Notes

Universal moral obligations are not consistent with being patriotic. Nussbaum argues this point in her article Toward a Globally Sensitive Patriotism ("or the thought that particular obligations are correctly understood to be derivative... it would be inconsistent with giving a large role to patriotism," (Nussbaum 79)). If patriotic (particular) obligations should be derivative from universal obligations as Nussbaum states, then it can be interpreted through the lens of shapes, with a rectangle representing universal obligations and a square representing patriotic obligations. A square is a rectangle, but not the other way around. Likewise, universal and patriotic obligations can be similar to one another at times, yet hold different shapes. Furthermore, Nussbaum also states that "Patriotism is Janus-faced" (Nussbaum 79), which means that it has contrasting aspects, which are the outward and inward faces of patriotism. One such example is James Baldwin's My Dungeon Shook. Baldwin implies that racial inequality against African Americans is a result of white people continuing to struggle with the immense change and impacts of said change that had occurred 100 years before ("They are, in effect, still trapped in a history which they do not understand... and as he moves out his place, heaven and earth are shaken to their foundations," (Baldwin 4)). While the United States is known to have outward patriotism for the country in itself, the patriotism of white people and the inward pride of their race has led to conflict and misalignment of the universal moral obligation of equality.

If you consider the twin goals of the world that Nussbaum states ("all human beings have a decent set of life opportunities, and a world in which wars of aggression do not mar people's life chances," (Nussbaum 79)) as universal moral obligations, then it becomes apparent how patriotism comes at odds with said goals, particularly the first goal. However, it is possible to be both patriotic and critical of our obligations through Purified Patriotism ("reliably linked to the deeper principles of the political conception... and that focuses on suffering humanity wherever it occurs" (Nussbaum 83)). If suffering humanity receives increased focus, then all human beings would have a more equal and decent set of life opportunities. One factor that would contribute to Purified Patriotism is the protection of rights of immigrants and marginalized groups (Nussbaum 86)). This protection is necessary, as observed in Garnette Cadogan's Walking While Black. One quote from Cadogan that was particularly striking is as follows: "These American criminals are nothing on Kingston's, I thought. They're no real threat to me. What no one had told me was that I was the one who would be considered a threat." Cadogan was treated with racist prejudice and had his rights violated numerous times when he left Jamaica to attend college in New Orleans. We cannot even begin to have the universal moral obligation of equality if the human and unalienable rights of all are not protected. If Purified Patriotism were to be promoted and supported, then we would observe patriotic obligations aligning more closely to universal moral obligations.