RICIMER of the Series They Are My Song (and a bit about Justice, Mercy, and Peace)

RICIMER is 'on hold' for the time being for a couple of reasons.

One is that right now I need to be prepping for some art-related stuff that's on my horizon and that's going to be taking all of my available time and energy for a while here.

The other, perhaps more significant, reason is that my instinctively-pattern-seeking brain is trying to cope with a pattern that I darned well should have anticipated and been prepared for - but I honestly wasn't expecting things to accelerate the way they have just recently.

The pattern?

It's sort of a double-or-triple pattern. Quadruple maybe even, or more for all I know - although it's the same pattern repeating ...

We'll go back only as far as the Roman Empire - set out to conquer Europe and did all right with that, relatively speaking, right up until it got too big for its britches so to speak and disrupted the Balance. Down went the Western Roman Empire and up rose the new Nations of Europe, forged of their own wills and by the sheer strength and determination of their respective Peoples finding their Balance.

Then it was the Church of Rome. Again, did all right, relatively speaking, right up until it got too big for its britches, so to speak and disrupted the Balance. The Church of Rome sank in power and up rose the Protestant Denominations as the Peoples and the Nations of Europe were finding their Balance.

Now it's the EU apparently getting too big for its britches, so to speak and disrupting the Balance.

When will the lesson finally be learnt?

The Peoples of Europe will only stand for so much before they unequivocally say, "NO MORE!"

What with one thing and another, the time of RICIMER bears an eerie resemblance to the time of Now.

I already know how the RICIMER story ends so have been watching the current version play out, that eerie sensation kind of haunting the whole thing.

That yet another version of the same pattern has been playing itself out in the United States only adds to that haunting sense of familiarity ...

It's become notably uncomfortable, writing a Story [that's supposed to be fiction based really loosely on historic times] while the danged Story Line is happening in Real Time in front of my face. So I'm taking all the energy I would normally be putting into writing out the RICIMER Story and using it instead to pray that the path to the end of this repetition of the pattern will be one of Peaceful Balance.

The reason I have Hope for that is a little on the mystic side.

Our Fictional Family has a Destiny that includes enforcing the Will of the Holy Trinity, which has a pattern of its own:

Justice
Mercy
Peace

In that order.

Justice was served when the Western Roman Empire went down.
Mercy was served when the Protestants did not utterly destroy the Church of Rome.
So it's time for Peace to have a turn I reckon.

Yes I realize that already things are a bit less than altogether Peaceful - but nor are they what could become.

And no, I'm not talking about that utopian magical world peace everyone lives happily ever after thing. That's not going to happen, sorry. At least not yet, not now, and likely not any time in the foreseeable future.

But a relatively Peaceful and Balanced resolution can and will be found if people put their minds and their wills to it. If you've been paying attention, you might realize that there are people who are putting their minds and their wills to it already, so yes there IS Hope that a Peaceful Balance will be possible, relatively speaking.


*wry chuckle*

Went looking for a symbol for Hope and Balance.

Guess what showed up.
Yeah, there are others, but this one sort of jumped out of the bunch as it's pretty darned familiar.

And this one of course, also quite very familiar:

O_O

WARNING: PATRIOTIC POST Patriotism versus Nationalism Renegade's Perspective

ATTN: posted an episode of America Versus.
July 4 at 9:44 AM ·
Americans should know the important difference between patriotism and nationalism.

America Versus

America Vs. America: Patriotism 

The above is a facebook post I found on a friend's timeline.

The video attempts to outline the differences between their definition of Patriotism and their definition of Nationalism.

Now, 'Nationalism' is a term I've heard used only relatively recently.

The first time I heard it was in conjunction with the term 'Populism' (aka Popular Sovereignty) in an extremely negative context (disparaging, to be polite about it) regarding the increasingly apparent stirrings among the European Nations starting a very few years ago. That's a whole separate issue (see below) and has to do with the European Union.

I just wanted to establish up front that this new term (and its connotations) does have a 'history' of sorts, albeit a rather short history.

The video emphasizes something that's been an obvious component of our nation from its conception: dissenting views that have, do, and can lead to our nation getting closer to the original goals and purposes our Constitution sets forth (and played a critical role in the writing of said Constitution in the first place, which they neglected to mention). That I personally have to raise my brows at a couple of their 'examples' is moot. These are the Hero Patriots of the video - and as I've said, my brow rises at associating a couple of their choices with that role although others I agree with. Why they would select these to set apart from the rest of the equally valuable Patriots of all our eras I have no idea, but according to them being a Patriot is a good thing and especially being a dissenting Patriot apparently. Unless your dissenting is different from theirs, of course.

Nationalism, on the other hand, is a bad thing because, according to their definition, Nationalists are apparently exclusivist and suffer from some kind of Superiority Complex. At least that's what I got out of the video thing.

Here's my comment in response :



Interesting.

Patriotism has been with us from forever.

To me it means a bone-deep dedication to one's country and what it stands for. It means respect for and appreciation of the fundamental premises laid out in our Constitution and our Laws, the backbone of what makes us our own collective self and no other - and pride in that nation along with being ready willing and able to make it as close as possible to what it was designed to be.

Nationalism is apparently a new term coined by I don't know whom.

I would frankly associate it more with Europe than the USA at the moment, as the nations over there struggle to regain their own 'independent nations in charge of their own laws' status.

If I were to assign a definition, it would be closer to that, I think. The assertion that we as a nation are exactly that: a clearly defined nation to be proud of with a history unique to us.

No connotations; just a simple statement of fact.

But that's just me and I'm not the one assigning meanings to words.

I love my nation not because it's 'better than' any other but because it's MINE. My legacy to protect and to preserve to the best of my ability for the generations who follow.

And yes I'm proud to be an American and love my country, warts and all. NOBODY is even trying to deny the warts for pity's sake, or claiming 'superiority' over any other nation.

In some ways, sure the USA has worked hard to develop her strengths, and we might be better AT some things than others are.

They're equally better AT other things than WE are.

ALL nations have strengths and weaknesses, just like all people do.

Where is this narrative coming from?!

Holy cow.



That's where my facebook comment stops. I don't come out and say so but the question about where the narrative originates is rhetorical.

Maybe it's because I've lately been paying closer attention to Europe than has been my wont for most of my life (writing books that include historic times means research, which leads to current events and how past and present fit together - plus making friends whose lives are deeply impacted by both history and current events) but yes I have been paying some attention.

That I should have started paying attention thirty years ago is becoming clear, but as a lot of other people are also currently kicking themselves for not paying close enough attention thirty years ago I'm not going to beat myself up over it too awfully much. Thirty years ago I was about to give birth to my third daughter.

In short, from my perspective (it's the only one I've got, as yours is the only one you've got and we're both fully entitled to them) the EU started out as a not too bad idea: a grouping of nations to promote the economic prosperity of all.

Then it morphed.

The impression I've gotten is : "If you want to reap the promised rewards you have to agree to do this, that, and the other thing."

Still sounds fairly reasonable.

Then came : "You have to change the laws of your nations to fit our rules."

Then : "You have to do as we say or else."

And : "We want to build an army and you have to pay for it whilst minimizing or eliminating your own. You won't need your military; we'll take care of all that for you."

And : "Cultural diversity is good for you; here, add all these different people to your populations."

Then : "Oh good! Europe is becoming one big nation instead of many individual ones! Here are lots and lots more people to add to your populations, you'll be SO GLAD to have them! Long live the United States of Europe."

Then : "What do you mean, there's a culture clash? There's supposed to be only one European Culture, didn't you know that? Here, you need more people to take care of. Oh, and we have to raise your membership dues."

And:  "What do you mean you can't afford things any more? Pay up!"

 More recently : "What's this! The Peoples of the different Nations are thinking they can be their own uniquely individual selves! They think want their own Nations back, to make their own Laws, to control their own borders, to choose for themselves!?! Can't be having THAT! Those aren't Nations any more; they're subject States and had better toe our line!"

And so the term 'Nationalist' all of a sudden sprang into the vocabulary, to label the folks who thought they might be able to think for themselves and to make choices regarding their own nations.

Again, this is just mine own perspective.

At the same time all of that stuff has been going on over in Europe, there's been an apparently organized push here in the United States to be more a part of the world at large and less our own independent nation. Sometimes subtle, sometimes overt, the theme has been clear to those whose hindsight is better than their foresight. 

Let's make a deal with our North American neighbors, show unity with them. Never mind that our money is now going into the pockets of other nations. Let's give a lot of our money to these other nations; they need it more than we do. Let's share and share alike. Never mind that we're the ones doing all the sharing but nobody is sharing back with us. Better yet, let's just focus on a bunch of other things like which bathroom people are supposed to use. Nobody will notice anything else as long as we keep their minds occupied with baloney, and at each other's throats over other kinds of baloney. And, while nobody's really paying attention, let's bring in a bunch of others; it will balance things out ...

Yada yada.

I'm not going to go into detail about all of it because frankly I'm fed up with it - so are a lot of other people when it comes to that.

Fed up people who FINALLY (better late than never) noticed a thing or two or three are why a non-politician, one who cannot be bought, one who loves his nation as much as we do, is now the President of the United States of America.

Bottom line is:

I hear the label 'Nationalist' applied to American Citizens in that same derogatory tone I heard it applied to the Peoples of Europe and my hackles rise.

Just sayin'.

Can anyone be so stupid as to skip a step or two or three here and go straight to calling people Nationalists, or is it that those steps have to be skipped because they're not going to work with our President, who evidently has not been as slow on the uptake as I have been? In my own defense, he's been out and about in our world a lot more than I have, and is also a lot smarter in general than I am.

Unlike the Nations of Europe, the United States of America does not have to 'get our nation back' because we've still got it.

What we DO have to do is hang onto it.

Patriotism is something almost all of America can identify with.

Nationalism does not even belong in the American vocabulary as far as I'm concerned. It's but another of those meaningless '-ism' words thrown at us with malicious intent.

"I'm proud to be a Patriot, but call me a Nationalist and I might have to load my pen with that other kind of ink," is what one of our fictional Characters (named Renegade) might have to say in this situation.