Abstract

CAN PATRIOTISM BE COMPASSIONATE?

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, Americans have all experienced strong emotions for their country: fear, outrage, grief; astonishment. The U.S. media portray the disaster, as a tragedy that has happened to the nation, and that is how Americans very naturally see it. So too the ensuing war: It is called "America's New War," and most news reports focus on the meaning of events for Americans and their nation. Americans think these events are important because they concern not just human lives, but American lives. People find themselves feeling sympathy for many people who did not even cross their minds before. Seeing how vulnerable the great country U.S. is, Americans can learn something about the vulnerability that all human beings share, about what it is like for distant others to lose those they love to a disaster not of their own making, whether it is hunger or flood or war.