit of patriotism into a brand mostly manufactured in China, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia.

Evidently, when the design emerged Colin Kaepernick spoke out in opposition to the idea because for some the design reminded them of "a painful history of oppression and racism." (See stories that appeared in the NYTimes and the Wall Street Journal.

The Nike story would have been an incident long buried and forgotten had not some perceptive individuals noticed during the inauguration of Joe Biden that the Betsy Ross flags were prominently displayed as bookends to a set of five historical flags as a backdrop while he was being sworn in. I saw this story at SkillsetMag.com --> Betsy Ross Flag Flies During Biden Inauguration, but There’s No Outrage 

The article begins:

While taking the oath of office on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, President Joe Biden proclaimed that it was time to put aside our differences and to work towards unity. Whether that’s even possible remains to be seen, but one can hope. However, it’s certainly worth noting that he made those remarks with a purported symbol of hate just behind him hanging from the Capitol Building: the Betsy Ross Flag. 

Who decides what is offensive, and when, is apparently arbitrary. You can read the rest of the story here:

https://www.skillsetmag.com/2021/01/21/betsy-ross-flag-biden-inauguration/

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Poets of the North Country: Introducing Jim Johnson and Ellie Schoenfeld

One of the many events I'm looking forward to during next week's Duluth Dylan Fest will be Poets of the North Country at the Underground on Wednesday, may 25. Four guest panelists will have an extended time to share in the first portion of the program followed by readings from a number of local poets including Gary Boelhower, Michelle Matthees, Julie Gard, Liz Minette, Jan Chronister, and others.

The four panelists include Duluth's first Poet Laureate Barton Sutter, Minnesota author and publisher David Pichaske, author of Song of the North Country, and the two people I'm introducing here today, Jim Johnson and Ellie Schoenfeld.

Jim Johnson is Duluth's current Poet Laureate. I asked him several questions about how he came to be interested in poetry, who have been his influences and why poetry is important. And naturally I asked about Dylan.

Jim Johnson: I became interested in poetry when I attended UMD. After college I participated in a workshop led by Sigurd Olson. I was inspired and wanted to write about plants and animals of the North Country, only I wanted to write poetry. I later wrote about the Finnish immigrant experience and about labor and political issues, especially pertaining to the people of our area. My books are titled: Finns In Minnesota Midwinter, A Field Guide To Blueberries, Wolves, The Coop Label, Dovetailed Corners, Driving Gravel Roads, The First Day Of Spring In Northern Minnesota, and Yoik. That probably gives you a list of my themes, or obsessions as I call them.

While at UMD, I listened to Bob Dylan and read Dylan Thomas. I was inspired by both, even though I don't remember which one was the first. I loved the way Dylan Thomas used words and the way Bob Dylan used ideas I had thought about. BD is a wordsmith as well, but his social concerns are very important to me. Songs like "Blowin In The Wind," "Who Killed Davy Moore," "The Walls Of Red Wing," "I Shall Be Released" have the same concern for humanity as the great poets like Whitman and Neruda. People often ask if BD is really a poet. To put him in the company of Neruda or Whitman is to say he is not only a poet but a great poet.

Feelings are important. Poetry is about feelings. Therefore poetry is important. It will continue even if the forms change.

Here's one of a pair of poems Jim submitted to me, the second was called Rutabagas.

Rock Tripes

Rock tripes are lichen, like an old couple

who depend on each other to live

out their black and white lives. Though

neither will ever admit it. He

traipsing all over the rock they live on. She

cooking up greens for eons.

But O how they liked to polka.


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For near two decades one of my favorite poets has been former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins. In a 2009 blog post I wrote of him, "There's a down-to-earth whimsical quality to a lot of his work." I share this because reading Johnson and Schoenfeld gives me that same sense of pleasure as the works of Collins who repeatedly brings an original angle to the most ordinary moments.

Of the four I'm most familiar with Ellie Schoenfeld's work, having first met her through the Poetry Harbor group when I came to Duluth three decades past and having heard her read on numerous occasions including this evening in 2014. For the longest time The Dark Honey, her award-winning book of "new and used poems," lay next to my easy chair along with a few other favorites to dip into on occasion at the end of a day. Poetry makes a nice nightcap.

Here's a typical piece that takes one to unexpected places that you might enjoy.

Patriotism
by Ellie Schoenfeld

My country is this dirt
that gathers under my fingernails
when I am in the garden.
The quiet bacteria and fungi,
all the little insects and bugs
are my compatriots. They are
idealistic, always working together
for the common good.
I kneel on the earth
and pledge my allegiance
to all the dirt of the world,
to all of that soil which grows
flowers and food
for the just and unjust alike.
The soil does not care
what we think about or who we love.
It knows our true substance,
of what we are really made.
I stand my ground on this ground,
this ground which will
ultimately
recruit us all
to its side.

"Patriotism" by Ellie Schoenfeld, from The Dark Honey. © Clover Valley Press, 2009. 
Published here without permission at the moment, but keeping my fingers crossed.

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Poets of the North Country will be a catered event that begins with an opening reception at 5:30. Readings by featured poets will start at 6:00, with an afterparty at Karpeles Manuscript Museum Library, music by Cowboy Angel Blue. Details here. The Underground Theater is located in The Depot, adjacent to the Train Museum. Note: This event is Free and open to all.

Join us.