Chapter 10: The Finale of Kindness

In chapter 10, Appiah defines the basic human rights as health;food;shelter;education and choice. He suggests that a nation-state would be on much too grand a level to accurately give all people their basic "entitlements." He claims the nation-state would be likely to grow too powerful, that it would often be unresponsive to local needs and that it would lessen the variableness of "institutional experimentation" from which we learn about new ways to live.
The United Nations is the closest we have to a nation-state government.
I believe that entry into the UN is optional, so every nation has agreed to follow any specific rules that might apply. Appiah says about acceptance: "accepting the nation state means accepting that we have a special responsibility for the life and justice of our own;but we still have to play our part in ensuring that all states respect the rights and meet the needs of their citizens"(163).
World WarII brought up tragedy upon such a scale that the world will never forget. The world had never seen anything that could measure up to Hitler's massacre of the followers of Judaism. The small value Hitler put in their lives encroached massively, to say the least, on the basic rights of the Jews, whom he detained and sacrificed for the sake of "homogeneity." Hitler was definitely a counter-cosmopolitan. Perhaps it was these events, among the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese that shocked the U.S., that spawned the United Nation's Declaration of Human Rights. This Declaration was a reaction to the most atrocious encroachments of basic rights the world has ever seen. It was spawned out of the desperation to prevent the same destructive events from happening again.
Many argue that the United Nations Security Counsel has been too slow in reacting to the recent massacres of Darfur. This is just one example of the uneffectiveness of such a system. It would be impossible for the security councel to come to any conclusions about how to solve a global problem, would it not? Then again, the group is optional to join, I believe, and thus the countries in it should share similar views. It kind of goes back to what Appiah said about "we can agree on the right thing to do, even if we can't agree on why." If we can't decide, we can at least stay up-to-date on the issues of other countries, and try to understand ways to help them. I think the UN also boosts the moral confidence of the world's population. People see that nations have gathered to support the idea of basic rights protection, therefore, they want to help more.

Muravchik, Joshua, Feinstein, Lee. "The Effectiveness of the UN Security Council." Council On Foreign Relations. 25-29 Sep. 2006. 12 Oct. 2008. http://www.cfr.org/publication/11520/.

In Rurouni Kenshin(Ruu-rooh-knee ken-shin), a favorite show of mine when I was a kid, an ex-samurai tried to take over Japan. In one episode, the main character, Kenshin(Ken-shin) goes to a town under the mad ex-warrior's control, and finds the people there to be scared to death of the government, and being brutalized if they resist it. Obviously not every place was like this, but the main point is that Shishio, despite the fact that he endorsed this brutal behavor, could not watch over and control everywhere. Maybe this example corresponds to the power of the nation-state, maybe not.

PAGE 174: Who are Some Cosmopolitans Near You?
I think many of the students here at UK are cosmoplitans. All of them were open to accepting a new lifestyle--that of a college student instead of going on to get a job that doesn't require a degree. If they were open to trying out this new lifestyle to see if they could better themselves, then perhaps they were open to meeting new friends here as well. Especially the study abroad, living and learning communities and study abroad students! These people are surely cosmopolitans since they have a curiosity for other cultures, right?! Of course, it also depends on how they respond to these other cultures...they must understand and "tolerate."


Oh! And by the way...when I was reading this chapter, I was reminded of the question of wether or not we are "born" kind. On page 156, Appiah interprets Adam Smith's passage to inquire about "how our 'passive feelings' can be so selfish while our 'active principles' are often so generous." When I read Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya(I'm still in the process.), the main character's mother, a wise role model for her daughter and her friends, states that "all we are born with are selfish desires for food and things..." and that "everyone develops their own sense of kindness."