Nussbaum’s Idea of Incorporating Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism in Schools and Its Inefficiency
In the essay ‘Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism’, written by Martha Nussbaum, she declares that our nation is shockingly ignorant to the remaining of the society. In societies, patriotism is “the devotion to and vigorous support for one’s country”. In society, cosmopolitanism is “the ideology that all human beings belong to a single community based on a shared morality”. Martha’s definition of cosmopolitanism is a human whose allegiance is to the community of human beings in the entire universe. Nussbaum begins by inquiring about schooling and how scholars should learn that the lack of food in different countries are world-wide problems and not the nations. The principle of this paper will be about patriotism and cosmopolitanism taught in schools and how I believe that this idea is not efficient. Martha strongly believes that an education that teaches children that they are citizens of the economy and that every human being is equal and have inalienable rights is adequate. In my opinion, I think this idea will be difficult to merge in school systems. Martha’s belief of a cosmopolitanism education is not adequate to society and hunger education systems. If this education were incorporated in schools, it would have the same difficulties as nationalistic and patriotic schools and it will not be able to be changed. This paper will argue against Nussbaum’s ideas on incorporating patriotism and cosmopolitanism in schools.
In ‘Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism’, Nussbaum believes that scholars should have knowledge about different cultures and histories. If this were to occur, I believe that the curriculum that is offered will have to change to aid with the new topics that are being taught. In school, some educators use textbooks to teach the material to students. A textbook is a book used as a standard work for the study of a particular subject. Textbooks are something else that will have to change because the books will have to correspond to the curriculum and the topics. Martha believes that it will be beneficial for educators to teach students about nationwide hunger so that they will have a better understanding of what is going on among their community and so that they will be able to comprehend it. She believes that by looking at the world beyond measures, students will gain a better understanding of their community concerns. Nussbaum remarks, “If we want to understand our own history and our choices where the structure of the family and of childrearing is involved, we are immeasurably assisted by looking around the world to see in what configurations families exist, and through what strategies children are in fact being cared for. Such a study can show us such as that two parent nuclear family, where the mother is the primary homemaker and the father is the primary breadwinner, is by no means a pervasive style of child rearing in today’s world”.
There is an abundant amount of perks that involve this cosmopolitan education, this will not work efficiently because the world is an extensive place and it keeps growing. The First Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law about an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press”. Humans are allowed to have different backgrounds, cultures, and believes it is their right. In school, there are many subjects that a teacher has to educate. For example, students have to learn about Mathematics, English, History, and Science. It is not possible for a teacher or professor to focus on these topics and still instruct their scholars on the basic subjects, like Mathematics and English. That is just too much for a scholar or teacher to focus on. If a student wants to learn about multicultural studies at a university, then this will not be a troublesome idea because this will be their major, and they can focus all of their attention on this certain topic. This is something that a scholar will specialize in. If this idea were to be taught in history class in middle school or high school, the teacher might not spend a great deal of time on cultures that make up society. If teachers were able to split the time into each region equivalently different aspects will get neglected. These aspects can include, supreme events that occurred and the advancement of culture. If an instructor extremely allocates their time specifically to cosmopolitanism, they will emphasize the significance that no nation is above another, and they will have the ability to go into depth. An instructor who committed themselves, but is brief on time will be compelled to rank which specific culture to teach the students if they required them to learn a fundamental understanding of history. An option can be to rearrange elementary school classes similar to college-level classes, but I believe that this funding will be expensive because more educators will have to get hired and there will be a need for more books for the classes that are being added, this all will cost money.
In the world today, many public schools have inadequate resources. The only schools that will have the ability to afford and have a cosmopolitan education system will be private and working-class schools. Public schools will have to result in restructuring the way their schools get funding because this result will be increasing funds. Martha did not mention the complications in public school education to make it idealistic.
A disadvantage that this concept is the social character of the school. Nussbaum exclaims, “Accustom yourself not to be inattentive to what another person says and as far as possible that person’s mind. One must first learn many things before one judge another’s action with understanding”. Martha is arguing that this will acquire a setting that allows scholars to befriend one another out of respect. Nussbaum also exclaims “to deny the fundamental importance of separateness of people and of fundamental personal liberties”. In society, if a child were to pick patriotism instead of cosmopolitanism they might not be accepted by that particular group, everyone is equal in terms. People in the universe today are very judgmental. Martha emphasizes that scholars should understand that they belong to the world as a whole and not just one specific nationality. “A reader can sometimes sense boundless loneliness as if the removal of the props of habit and local boundaries had left life bereft of any warmth or security.” This loneliness occurs because people in society want to blend in with one another because this gives a confirmation of belonging. Adolescents usually crave the desire to blend in. In school, teenagers form groups that they associate themselves with. They have the feeling of their individual identification apart from the universe.
Furthermore, Martha strongly believes that an education that teaches children that they are citizens of the economy and that every human being is equal and have inalienable rights is adequate. Nussbaum thinks that scholars should have knowledge of different cultures and histories. Martha strongly believes that it will be beneficial for educators to teach students about nationwide starvation so that they will have a greater understanding of what is going on among their community and so that they will be able to comprehend it efficiently. It will be challenging for scholars to reevaluate their values and beliefs. This idea is defective and it does not have logical thinking and justification that will give to society and humanity’s ways.