As my final post in the book club, I would like to react specifically to a long post from Dan K, as a number of readers urged me to do. I have reprinted his post here, with my response following each paragraph.

Why did I have such a strong reaction to Dean Slaughter's initial piece? Because in my view American intellectual life, in the public sphere at least, is sbsolutely chocking, gagging, suffocating on patriotism. Patriotism is a legitimate emotion; most of us have affection for the places we're from - nothing wrong with that. But there is surely such a thing as too much patriotism. And in my view, American culture is smothered in patriotism, and emotionally addicted to it, to the extent that it is impeding clear, constructive and broad-minded thinking about other matters.

This is an important point, one that I understand and can sympathize with. Patriotism, like religion, is often turned to bad purposes or used to shield things from scrutiny that should absolutely be scrutinized. But my perception is really that patriotism has been hijacked in American politics, in ways that are very bad for our country as a whole. After 9/11, the reaction everywhere was to fly the flag or wear it on lapel pins. I remember being puzzled by that, as I saw the attacks not simply as an attack on American but as an attack on the West, on an entire value-system that is by no means unique to this country.

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