The Charlie Kirk memorial was typical nation-building. That’s why the entire cabinet was there. That’s why there were speeches about ancient Greece and Rome. That’s why a Catholic preached to tens of thousands of Protestants, and then a Jew did the same, and it was not only positively but rapturously received. That’s why people who watched felt happy and inspired
Contrast this with 2020. That was typical nation-unbuilding. Statues glorifying the nation’s origins were pulled down and defaced. National achievements were condemned. National history was retold as shameful. A man who never did anything admirable even in the view of his family members was put in a gold casket and worshipped. Statues and memorials were put up not because his life symbolized something good about the country but because his death symbolized something bad. This all culminated in calls for austerity to abolish one of the biggest achievements of the nation-state model, which is police. Destructive riots took place as a symbolic gesture of tearing apart the social compact of national coexistence.
Nobody tried to inspire in the audience any guilt for being American at the memorial. In contrast, the whole point of 2020 was to evoke national guilt and shame.
Clarissa's Blog 
Hundreds of thousands of people crammed in a line waiting for like fourteen hours or more, and no violence.
Nothing to be ashamed of. That is a monumental cultural achievement.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Absolutely. It was incredibly well organized, and in very short time. Extremely civilized. And in spite of the terrible occasion, deeply life-affirming and positive.
Americans have reason to be enormously proud of dealing with a wound to the nation’s psyche in such a civilized and admirable way. You are absolutely right in referring to this as a cultural achievement. This is exactly what culture is. Without it, we are animals running around and tearing each other to shreds.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Charlie Kirk’s memorial service was an example of the best of the American people, same as Tommy Robinson’s Unite The Kingdom in London showed the best of the British people, and so on and so forth all over Europe: the best of European peoples.
Meanwhile, today in Italy, during a general strike for Gaza and Palestine, with many fewer people: the country’s main stations were devastated, policemen assaulted, shops and public institutions defaced and vandalised.
The country is now blocked, traffic in my city is in chaos, people cannot reach their homes, one of my colleagues will spend the night outside her home like countless other commuters, and probably nobody will pay for all the destruction and chaos.
Happy Rosh Hashana everyone.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I saw the chaos in Milano! It looks terrible. I’m so sorry this is happening. It’s an absolute disgrace.
And yes, the contrast between the peaceful, orderly attendees at the Kirk memorial and these absolute savages couldn’t be any starker.
LikeLike
The US had never had a national police. Policing is mostly funded by local authorities. I think this is one of the reasons Putin is so popular with nationalists since Russia had a centralized policing model.
LikeLike