Patriotism: Part 3

I really liked the way the author brought up the fact that many Americans, though not all, only show sympathy or empathy to other Americans. Sometimes we, as Americans, act as though or pain, suffering, and grief is more important than others, even when we experience the same things. We can be far more sympathetic to an American parent who lost a child to the war than an Iraqi parent. Americans kill Middle Eastern people, and they kill American people, and everyone loses. In the end war is created by the nation's government, and they are typically not the ones losing family in friends in the horror they create. They can sit back and be almost completely untouched by it. It is the nation's citizens, and their soldiers of course, that know what war truly is. They are the ones who truly know pain, suffering, and grief. And they are the ones who should be the most sympathetic, and empathetic, to other victims of war. When we know the same pain as someone else, we have an obligation to share it with them, across country lines or not. Any parent who loses a child should be sympathized with, anyone who loses anyone should be sympathized with, and I wish more Americans could see that and realize that many of us across the world know the same pain, and we should strive to empathize with them as best we can instead of acting like our pain is the worst.