Is America An Idea Or A Homeland?

J.D. Vance Invokes The Nazi "Blood And Soil" Doctrine

L-R (1)By Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-H1215-503-009 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5433927. (2)JD Vance on the third day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Wednesday.Alex Tabet / NBC News.

Blut Und Boden

Although it is a notion that predated the Nazis, “Blut und Boden” (“Blood and Soil”) was a key element of its ideology. “Real” Germans, it held, came from farming ancestors who built the Reich and earned their right to German citizenship.

During his July 18, 2024 speech accepting the GOP Vice-Presidential nomination, J.D. Vance used “blood and soil” imagery as he called upon memories of his Appalachian grandmother and the sanctified family cemetery. Vance said:

[I]n that cemetery, there are people who were born around the time of the Civil War. And if, as I hope, my wife and I are eventually laid to rest there, and our kids follow us, there will be seven generations just in that small mountain cemetery plot in eastern Kentucky. Seven generations of people who have fought for this country. Who have built this country. Who have made things in this country. And who would fight and die to protect this country if they were asked to.

Now that’s not just an idea, my friends (emph…