“Then what really is nationalism? If one studies its brief global history, one can say that it is not something inherited from the ancient past, but is rather a "common project" for the present and the future. And this project demands self-sacrifice, not the sacrificing of others.” p. 2
[Americans] “felt ashamed that ‘their’ country's history was being stained by cruelties, lies, and betrayals. So they went to work in protest—not merely as advocates of universal human rights, but as Americans who loved the common American project. This kind of political shame is very good and always needed. If this sense of shame can develop healthily in Indonesia, Indonesians will have the courage to face the horrors of [their history], not as ‘someone else's’ doing, but as a common burden.” p.11
- Benedict R. O'G. Anderson "Indonesian Nationalism Today and in the Future" Indonesia, no. 67 (1999): 1-11.
The American project is not about Us versus Them. We are in it together. Moral outrage threatens to tear us apart.