365 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 6 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing Summarizing
Exclusive to OpEd News:
OpEdNews Op Eds   

The United States of Jingo

By       (Page 1 of 3 pages)   No comments

John Little
Message John Little
Become a Fan
  (12 fans)

jingo teacher
jingo teacher
(Image by John Little)
  Details   DMCA

The Oxford Dictionary defines jingoism as "extreme patriotism especially in the form of aggressive or warlike foreign policy". Cambridge University describes it as, "the extreme belief that your own country is always best, often shown in enthusiastic support for a war against another country". It surged into existence in 1877 in the popular British tune By Jingo (MacDermott's War Song) by G.W. Hunt, which gives us the great refrain:

We don't want to fight but by Jingo if we do

We've got the ships, we've got the men, we've got the money too

We've fought the Bear before, and while we're Britons true

The Russians shall not have Constantinople!

"Jingo" was a euphemism for "Jesus" at the time and is possibly of Basque origin meaning "god". The term jingoism was coined by George Holyoake in a letter to The Daily News on 13 March 1878, referring to Hunt's song. Jingoism, along with its cousin yellow journalism, looks to sway people's opinion on aggressive national and foreign affairs, especially when it comes to using their military. The topics are varied, but the underlying motivation is the same. They include, xenophobia, intolerance, isolationism, expanded military crusades, and "us versus them" mentality, among other hot-button topics as they arise. Misinformation and conspiracies are often calling cards of those peddling in jingoism.

The first usage in the US occurred around the time of the Hawaiian revolt of 1893. Republican president Benjamin Harrison and Republicans in the U.S. Senate were frequently accused of jingoism in the democratic press for supporting colonialism. Even Teddy Roosevelt famously said, "There is much talk about 'jingoism'. If by 'jingoism' they mean a policy in pursuance of which Americans will with resolution and common sense insist upon our rights being respected by foreign powers, then we are 'jingoes'." He then proceeded to invade a peaceful foreign country, Cuba, in the name of removing "foreign" powers.

He, along with newspaper tycoons William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, fed a warlike hellscape in Cuba to unsuspecting Americans in order to initiate a war with Spain even though Cuba had all but won that war by then. As I wrote in my piece on Yellow Journalism for the Opednews, "Historically, one of the most infamous incidents with regard to the influence that yellow journalism practices had on the Spanish-American War is a short dialogue between William Randolph Hearst and his hired illustrator/Cuban correspondent, Frederick Remington. Upon his arrival in Cuba in January of 1897, Remington noticed that none of massive reported battles were actually happening. He cabled to Hearst: "Everything is quiet. There is no trouble. There will be no war. I wish to return." Supposedly, although he denied it afterwards, Hearst quickly wired back: "Please remain. You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war."

Even Rudyard Kipling idolized US expansionism in 1899 when he penned the poem, "The White Man's Burden", basically extolling the US to take up the mantel of the empires before (British and Spanish). A few years later, Ernest Crosby wrote a scathing parody of that poem entitled, "The Real White Man's Burden". This was probably the first anti-jingoism jingoism ever recorded.

From By Jingo the song to 1938 Germany's jingo cries for Lebensraum (expanded living space) to Bush's "Either you're with us, or you're with the enemy", jingoism is supposed to make it an easy, "obvious" choice so that "true" friends can be distinguished from "real" enemies.

According to Wikipedia, "[The] strategic program for Greater Germany was based on the belief in the power of Lebensraum, especially when pursued by a racially superior society.. People deemed to be part of non-Aryan races, within the territory of Lebensraum expansion, were subjected to expulsion or destruction."

In the mid-1960s, the world was under the spell of The Beatles when John Lennon, the group's leader, was famously quoted saying that they were more popular than Jesus. He was merely pointing out that the Church in the UK had fallen in popularity. But in America, land of the hyperbole, this was misconstrued as Lennon thinking he's bigger than Jesus and the "Ban the Beatles" jingo began. Their tour of the south of the US in the summer of 1966 was met with record burnings, death threats, bullet holes in the fuselage of their airplane and a firecracker thrown at them during a live performance.

An article in RollingStone, "All four of the Beatles observed the initial firestorm with a touch of amusement. 'I must admit we didn't really take it too seriously at all,' McCartney told biographer Barry Miles. 'We just thought, 'Yes, well, you can see what it is. It's hysterical low-grade American thinking.' They were quick to point out that one had to purchase their albums in order to burn them. 'No sweat off us, mate. Burn 'em if you like. It's not compulsory to play 'em. So we took a balanced view of it.'" In no time, the US took jingoism to its next, violent level.

When the FCC abolished the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 (which was meant to give both sides of an issue the same time on TV and radio), it paved the way for Rush Limbaugh, Fox News and others to flood the airwaves with far-right propaganda that not only muddied the waters of truth and morality, but allowed lies and conspiracies to dominate the daily conversation, the evening news and the day's headlines. Of course, many people with limited education and even less understanding of how things actually work, were far too gullible to this new onslaught of bad information and easily fell into their trap of straw-dog proposals with predictable and false conclusions.

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Rate It | View Ratings

John Little Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

66 year old Californian-born and bred male - I've lived in four different countries, USA, Switzerland, Mexico, Venezuela, and currently live in the Dominican Republic - speak three languages fluently, English, French, Spanish - have worked as a (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter

Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

The Tarahumara Indians of Mexico "Olympics Too Short"

Elecricity for Venezuela - Rednecks in Chavezland

The International Distortion of the Dominican Dilemma

The new and revised Preamble to the Constitution

IMMIGRATION FROM THE IMMIGRANT'S POINT OF VIEW

Chapter Thirteen: The Cuban Missile Crisis of October, 1962

Comments Image Post Article Comment and Rate This Article

These discussions are not moderated. We rely on users to police themselves, and flag inappropriate comments and behavior. In accordance with our Guidelines and Policies, we reserve the right to remove any post at any time for any reason, and will restrict access of registered users who repeatedly violate our terms.

  • OpEd News welcomes lively, CIVIL discourse. Personal attacks and/or hate speech are not tolerated and may result in banning.
  • Comments should relate to the content above. Irrelevant, off-topic comments are a distraction, and will be removed.
  • By submitting this comment, you agree to all OpEd News rules, guidelines and policies.
          

Comment Here:   


You can enter 2000 characters.
Become a Premium Member Would you like to be able to enter longer comments? You can enter 10,000 characters with Leader Membership. Simply sign up for your Premium Membership and you can say much more. Plus you'll be able to do a lot more, too.

Please login or register. Afterwards, your comment will be published.
 

Username
Password
Show Password

Forgot your password? Click here and we will send an email to the address you used when you registered.
First Name
Last Name

I am at least 16 years of age
(make sure username & password are filled in. Note that username must be an email address.)

No comments  Post Comment

 
Want to post your own comment on this Article? Post Comment


 

Tell A Friend