This week, the correspondents of Metropolis are looking for nationalists all over the world. We all know the world is getting smaller and smaller, but not everyone feels like becoming a global citizen. All over the world we found local nationalists who resist the global village and who have their own interpretation of ‘putting own people first’. Who are these people? And what exactly makes them nationalist?
What makes the far-right British BNP nationalist, for instance, is very clear: “I am English pride”, as the party’s propaganda pop singer Joey Smith sings at gatherings. The same goes for Japan, where we followed an ultranationalist performer called ‘Minoru Chicken Skin’, who has no problem expressing his admiration for Adolf Hitler: “a great entertainer”. His audience loves it, because Minoru isn’t afraid to say what many of them only dare to think.
And on the other side of the Pacific, we find a whole different breed of national fervour: in the mostly leftist-oriented, hippie state of Vermont, U.S. correspondent Kel met with one of the leaders of a local secessionist movement, Jim Hogue. Jim’s goal: gaining independence for Vermont from the United States. In his opinion, the United States has become too large, and thus the government has become too corrupt. To win over Vermonters for independence, Hogue dresses in eighteenth century battledress to address his fellow statesmen with a voice from long ago.
Patriotism, flag-waving, and nationalist ideology: this week in Metropolis.
