The Nation, the Narcotic, and the Vote

How nationalism turns elections from arguments over policy into battles over belonging.

There is a peculiar moment in every democracy when the campaign signs begin multiplying like invasive weeds, the candidates start speaking in the grave tones of undertakers, and the nation, which only yesterday was a place with potholes, unpaid bills, school lunches, hospital invoices, and people trying to get through Wednesday, is suddenly transformed into a sacred object requiring immediate emotional rescue.

This is the season when everyone claims to know the soul of the country, which is convenient because the soul tends to agree with whoever is holding the microphone.

Nationalism enters democratic elections wearing several costumes at once, because it is never content to be merely an ideology when it can also be a lullaby, a sermon, a family album, a weather report, and occasionally a hostage note written in red, white, and blue.