Conservativism for decades. Hes edited it since 1997, rich is also a syndicated columnist and author i very much recommend to you the previous book study of Abraham Lincoln social and economic thought lincoln unbound. This new one speaks to a very live and significant controversy in our politics a subject that has been an area thats been a subject of enormous amount of thought and argument in the last two years the question of nationalism of the nation and its place in our politics. Its connection to some of the forces and threads that have been driving the politics of the west in recent years. The forum will be very simple, will hear from rich a little bit about the book. Then he and i will discuss it for a few minutes and then open to questions from you. Please lets welcome rich lowry. [applause] thank you thank you everyone, its a pleasure to be here. Thank you so much for making the time. I will share with you what has been my favorite moment from my book tour so far, came very early on i think of the second day an npr interview npr has this practice i like to think of as professor in what they do they will have you on as a conservative and you will give your take on history or policy then they will have a professor like in the middle of your presentation or right at the end and the role of the professor is to say that you are in ignoramus but saying it dulcet tones. An npr listener instinctively believes anything that is said in a delta tone by a person with some authority and credentials. You are therefore officially deemed a norm amos and everyone can go home happy this is sort of like npr equivalent of what happens in a Jerry Springer show when the baby mama comes on to confront the fathers. I had this extensive preinterview in preparation for this npr program that i really appreciate how much care they take with it. Everything was set to go in the morning of they are desperately trying to get in touch with me. They are like, we want to know is it okay if we have a professor on with you. I was like okay i know what you are doing but its fine. You can have a professor on. So im going with the interviewer for a while and clearly her head is basically exploding she cant believe what im saying. I say the basic propositions of nationalism so basic that most people when you scratch the service are nationalist in some form or another and she is saying, are you really saying that nationalism is not necessarily synonymous with hatred and bigotry . Im saying, more than that but nationalism gave us modern democracy shes like okay lets go break and we need to hear from the professor. They bring on the professor who totally to type idiosyncratic, sophisticated way of talking foreign accent, originally from russia and after some preliminaries she says, anyone in the modern world is a nationalist in fact, nationalism created modern democracy. She said are you agreeing with rich lowry . It turned out npr had not done sufficient research because the professor is a woman named Lee Greenfeld is an extraordinary scholar of nationalism and it turned out i had read her most important book prior to writing a word on my own, nationalism five past modernity. I had to interrupt and say actually shes agreeing with me im agreeing with her. Her argument is crucial to my thinking. At least thats what npr had professor itself. It was very gratifying at least in a small way. Let me give you five propositions about nationalism and then i will sit down and we will talk and take questions. First proposition, nationalism is very old, its very natural, its very powerful. Empires throughout the ages have tried to eliminate it unsuccessfully. Totalitarian ahave tried to eliminate it unsuccessfully. To give you an example of how old and deep nationalism or at least National Feeling is coming you can go to one of historys great monsters, kiana burke. She is going to liberate france from english. The english kings at this time have a fixation with really not just england but france the english line originally comes from france and the province in france, normandy. The english had been attempting to put an english air on the throne. France precipitates the hundred year war which is fought in france and a debacle for the french but some estimates population declines by half. Its ravaged by famine and disease and combat. What joan is born this is been going on for about 75 years and had the aspect of the civil war in france in addition to the english occupation. Because of the willpower that is difficult to fathom she somehow convinces the french authorities that she should be able to pursue this vision and this mission that she has. She ends up encamped with french troops outside the city of new orleans and she sends messages to the english troops. She said, im a warrior, and giving you fair warning that im going to chase you all from france and if you dont believe im going to kill you all. I just want to let you know. Then she sends more messages and finally the last one she shoots over in an arrow and says im serious, this is my last warning. The english troops obviously mustve been these hardbitten guys who took this as the series next to you is expected. Completely scorned her and her messages. Shouted across insults at her. More news from the french war and she takes this the way an average teenage girl would. Shes insulted and cries tears of outrage and shame. Then she does what no teenage girl and World History has ever done before or since, she leaves the french troops into battle riding a white horse carrying a white banner with the image of christ sitting in judgment and chases the english from orleans. Astonishingly enough, she succeeds in restoring the french heir to the throne. Luck runs out at some point, shes betrayed by French Forces allied with the english. English undertake trial of her that we might expect is not very fairminded. Its all based on finding her guilty. They spend an enormous amount of time on the fact that she wore mens clothing. I think the whole trans thing would not have gone over very well and 15th century england. They find her guilty, they burn her at the stake she declares the name of christ, shes going through this ordeal, and they spread her ashes in the ariver and she was 19 years old. The point of this is that theres going to be no more joan of arc. This would be no more memory of this bizarre incident. I will know, the opposite was the truth. Because joan had become a symbol of her nation and of its independence and as such, will not be wiped out throughout all of french history. The french king annuls the trial in 1920 she becomes the same when the french are occupied by much more hideous and evil occupied eight centuries later germans led to the Free French Army take of the symbol the symbol of joan from the cross of lorraine they painted on their ship painted on their airplanes and when Charles De Gaulle himself a formidable symbol of the french nation dies, his village puts up a 60 foot cross of lorraine at the entrance of the village in memory of nationalism and National Feeling in a nutshell. Second proposition, nationalism is part of the mainstream revolution without nationalism. There was the american nation prior to 1776 and the essence of the revolution was to say that nation had its own and should govern itself. He wouldnt get the drafting occasion of the constitution without the nationalism of hamilton and washington and likeminded founders who believe that we could not just be a series of separate stateless vulnerable to foreign powers around us vulnerable to being picked apart and vulnerable to falling into disgrace we need a strong and capable National Government and of course you dont get victory in the civil war. Without nationalism. Which is the main event underlining legitimacy of the american state. This tradition runs throughout alexander hamilton, believing he should have Strong Military especially strong navy and our country should become a great great power on Great Britain this tradition runs through lincoln and runs to pr you can see nationalist symbols and sentiments running through the 20th century through fdr and reagan. Fdrs blue eagle to sell the nra program he is a democratic nationalist arrayed against hitler in world war ii and fight anyone in any part of the political spectrum to read his third inaugural address he had a lot of inaugural addresses its hard to keep track if you read the third one and not be moved by his sentiments about his nation or not be moved by his dee dee prayer which donald trump read on the anniversary of normandy several months ago beginning our sons pride set out on a mighty endeavor. Both fdr and reagan had access symbols its a fairly plastic phenomenon. Both parties had different ideologies have access to it. Also obviously be abused by mouth actors as we seen throughout his position, america is not just an idea. One of my basic axioms in washington, if there is something that both sides automatically and thoughtfully say joe biden says america is an idea, Lindsey Graham says it is probably wrong or at least you should be skeptical of it. America is not just an idea. No one lives in obstruction. If you ask anyone where you are from, nor in the right mind says im glad you asked, im from locke second treaty, book 3, chapter 4. Thats not what happens. A more defensible version of this notion is that america is just about civic nationalism. Its all about the quality and citizenship and is clearly a big part of our nation but it doesnt represent all of it. The problem i have with all arguments of this nature i think they flight the fact that nations are sicker than just ideas and ideals and built on cultures. The way i illustrate this point if you take an example of a tourist hypothetical. If you imagine tonight in africanamerican meeting a White American on the steps of the paris opera house instantly these two people, doesnt matter whether they are have different ideologies, doesnt matter if they are from different parts of the countrys, they instantly have more in common than Anyone Around them. They share a language. They can instantly communicate. Tonight if americans at the beer garden unit the germans around them dont say, wait a minute. You see that guy . I think he believes in the declaration of independence hes must be american. They say he is loud, his boisterous, his family he might be fat hes an american. These are cultural markers that set us apart from the other people and account for the fact that we have more communication easier communication and attachment to one another then to other people around the world. Third proposition, fourth proposition related to the third is underline the importance of culture and how important it was at the very beginning of the settlement of north america when the puritans came to Massachusetts Bay colony they brought with them the charter they had gotten from the king of england to govern themselves. They exploited a loophole i really should have stayed in england but theres a loophole that allows them to bring it to our shores, which they wanted to do because they wanted the assurance of having this document setting out their government in their own possession. They very quickly worshiped their own way, they very quickly establish their own mode of government, not to the liking of the king not to the liking of people around the king, they began to urge him, why dont you go back and take that charter . Why dont you go get it . The governor and others of Massachusetts Bay colony had to consider, what are they going to do . The kings gonna come get the charter. To make decision collectively we will resist him by force. They arm the harbor, they put a beacon on the high point in boston to let people know royal ships are approaching come of that hill today is known as beacon hill and they drill their militia. To me this is just so incredible that 140 years before our revolt against english Royal Authority led by independentminded and stubborn people based in boston massachusetts there was nearly a revolt against royal authorities centered in boston massachusetts led by independent and stubborn minded people. To me this just goes to how deep the cultural blues in this country run. We can also talk about the bible that has been so important to our history into our culture and initially it was the geneva bible that dominated when they came over, sometimes referred to as the breach is bible because of the strikingly modest way it tells the story of adam and eve they realized they were naked and they sewed together fig leaves and made themselves egregious. Very quickly the King James Bible that came to dominate. Obviously it resonates throughout our history, its been a great fund of rhetoric down through the centuries you often hear Martin Luther king quoted the room proposition of the declaration of independence is a promissory note has to be cashed, he did say its a very power sentiment but the main element of Martin Luther kings rhetoric and what made it so powerful was at thomas jefferson, it was amos, jeremiah, matthew, and its from the bible that we get key aspects of our national identity, one is that we are a chosen people whereas lincoln said it more modestly and perhaps more appropriately, and almost chosen people. You get the idea that we are living in a Promised Land and you get the idea of a covenant. It goes back to the old testament, first covenant in our history is the mayflower compact then settlers come pretty much every time they found a new town every time they start a new church theres a covenant. There is a written document setting out the rules and everyones mutual obligations and the most important covenant in our country is what is the sheet anchor of our sovereignty which is the u. S. Constitution which gives a strong and capable National Government gives us a limited National Government and goes back to this notion of a covenant. Finally, i will just set out very briefly in capsule form what i think is a lowest common denominator conservative agenda based on nationalism which really focuses on our culture and preserving our cultural core. It means defending zealously the english language as the dominant language in this country. If theres anything we know about cultural cohesion and natural cohesion if you get all of the multiple languages you will get a problem. He denies plaza canada has been a couple decades ago almost torn apart by the fact that qucbec is a frenchspeaking province, plopped in the middle of an englishspeaking country. You see the contention now in spain over the status of catalonia which is based primarily around the fact that catalonians speak their own language and have their own culture around their own language. We have to defend our founders and our heroes who are under an ongoing assault it wouldnt shock me if there isnt a Jefferson Memorial 20 years from now in charlottesville. We had the hideous marks by the neonazis an old church here in alexandria virginia where robert e lee and George Washington worshiped at some point so they had a plaque. They took down the plaque of robert e lee because they considered it too divisive. I think thats reasonable enough. They also took down the plaque of George Washington, which is completely insane but sorta represent the drift of the argument on our founders and our national heroes. We have to defend our civil rituals and our National Symbols including the flag, one reason i am so irritated when people use the flag as a means of protest, disrespecting it or the anthem that celebrates it is because men died for that flag not a symbolic sense but in a literal sense if you go to the history of the civil war the sergeants carried the flag and the battle on the arms as a roaming point for their comrades and took this duty incredibly seriously. Multiple men died defending the flag in the battle of gettysburg on the spot where the lincoln gave the gettysburg address. The battle of fredericksburg one color sergeant was wounded, handed the flag over to another colored sergeant who was wounded who took it to another officer who could wrap it around himself as he died when he was grievously wounded. These symbols go very deep and part of our cultural inheritance. Finally, when we teach history to be truthful about her history yes we have National Sins but its not all this country is about. We should not be teaching her history as a tale of unrelieved oppression and woe but the glorious story of a free People Living in a blessed land. I will just leave you with one last quote and then i will conclude in this is a quote i really think captures how deep these cultural attachments are and how we all even if we dont realize it even if we want to look away from it we all feel this about our country given by a scholar named john thorton kirkland who went on to be the president of harvard and he said in the 1798 speech we have learned to love our country because it is our country. Because we are near it and in it and have an opportunity being useful to it. Because we breathe its air and share its bounties because the sweat of our fathers brows had subdued at soil their blood watered field and their robert just sleeps in its bosom. Because it embraces our fathers and mothers, wives and children, our brothers and sisters. Because here are our ab because patriotism is the combined energy of the social affection and he who can tear it from his heart commits sacrilege upon his nature. Thank you very much. [applause] we appreciate that and appreciate this book which stops into a very live controversy around the question of nationalism in our politics and tries to organize it a little bit. The book is structured in roughly the shape you laid out for us here trying to lay out the idea of nationalism and to think through its place in American History its place in contemporary American Life and the challenges it faces now i guess i wonder first as an open question, why you think nationalism is such a controversial issue now. Why is it understood to