9/11 is a day when memories of patriotism and compassion come to life. The world witnessed not only the compassion of first responders rushing into burning buildings to save lives but the patriotism of young men and women volunteering to enter the armed services. It was a day where two values that are sometimes contradictory to one another became blended to such an extent that their combination created a moment in history where the world, however briefly, became one; an iconic symbol of that moment was France’s Le Monde headline that read “We are All Americans.”

by Christopher Kukk

On this day of remembrance and in honor of all those who have fallen in pursuit of their patriotism and compassion, I am making a clarion call for bringing compassion into patriotism. The mixture of patriotism and compassion creates a sum far greater than its two parts; for compassion eliminates the negative factor of patriotism (exclusiveness) while multiplying its positive factor (inclusiveness). The combination (a new form of being a ‘compatriot’) unites rather than divides.

Martha Nussbaum, a philosopher at the University of Chicago, has written a well-known and in-depth essay about the inclusiveness and exclusiveness of patriotism. She writes: “Patriotism is Janus-faced. It faces outward, calling the self, at times, to duties toward others, to the need to sacrifice for a common good. And yet, just as clearly, it also faces inward, inviting those who consider themselves ‘good’ or ‘true’ Americans to distinguish themselves from outsiders and subversives, and then excluding those outsiders. Just as dangerous, it serves to define the nation against its foreign rivals and foes, whipping up warlike sentiments against them.”

The difference of simple patriotism versus patriotism with compassion is the difference between ISIS (The Islamic State in Iraq & Syria) and ISS (The International Space Station). While ISIS excludes to horrific extremes, ISS is about taking inclusiveness to new heights. Where members of ISIS consider themselves patriots of a particular cause without compassion (extreme exclusiveness), astronauts of ISS represent a patriotism that transcends geographic borders and single-minded causes; they represent all humanity (expansive inclusiveness). Compassion, in essence, mitigates the weakness of patriotism (its exclusiveness of facing inward) by enlarging its strength (its inclusiveness of facing outward).

The evolutionary history of human beings is an inevitable walk toward an inclusive patriotism where compassion for all human beings is the norm rather than the exception. We keep taking steps toward making such a norm a reality but some who feel as though it is a purely “Utopian dream” and antithetical to their beliefs such as ISIS are only delaying and not stopping the rise of humanistic patriotism. Deems Taylor (seen here), a composer and essayist from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and commonly referred to as “the Dean of American music,” addressed the idea of the broadening of patriotism in 1917 (near the end of World War I) when he wrote the following words in the New York Tribune Sunday Magazine:

“It is all a matter of what we mean by patriotism. We are all patriotic, but not always for the same thing. We have stopped thinking first about our state, or our town, or our neighborhood, and are putting the United States first. If we would only do that a little oftener we wouldn’t have to insist that this is the finest country in the world; other people would tell us so. Patriotism is a loyalty to something bigger than our immediate interests, and the history of the world is the history of the broadening of patriotism, the widening of the field of men’s loyalties. Cavemen were loyal to their families. Then they came out of their caves and formed tribes, and were loyal to those. The tribes settled down in villages, and the members of one village would defend it to the death against members of another. The villages became clans, and men were loyal to those. The clans united and became little kingdoms, or states, or duchies. Late in the Middle Ages the little kingdoms and duchies became fused into bigger ones, and men found that they belonged to nations. The great war came, and the nations of Europe split into great camps. Half the men in Europe were loyal to one side and half to the other. Now we are talking of a League of Peace after the war, in which whole nations will be patriots. For they will be loyal to something bigger than they are. Some day, I think, some day very far in the future, we are going to be world patriots; we are going to be loyal to the human race. But that, of course, is what people call a Utopian dream.”

My clarion call is really a call to modernize the definition of compatriot from one focused on being a citizen of a country (exclusive) to another that recognizes each person as a citizen of the world (inclusive). It is similar to President John F. Kennedy’s famous call in his 1961 inaugural address where he stated “And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man” (we seem to forget that second line more than we remember it). Are we not more than citizens of a state but aren’t we also citizens of the world?

The world’s reaction to 9/11—as highlighted by Le Monde—showed that we have compatriots in every corner of the globe. The definition of compatriot should not be limited to just the people who share a country but it should include all who share in humanity. We are all compatriots of this world, shouldn’t we all be patriots of the human race? On this day, where so many sacrificed for the common good, let’s not ever weaken our patriotism by turning inward with hate and exclusion; rather, let’s honor our fallen heroes by strengthening our patriotism by looking outward with compassion and inclusion. Let’s honor those who sacrificed and continue to sacrifice for the common good by not limiting who can be part of the common good.

Dr. Kukk is Professor of Political Science at Western Connecticut State University, a Fulbright Scholar, founding Director of the Center for Compassion, Creativity and Innovation, Director of the Honors Program, founder of the University’s Debate Team, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He is also co-founder and CEO of InnovOwl LLC, a research and consulting firm that solves micro and macro problems through innovative education. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Boston College and his B.A. in political science from Boston University. He was also an international security fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. His research and publications combine neuroscience with the social sciences and focus on education issues, the political economy of natural resources and the creation and sustainability of civil society. Dr. Kukk was also a counter-intelligence agent for the United States Army, a research associate for Cambridge Energy Research Associates, and has provided the Associated Press, National Public Radio, The Economist magazine, NBC-TV, CableVision, and Connecticut media with analysis on a wide range of topics and issues. His forthcoming children and trade books are based on the idea of weaving values such as compassion into our learning, civic and business communities.

Article + Book

Martha C. Nussbaum, “Teaching Patriotism: Love and Critical Freedom,” Public Law and Legal Theory Working Paper No. 357 (The Law School at The University of Chicago, July 2011).

James A. Pegolotti, Deems Taylor: Selected Writings (New York, NY, Routledge, 2007).

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