Grace+Chen+RP+Post+5

At this point I'm roughly halfway through writing the rough draft of my essay, and I think my ideas are starting to coagulate into something (hopefully) coherent.

What I've fundamentally realized is that patriotism has two distinct impacts on our lives - __it affects how we think about ourselves and it affects how we think about others.__ The first part is probably the more obvious one, at least in terms of daily actions. We identify ourselves in part by what nation we belong to, and our role as a citizen of that nation is a part of what we consider our role in the world. Kelman attributes this thinking to the assumption (unspoken) that "the nation-state is the primary provider of human dignity," -- the mental equivalent of clinging to the promises of national identity like a security blanket. Kelman ultimately makes the argument that in the contemporary world, nationalism should be renounced. I, however, am not so sure that is possible or even desirable. I think there is some natural psychlogical need for belonging to a group that will always precipitate national loyalty. The question, therefore, is not how to eradicate patriotism, but how to balance patriotic sentiment with higher, nobler sentiments.

I find the second part of the question of patriotism to be even more interesting to think about. The ideology of patriotism will eventually demand action in the form of moral duty towards others. Some action will be domestic - we must solve our problems at home before we tackle those of the world, as Baker reminds Americans to remember not just the soldiers who died abroad but "what/will be left of that one poor child, veteran of no war/but her family’s own? The comfort of a welfare plot, / a stalk of wilting prayers?" I agree with him  - That's perhaps one avenue that patriotism is just and needed, for each nation to solve its domestic issues. This is the most efficient way for domestic problems to be met in each locale.

But I think the danger of localized patriotism is that we might never get to a future " Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;" as Tagore writes in a famous poem. The reality is that today's problems are global and the solutions must necessarily also be so, else we fall into the tragedy of the commons. With airplanes, internet, and trade, fragmentation is no longer feasible nor realistic. The "us vs. them" mentality that is implicit in the traditional view of patriotism makes these divisions between people, rather than focusing on our shared fundamental humanity and universal values. I therefore agree with Nussbaum's argument that patriotism " subsitutes a colorful idol for the substantifve universal values of justice and right." It can be a distraction, albeit a very appealing one, that prevents us from focusing on the real issues that require cooperation rather than antagonism.

So in conclusion, patriotism is an indelible part of our psyches. But we need to rethink the limitations of patriotism so that it is directed to unify, rather than divide, humanity in the face of today's global problems.