2018 Tribute to Parenti – Updated Archive What does it mean to love one’s country? Why is it so important to be number one? In this sharp and funny speech MP dissects the uses of patriotism.
That was the introduction to a Michael Parenti talk given in 1988, at the end of the Reagan administration. That talk became a TUC Radio program and 2004 book published by City Lights. Superpatriotism: How hype, fear, and mindless flag-waving are supplanting informed debate and commitment to democracy.
Now, in 2018, so many years later, slogans such as: America First, America the Greatest Country on Earth are having a powerful come back. Resistance to Superpatriotism – even if it is simply remaining seated or taking a knee during the national anthem at a sports event, can draw a hateful response from those who Parenti was concerned about a generation ago.
Michael Parenti received his PhD in political science from Yale. He is the author of 23 books and many more articles. His works have been translated into eighteen languages. He grew up in an Italian-American working-class family in NY City. His PhD. from Yale would have guaranteed him a career in academia. He knowingly gave up that chance when he openly opposed the war on Vietnam and was arrested. He decided to become an independent author, lecturer and activist.
Parenti spoke in 1988 in Boulder, CO, recorded by KGNU Radio.
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