I really dislike the term "Homeland" when applied to the US

it has such as fascist sound to it. I was thinking about this after I read this latest Yahoo article about the latest AQ threat. The timing is just oddly convenient, don't you think?

http://news.yahoo.com/fc?tmpl=fc&cid=34&in=us&cat=terrorism

It has a very negative connotation to me.

Whenever I hear it I think of Nazi Germany. Why do I think this is intentional on their part... like a meme? to conjure up images of Second World War patiotism? Odd subtext.

"Mother Earth"

or

"Mother Nature"

Just too, too negative and fascistic and stuff.

of the term Fatherland that was used in WWII for Germany.

but also the deep south affinity for calling the south the "homeland" - it also has some racist/confederate connotations to it.

I would have thought 9-11 was enough to conjure images of necessary safety and the idea that America is worth protecting. I don't think most people would disagree that we need to be safe, but not in the Orwellian way that * and company envision. The language has a very weird subtext to it and it makes me curious about the intent.

My South African friends cringe whenever they hear the word "homeland" -- it brings back very unpleasant memories of apartheid. Plus the definite "you stay in your little corner, I'll stay in mine" connotation, which I think about whenever I see Bush swaggering around his fake ranch, slagging other parts of the country ("brie and cheese").

Nice work!

Got it from Bartcop - don't know where he got it.

I do like it, though...

So I think it's a bit of a stretch to call it racist. Fascist, yes. Racist, no.

Bake

If my memory serves me. It creeped me out then and it creeps me out now.

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The "homeland" evokes the nostalgia of the imperialist, stationed far from home, abroad in the uncivilized world.

It's a fantasy, invented for the intended American ethos of the 21st century. They're trying to engineer a culture change with words like this. It's bullshit.

Everyone knows we're all immigrants here -- even the native Americans!

After studying GOP policies in general and Bush's in particular this sounds more appropriate.

Doesn't take much knowledge of German to see the similarity. Heimat is home. Land is land. Voila.

It is, in my opinion a portent of things to come. It is an intentionally overt, prideful proclamation of an imperialistic mindset. Real Americans should refuse to use the word. We can be part of the problem or part of the cure.

RC

I swear to God this administration is something out of a science-fiction novel. It's sort of like 1984, A Wrinkle in Time (what would happen if the dark cloud consumed earth), Fatherland, and Handmaiden's Tale all wrapped up into one tale - problem is it was bodlerized by really poor hack writers and contains none of the originality of the original pieces. It's hack sci-fi/fantasy, only we're actually living it.

Not a Free Nation, of course, but for our Occupied, Lawless, Aristocratic, Orwellian Empire?

Why, I can scarcely think of a more fitting think to call Imperial Amerika than "The Homeland".

....anyone's contry of citizenship or residency is their own "homeland"...

As in the "land" where your "home" is...

All this talk about Fatherland and Motherland and Germany in WWII, etc....... it's reading too much into it I think....

It'd be different if they were calling it the Death Star.

Homeland is your home country.... and it's worth protecting in most cases.

Heyo

as opposed to which other of my countries? Get the idea?

as in my home country.. as in my home town.... the place where I live...

home state...

That's what I'm talking about. Homeland is a very generic term.

Heyo

Taken from Websters Dictionary:

Main Entry: home·land
Pronunciation: -"land also -l&nd
Function: noun
1 : native land : FATHERLAND
2 : a state or area set aside to be a state for a people of a particular national, cultural, or racial origin;

The United States is not a state or an area set aside to be a state for a people of a particular national, cultural or racial origin...quite the contrary. It is a term in fact, which has been historically steeped in intolerance and segragation, typified by cultural hierarchy....diametric to everything this country is supposed to stand for. It is NOT a generic term.

RC

It's that I don't buy it. You can pick that definition apart all you want. Your homeland is the country you're from.

-Heyo

If I move to New Zealand...but was born and raised in the United States...is New Zealand my Homeland or is the United States?

If I am from Ireland but I move to the United States, is Ireland my homeland or is the United States.

I'm originally from Chicago but I live in Spearfish South Dakota...which is my home town...where am I from?

Is a Nigerian-Americans homeland Nigeria or the United States?
Is a German-Americans homeland Germany or the United States?
Is a Mexican-Americans homeland Mexico or the United States?
Is a Russian-Americans homeland Russia or the United States?
Is a Chinese-Americans homeland China or the United States?
Is a Japanese-Americans homeland Japan or the United States?
Is a Korean-Americans homeland Korea or the United States?
Is a Greek-Americans homeland Greece or the United States?
Is an Italian-Americans homeland Italy or the United States?
Is a British-Americans homeland Britain or the United States?
Is a Pakistani-Americans homland Pakistan or the United States?
Is a Cuban-Americans homeland Cuba or the United States?
Is an Suadi-Americans homland Saudi Arabia or the United States?

Pick the definition apart? It really doesn't require much picking...it is what it is, and says what it says. The fact that you choose to deny clearly documented fact which stares you squarly in the face, makes it no less factual.

RC

The "Land" where my "Home" is, or the land where I am from....whatever....

""
Is a Nigerian-Americans homeland Nigeria or the United States?
""

That's up that person how they use the word homeland....

If that person above were me, I'd say Nigeria... the land where I originally come from... but I would be correct to say the US too because my home is here now......

The whole point of this conversation was whether or not referring to "homeland" was a term connected to something like "the Fatherland", etc...

Which I don't think it is, because as I've stated I think word "homeland" is pretty generic and simply means exactly what it says..

Is home 'where the heart is' or is it 'where you hang our hat'? It's up to the person....

But hey, I guess anyone can use any word for their own purposes...

This whole conversation is a waste of neurotransmitter activity.

:toast:

Heyo

some of it is my projection, too, I suppose. It just has such a paternalistic ring to it, sort of 19th century....

Death Star, that's funny.

The term has always made me very uncomfortable - but I thought I was being overly sensitive. "My country" or "the US" has always sufficed for me. Even living abroad, I never referred to it as my "homeland". Too fascistic for me.

so that it would convey a more sinister aura and something to be feared by all.

During President Kerry's overhaul of that department, he should also rename it "Domestic" Security.

-- Allen

"Domestic Security"?

Are you serious?

That connotes, to me anyway, the notion of an Internal Security Department.

Border Protection Agency. Nah, you're right. Not good.

RC

Homeland.

Here is an idea: The Department of Domestic Security

That sounds much better.

The whole reason for the "Homeland" was to appeal to a public that loves its images. This is our home for goodness sakes! Our god given HOME!

KL

Bushland Security...

Not to mention "Liberty Cabbage" that was used instead of Sauerkraut in WWI.

I've hated this term since they introduced it . . . "domestic security" of "civil defense" are far preferable . . . but they don't fit the empire-building image that BushCo is trying to create . . . I'd like to see Kerry make one of his first acts renaming this department to something without the Nazi connotations . . .

what term did the Brits use in their expansionist period? (Hegemony?
:)) Is there a term for the neo-con academics' view of what America's place in the world should be? That would be an interesting question, if not already explored around here.

n/t

"Deutschland, Deutschland, uber alles" in my head.

Everytime I hear this term, I cringe. I just dislike it.

But, in this age of hyper-globalized capital, "nations" are passe. You can have that love for the "homeland" (so we can ask you to die for it) but nations have "sovereignty" and the WTO and others really don't like that!