Parting Shots
by George Kateb
The Conversation
March 26th, 2008
To Kukathas
State power to do harm must be diminished, certainly. But though the state does a great deal of harm when it is powerful and self-confident, the state as such is a necessity. Call it the lesser and necessary evil: without it there would be an extent and depth of insecurity that would make life terrible and brief. The hope is that moderation of spirit can recurrently chasten the power and self-confidence of the state so that the state does not feel that a reservoir of patriotism will always support its adventures, and either drown out criticism of its deeds or lead that criticism to go just so far and then draw back out of fear of being thought unpatriotic. Patriotism does not encourage moderation; even moderate patriotism does not encourage the will to seek peace, when armed strength is gigantic. Yes, the state is evil, but it is not only evil; it does, shall we say, the amount of good it feels it must do lest it forfeit allegiance. One hope is that the state does not do more evil abroad than it prevents at home.
To Berns
I ask the Kantian question: what would the world be like if no one in it were a patriot? If there hadn’t been German patriots, American patriots would not have had to exist. War isn’t like baseball: if there weren’t fans who rooted for, say, the Yankees and the Red Sox, there would be no baseball – at least, baseball would lack excitement. You need partisanship and partiality to turn the great wheel of the world; but we don’t need patriotism and what patriotism makes possible: bloody wars.
To Galston
I don’t want purity; I said I’m not a pacifist. I argue for the moral permissibility of self-defense. Self-defense, however, is rarely the issue in international politics. When it is, patriotism is unnecessary: you don’t need a false incentive to fight for palpable goods. Deterrence against future attacks on American soil by religious radicals was damaged, not improved, by the aggressive war against Iraq. In any case, easy discourse about good or just wars tends to overlook or make small the immense costs of armed struggle. The cost of things – that is my theme, the burden of my argument against patriotism (and other enthusiasms).
