Blog / Our America

Our America: Notes on Historical Comparison in the Age of Trump (and Erdoğan)

February 2, 2017 - By Michael Rothberg

Since the US election, there have been two major debates on the left and in the broader public about the implications of Trump’s election and his assumption of the presidency. The first has concerned the relationship between the Trump movement and various potential historically analogous movements, especially fascism. The second has involved trying to understand the reasons for Trump’s victory (or Clinton’s defeat); this conversation has involved numerous factors, from Russian intervention to voter intimidation, but from the perspective of political strategy the most important dimension of this debate has been the question of what social categories (i.e. race, class, gender, region, etc.) were the most salient in shaping voter preferences.

The following notes...

Our America: "Our America"

January 25, 2017 - By Andrea Stone

As a Canadian citizen and U.S. permanent resident—with an “Alien Number,” no less—the concept of “Our America” is, well, foreign to me. Defining nationhood in possessive terms reflects the notion that nationalism is the work of imagined possession and therefore also exclusion. If something is ours, it cannot be yours. This election has focused almost entirely on whom America belongs to. The slogan “we’re going to take our country back” implied its return to its rightful owner. But it didn’t mean a return to the people. It certainly didn’t mean taking the country back from corporations, the Koch and Walton families, from Wall Street, and the disgrace that is Citizens United. “We’re taking our country back...

Our America: Love Letter

January 20, 2017 - By Miliann Kang

Love Letter to America

Dear America,

I sat down to write you a breakup letter. But I can’t tell if I want to break up with you, or if you have already broken up with me. Does this election mean that we are going through a rough period, or that we are fundamentally incompatible? Do we as a nation need therapy, a divorce lawyer, or a restraining order? Should we just call a babysitter and go see a movie?

Or is it time for us to call it quits and start seeing other people? I have to admit, I’ve always had a thing for Canada.

I am mad at you and disappointed in us, America. I am still processing the fact that while you say you love me, you have jumped into bed with Donald Trump, a man who openly insults women, blacks, Muslims, Mexicans,...

OUR AMERICA: A Caution to Young Printers

January 5, 2017 - By Benjamin Franklin

(Portrait by Joseph Duplessis; metmuseum.org, Public Domain)

Over the past year or so, events in the United States of America, a country in which, as you know, I myself have no small interest, have made it increasingly difficult for those of us who are, shall we say, permanently retired from active duty, to remain so. The recent controversy regarding a book contract, one, which purportedly includes a truly outrageous advance sum of money, proffered to a certain notorious abuser of the public good and trust, has made it impossible for me, as a dedicated public servant, to remain silent any longer. On this issue, I long ago made my own sentiments, and my own practice, clear, so let me...

OUR AMERICA: A Letter to my Republican Neighbor

December 20, 2016 - By Jim Hicks

Dear Don,

Figured I should write, for a couple of reasons. First, just to let you know that if you notice some bald guy wandering around inside my house, you shouldn't call the cops. It’s me. After it was clear that Trump would get elected, and that my home state would help make this happen, I shaved my head. Really. A ritual of mourning, common to many cultures … And it just didn’t seem that those little black armbands, favored by sports teams, would be sufficient. In short, I’m very deeply disappointed, and worried, about what’s in store for us and the rest of the world, in the years to come. Like everyone, I do hope that my response will prove to be an overreaction, but so far it’s hard for me to see evidence that it is.

One last...