With the release of our last two singles “Nuclear Winter” and “Chemicals of Annihilation” we’ve talked about threats we face worldwide. Chemical and Nuclear threats are fears that are felt across the globe. Most people have thought of the terrifying effects this could reap, but what about nationalism and patriotism? Being proud of your country, can that be harmful? In the United States, especially in our small town being proud of where you’re from is a big deal. People in Michigan aren’t just proud of their country, their proud of the city or town they live in, their state, even their county. Men and women living in the country side talk down about living in a city. Communities living in a large city like Flint or Detroit will tell you about how living in a high crime area makes them tough. After the 2016 election the world could see how divided the U.S. was over our political spectrum. Maps colored red and blue don’t cover the whole story and our divide is more than just north and south, east coast and west coast. Our divide can be found between two locations just ten miles apart. In our political arena each side blames the other for this divide; in reality everyone is to blame. Traits we learn from the time we’re born tear us apart and most of us don’t even know what they are. That’s what our latest single “Nationalistic Savagery” is about.
Lyrically “Nationalistic Savagery” is about the universal concept of attaching yourself to a set of pre-conceived ideals and or accomplishments. It happens everywhere but here in the U.S. you can feel it. Every time a person or organized entity that accomplishes anything positive happens to be from the U.S., Americans use a “WE” to describe it. People attach themselves to these feats instead of their own accomplishments. As humans we all feel the need to be a part of something bigger than ourselves but doing so can make us feel entitled or better than someone born anywhere other than our own back yard. City and state residents do this with their sports teams or hometown heroes. Southern states fly Confederate flags. So many of us spend our time trying to defend a legacy that has nothing to do with us as individuals and in doing so we create institutions that defy actual, statistical data, and facts in order to carry on concepts that don’t apply to any one in the modern age. Worst of all, most of the time we do this simply because we don’t remember a time when these values or traditions weren’t followed. Religion, School, government institutions, racism, law enforcement, prison systems, global warming, job creation, all have problems that stem from us doing things the way they’ve always been done.
Nationalism teaches you to hate people you’ve never met, inherit ideas you wouldn’t believe otherwise, and not examine your own beliefs and traditions from an outside perspective. America is comprised mostly of European descent. Being a country that doesn’t have an extremely long history, Americans often look to this European heritage to feel enriched in some sort of cultural history. Usually the loudest of these groups are people that have never been to another country except maybe Canada. No family they’ve ever known was born elsewhere. Italian, German, and Irish, are common white racial identities. Out of all the white racial identities, Italian and Irish immigrants received especially poor treatment in the U.S. during the industrial revolution. These racial groups received some of the worst treatment in U.S. history. Whites Americans remember this and acknowledge this time period as shameful. They recognize the racism and injustice and will usually admit that these actions should have never happened. Attaching this kind of history to who you are and never forgetting the hard ships past generations faced could inspire those of an Italian or Irish descent to fight for a more equal, safer country for everyone. Unfortunately this hasn’t been the case. Whenever arguments arise over poor black populations suffering from inequality or Latin immigrants risking life and limb for a chance at a better life Americans that do not associate themselves with that racial identity attach themselves to their own ethnic identity instead of the similarities between past and current events despite who’s involved. Black, Latino, Irish, Scottish, Polish, and Italian descendants have all had similar histories on arriving in a country not wanted yet needed. Hated, used, and forced into extremely hard labor while given only enough to survive, when mirror images of the past arise, we stay with our race. “AT LEAST IT’S NOT US.” “THAT’S THE PRICE YOU PAY TO COME HERE.”
Similar outcomes happen along political spectrums. People want to stay with their kind and our often grouped together right from the start. High density populations almost always mean democratic while rural farming communities see high concentrations of republicans. Christianity is without a doubt the enormous majority when it comes to religion in the U.S. Any non-Christian ideology often gets met with disdain. When people get put in uncomfortable situations we flee. We run to a larger group that we can stand behind and revert back to what we’ve been told, we revert back to a way of thinking we inherited instead of analyzing a situation and drawing our own conclusion.
While history is extremely important and should never be forgotten, attaching ourselves to that history as though we ourselves experienced this first hand has thus far just divided us further. We are not our forefathers. Each and every person is responsible for his or her own actions but nothing more. The past is what it is, to change it impossible. Acknowledging what once was, changing what is, and bettering what will be. That’s the only way we can get past our complex inherited issues, look each other in the eyes, and move on. Today’s world moves faster than our past. Heavy is the burden of yesterday’s struggle and that weight can single handedly disable us from dealing with now. Only the power to unify under our own differences can we move the needle forward and give ourselves, our children, and the world a better place to call home.
Lyrics
Intro
Monotheistic savagery toxic violent
Ignorance fighting ignorance culture lies
Religious nationalism breeding hatred
Preconceived identity taking credit
For accomplishments that have nothing to do with you
Chorus
Nationalism taking credit
For accomplishments doing nothing
Patriotism brainwashed dogma
Blindly following lies
Verse
Pride is reserved
For self-accomplishment
Attach yourself
To views you don’t believe
Passing down a sense of
Entitlement
Blindly thinking
You are
Superior
Pre chorus
Spreading racist sexist bigotry
Hating people you have never met
Stems from deeds done long ago trivial
Warping world views escalates issues
Chorus
Nationalism taking credit
For accomplishments doing nothing
Patriotism brainwashed dogma
Blindly following lies
2nd intro riff
Lacking knowledge into other cultures
Pre chorus
Spreading racist exist bigotry
Hating people you have never met
Stems from deeds done long ago trivial
Warping world views escalates issues
Chorus
Nationalism taking credit
For accomplishments doing nothing
Patriotism brainwashed dogma
Blindly following lies