Throughout its history the United States has
shown two faces: one that’s peaceful, promoting justice and
self-determination, and one that’s selfish, defining its
national interests in ways that promote suffering and brutality
abroad.
Sociologist and Holocaust survivor Samuel P. Oliner writes about what motivates altruists and heroes who put the welfare of others alongside their own. Reaching out to others has been the force behind much that is good in the world.