Wednesday 6 June 2012

Happy birthday Sweden!

This post is because it's Sweden's national day today. And because you need to buy Solblot's debut album. And because Lord Bassington-Bassington likes displays of patriotism.


The video is from a small impromptu performance at the album's launch party, by the way. It's very similar to when Solblot last played in Oslo.

9 comments:

  1. I'm also very fond of displays of patriotism, even tough I find myself very much to the left politically.

    Anyway, happy Sveriges nationaldag :)

    Solblot is great by the way. That is what neofolk should be about!

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  2. Patriotism is great as long as it doesn't become jingoism. And as a left-wing patriot you're in great company.

    Yes, Solblot are amazing I think. I love their album, and an interview with them is in the works somewhere, as soon as my secretary can get around to it. He tries to mumble something about "deadlines at work" but I think he's just lazy.

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  3. Where I'm from nationalism and left wing politics most often go hand in hand.

    I have the same problems with deadlines at work lately. That's the effect the month of june and ladies putting their summer clothes has on the mind.

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  4. Yes, nationalism has good sides, but as someone who's obsessed with various religious and ethnic minorities - I tend to like things that don't fit into the plans of social engineers - I'm very aware of its problems.

    Ah, deadlines. Luckily, I don't have to work. I'd claim that it's because I'm a lord, but really, it is because when I try to get a job, people start shouting "What's that dog doing in here? I'm trying to work! Look, it's drooling all over my papers!"

    Imagine - being called a dog! How demeaning!

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  5. I'm most often a bit disgusted with institutionalized nationalism of big countries. However, I have a lot of sympathy for the nationalism of small nations that decide to take control of their destiny. Be it Ireland, Basque country, Catalonia, Scotland... and in my case Québec. Of course each of these nations have a very different situation,but they share a will for emancipation.

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  6. Good point, and I can sympathise with a lot of that (I also have a thing for Welsh nationalism), but I am also wary of how nationalism can end up with a very essentialist understanding of what it means to be a "Welshman" or whatever.

    I tend to like the American "E pluribus unum" idea better than the German "Gemeinschaft" idea. Citizenship should be about ideals, not blood, in my opinion.

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  7. Exact, it's also exactly what I think. What defines a society is it's ideals, it's goals, moral values etc. But most of all it's language, it's culture, writers, musicians, artists etc. We often use the term "an inclusive society" here when talking about the project of independence.

    Unfortunately I don't think I will live to see the day my nation is a country (although it almost happened in 1995). But it doesn't mean that because something is difficult or almost impossible that it is not a legitimate cause.

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  8. Sorry about the late reply!

    Yes, any society worth living in has to be inclusive, I think. While I have a hard time swallowing the notion that "diversity" is automatically a plus, any civilized nation has to accept the fact that people pray to different gods (or none at all), have different sexual preferences and skin colours and so on. This isn't a problem, as long as they can unite on some common principles, such as a US-style notion of citizenship or a German-style "Leitkultur".

    I know virtually nothing about Canadian history and society, so I won't even try to bring something remotely insightful to the discussion about Quebecquois independence...

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