Today the New York Times news alert reads: "Errant U.S. Rocket Strike Kills Civilians in Afghanistan." A recent response to the Peace Day entry from my Aunt Marie has made me consider the surfacing of many issues that did not previously hold any personal connection. One of the students, an incredibly sweet girl named Zarifa, traveled all the way from Afghanistan in pursuit of the best education she could find. Afghanistan's conflicts hold even more weight when you know someone who has come so far-away from their family and friends-to afford opportunities that were voided by these problems. Furthermore, I am reminded of the power of individuals and how critical our attention is to the scale by which we represent each others' actions, because if we don't we are likely to be mislead. On a national scale, today's news tells us that the U.S. harmed Afghanistan but on a personal level, Zarifa and I are very close - we live in the same dorm and I consider her a younger sister. So why do emotion, decency, and humanity often become obsolete in transition from one-on-one to nation versus nation?
-Kat
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About Me
- Marianna and Kat
- Hello everyone, We are both so excited to have recently embarked on this adventure to the Middle East. We are currently working as "Junior Fellows" at King's Academy, which is a co-educational boarding school in Madaba-Manja. This small town is located just thirty minutes from Amman, the capital of Jordan. As Junior Fellows, we intern in our respective departments, serve as role models in the dorms, assist with co-curricular activities and generally take part in campus life. We also currently take Arabic conversation and writing classes. In addition, we use our personal time to explore this historically rich culture and understand how pertinent this region is to global issues.
I often think about why so much money, resources, and human lives are sacrificed for destruction - when they should be used to creating a better life for all in this world.
ReplyDeleteOne aspect to consider:
Nationalism - loyalty and devotion to a nation; especially : a sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups (Merriam-Webster Online)
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:
Loyalty and devotion to one's nation or country, especially as above loyalty to other groups or to individual interests. Before the era of the nation-state, the primary allegiance of most people was to their immediate locality or religious group. The rise of large, centralized states weakened local authority, and society's increasing secularization weakened loyalty to religious groups, though shared religion — along with common ethnicity, political heritage, and history — is one of the factors that draws people together in nationalist movements. Early nationalist movements in 18th- and early 19th-century Europe were liberal and internationalist, but they gradually became more conservative and parochial. Nationalism is considered a major contributing cause of World War I, World War II, and many other wars of the modern era.
http://www.answers.com/topic/nationalism