#684 - how things stand on blue dot (explanation for the benefit of the aliens)

16.xi.21

684

2.320

how things stand on blue dot

explaining earthly government, power and authority for the benefit of the aliens

 

poem for Al Munro

because I was asked

 

country / nation / state

these are the terms

 

.

 

think of it as

country is territory

(a place you can stand on, independent of the map)

then nation is an idea

(a set of symbols you believe in or at least accept)

state then is the means of coercion that holds the sandwich together

(the threat of violence or other unpleasantness that gets you to do what’s expected)

 

country would just be the sea

if it weren’t for dry land

but someone had to imagine the nation

and that’s how they made you their friend

if it doesn’t suit you to believe this stuff

then better watch out!

the state will come after you

 

state is the boots on the ground of the national idea

 

it’s not the nation that ever kills anyone

much less the country

(except in the case of earthquake, fire, flood, famine)

 

all of these terms get confused

sometimes on purpose, sometimes not

 

for instance

when I say ‘my country right or wrong’

it’s probably not what I’m standing on

I’m probably egging myself on with some national business

because I don’t want to be shot by old officer mate

for not leaping quicksmart out of trench at foe

and onto said foe’s bayonet, bullet, grenade, mine, what-have-you

…

it means I’m following orders

 

have you ever heard somebody say

‘I love my state, I believe in the state’ ?

(well maybe Hitler and Stalin…

but they were the state)

 

when someone says ‘my country’

they mean that the country has been mapped

according to the proper laws and statutes

and with the right measuring sticks

and then that the map has been digested

so that it now flies under one flag

so somebody has surrendered or been wiped out

or they’re just pissed off

… occasionally they flee

but where to?

you tell me!

we’ll probably stop them at the border

 

a country in the sense of territory will have some characteristics

the way people talk for instance

every linguist knows that a language is a dialect with a standing army

 

a nation is a song to sing

and it warms the cockles

keep passing the coin around

in the old days the king’s head could be worn right off

just paw to paw like that

(like the sea would to a sandstone cliff

and nothing like a guillotine)

 

when I’m feeling really cowardly

I mean as far as thought’s concerned

then you’ll see me

perhaps not saluting wildly

but tear on cheek

thinking of home

 

how green was my valley

 

that’s the kind of country you can be on

 

I live in the country myself

and on somebody’s

(we always now must mention

and that’s because there was a theft

and we’re still thick with the proceeds)

 

country covers a lot of territory too

you can go up the country

where the water tastes like wine

it’s something Hamlet was considering

when he got a grip on himself

 

but back to the national passion

and not to be confused with ‘state’ as in ‘province’

 

there is the ‘nation state’

(you notice how this is generally used

in text books, either historically or to refer to someone else

… and that’s because these two words put together give the game away

 

think of nation state as terror without the -ism

or else she’ll be right

 

back in the day the nation state could devalue its currency

at the drop of hat, decide that a note was no longer legal tender

and then where are you with that mattress stuffed full of

what turns out to be just the idea of money?

the nation state is a bit like ‘belt and road’

(i.e. it’s our road or we belt ya)

 

nation with state powers

(as opposed to a ‘failed nation’)

is the deadliest abstraction in the world today

and has been for some time

it’s what humans die for in wars

(and lots of other animals die too)

 

but it wasn’t always this way

before the nation – before nations

there were kingdoms and empires

and all sorts of other bits and pieces between

and/or ambiguously in/dependent or not

 

kingdom is like

as God is to who worships Him

(and just the one religion in principle at least)

so Monarch is to Glen and all his mates

so matelings and mate-ettes to Glen

let’s say a kindgom is

OBEY

or off with your head

or some bruises at least

and lucky to be fed

 

a house of cards!

how many left today?

 

none, you see, except they’re nations

call them what they like

(it’s mainly anyway in some foreign language)

 

empire was a bigger kettle

could sometimes accommodate several religions

and we have them still today –

China, America, Russia

but mustn’t call them that

 

empires are best run on auto-pilot

with a harem for emperor production and also entertainment

they are convenience of power arrangements on the largest scale

and when they work

exempt large territories (many countries)

from the horrors of war

… but keep clear of the borders is best

 

nowadays

nation is instead of religion

though they can be nicely blended

in fact they almost have to be

(think cenotaph, bend head in a silent prayer)

 

empire was where the sun never sets

and it’s been thought that was the only way it could be done

actually though there are several types

and we’ve already mentioned them

 

there’s the amoeba empire

which might put out a tendril now and then

but basically it’s a bordered blob

you’re either out or you’re in

 

then there’s the viral kind

that’s what Europe’s were in the last half millennium

… you notice a little spot on the coast and then suddenly you’re on the map

all bets off then … you’ve taken up smoking

you’re wearing a suit and tie

 

and then there’s chasing furry creatures over the tundra

not just for their fur but because it’s way to keep warm

(this one’s a one-off really and someone has to stay at home

to invent the novel and ballet and such)

 

really I only mention the empires because

we couldn’t have got to the nations any other way 

 

someone will say ‘but they were in the Bible’’

yeah, right, that word means tribe

 

it’s not at all what we mean by nation

statistics is a nineteenth century invention

as is the census we know (not the biblical kind)

but I guess it all began with taxes

and very little representation

 

the religion thing is important because

religion is very well established training

in believing in invisible stuff

(and some would say therefore not there…

 

not that I’m suggesting for a moment that invisible stuff isn’t there

I’m very grateful to be breathing for instance

 

but think of it as like a bank or a casino

[we’ll do them in another episode]

I mean all that size and grandeur – like with a cathedral

any temple actually – is about compensating for doubt

… doubt that the thing’s really there)

 

all of which points us to harking back

why would you put an eagle on your coin?

… of course because Rome was a long time

so it means we must be too if we have eagles

 

which leads us to republic – an ugly word if ever there was

all about patrician rule

and keep those Gracchi boys in their place

which is really in the ground

(i.e. don’t trust the tradies)

and now we’ve got plutocracy

pretending democracy

(not the Plato was impressed)

which – you may have noticed – recently morphed

into kakokracy

 

also of – for contrast and variety – course there’s anarchy

(particularly tuneless in the UK)

has had a bad wrap

it’s like getting your governance at Bunnings

and sorting it out with a sausage and sauce

 

thing is

all these words – ideas and pictures – can sneak in and out of poems

 

but rest assured

a poet lorikeet would never be paid by country

 

country is what you stand on

give or take

where you eke out a living

with whiff of oily rag

 

flesh closest to your heart is country

but that won’t stop the bastards coming for it

 

all sort of passions are stirred just by such silly words

 

did someone mention caliphate?

(a kind of cut-throat country for the seriously nostalgic)

 

or…

let’s take another run at this

 

the overarch is polity

as in polis

which was just the city

as home of the people in charge

(and today, the police are named after it)

 

nations like you to think that they’re forever

and never ask questions about it

(I mean it’s impolite to ask, for instance

‘how long will Australia last?’….

but given a few things we know about stars like our sun

and how long our species and the way we’re going…

well, I guess it’s best to be polite and just keep singing

 

the stamps and the coins can make you sentimental

everyone likes a good singalong

 

so someone may yet pull that rug out from under

really it’s just a matter of time

 

you get lazy with the soul

 

the important thing to remember about nation

is that

were we all to stop dreaming it just at the same time

the nation would go out like a candle

 

there’d still be country though

lightning might strike us, continental drift

some creatures poisoning the atmosphere

extinctions right and left

 

I admit it gets me all confused

but I like the idea of giving the creatures all a good go

could call it common wealth?