Homeland

Definitions define language, but implied connotations matter. My own background causes me to cringe at “homeland” when referring to the United States.

For most of my life “Homeland” was applied to Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia, or 1984. It was conflated with “home turf” which was associated with the Mafia, criminal gangs, and slums.

Worse than that, it meant an inward vision, a fear of the outside, a closing up of the “true” people against everyone else, the “others.”. That was and is exactly the opposite of the optimistic, outward, and confident culture in which I grew up. 

We were the winners, we were the leaders, we were sure of ourselves. Most of us had a background of ancestral immigrants.  We thrived in a “melting pot.” Somewhere that all changed, everyone became scared and now we put up with insane controls and accepted wisdoms unimaginable in my parents’ day.

I still feel deep in my bones that “Homeland” is a large step towards an authoritarian culture. The first thing any cult tries to do is cut its members off from any outside influence. Often by convincing them that the outside is horribly evil and dangerous, inhabited by “others” who are at best irrelevant, at worst existential enemies.

Oh, yes, I know it is just me. “Homeland” is just a word, like any other. Its meaning is restricted. 

Perhaps.