It’s no secret that I view nationalism as the primary internal threat to a democratic society. We have ample examples of the ways in which fraught nostalgia can transform a group of political people into a weapon against their fellow man, because it is not their fellow man they care about, it’s their fellow national. Nationalism is itself a form of security politics. When you decide that a particular conception of the ‘nation’ is worth preserving it almost assuredly is because you think that conception is under threat.

Democrats have an identity problem. The last several years have seen an increase in Democratic candidates and politicians at both state and federal levels label themselves ‘social democrats,’ ‘democrats socialists,’ or even just ‘socialists.’ There is nothing wrong with using terminology to help voters understand where you lie on a whole host of issues. Political labeling can be one of the best ways to gain recognition and win elected office.

The 2020 election is here, and as I write this piece voting is in full swing. Due to the novel coronavirus and the perceived stakes of this election, nearly 70% of the total number of people who voted in 2016 have already voted early, via mail ballot or in person. While I could write about how I think the election will go or what I hope to see happen, I’m instead going to think about what comes next. The next I’m concerned about is what we do with the Trump super fan.

Something that I’ve personally wrestled with since I moved to Denmark was the way in which certain political parties are given media attention where they wouldn’t in the US. I’ve wrestled with this because, on one hand, I find it discouraging that the founder of Denmark’s biggest nationalist party, a woman known for racist statements and rank islamophobia, gets to appear on fun apolitical tv programming.

(The following is an essay I wrote in January 2018. It reconciles the shocking revelation of Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann's starting normalism and how we can square abhorrent behaviors in our own stories) Much has been said and written about the 1963 compilation of reporting by Hannah Arendt on the 1960 trial of former S.S. official Adolf Eichmann.