• patriotic cosmopolitanism - astronaut with international flag of planet earth designed by Oskar Pernefeldt

    Patriotic Cosmopolitanism

    Can we, at the same time, love our family, our neighbours, our country, our people, humanity and the world we live in? Surely we can. And to love any of them, properly considered, is to love them all: for their welfare is intimately interwoven.  There is no contradiction in speaking of patriotic cosmopolitanism – understood in this sense.  The dichotomy between community and the world is a false one. We can love our history, our language, the good in our traditions, values which have proven their worth in peace and prosperity, our own family stories. And we can also, without contradiction, delight in the history, languages, stories, good in the…