(News Item) In answer to other questions, a majority of the Britons questions described Americans as uncaring, divided by class, awash in violent crime, vulgar, preoccupied with money, ignorant of the outside world, racially divided, uncultured and in the most overwhelming result (90 percent of respondents) dominated by big business.
(SS) Uh—too many of us, yes, in some places (see previous), yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes.
Yep, good ol’ Sis agrees with your average Yob in The High Street. In writing. I suspect she’d be much more comfortable in a bed-sit in
Just sayin’.
Why are they ALL still here? If we are so bad, go somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteOh, and when ya need to get bailed out next time, don't call. We'll show up when we damn well please, and only if it threatens our country and our immediate interests.
Bullocks!
(i'm first generation - Dad's a brit. these twits and their useless words ...)
cAw, what do I care what those stuffy ol' Brits say... Oh, they say we don't care what they think? Hmm. Just kidding. I've known several Brits who love it over here. A couple I worked with had to move back home and were quite disappointed they couldn't extend their work time here any longer. Nice folks. They would have been a credit to the U.S.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the U.S. spokesman made a good point about Britain's media not stepping up.
As for Shakespeare's Sister? Nuthin' new. Remember the Lost Generation of WWI? Those folks were very creative and bright but they were called "lost" for a reason. (They didn't always fit in over there in Europe, either.) We've always had disenchanted people over here who idolize Europe and Britain as being much more civilized. You've been over there, Buck. Wouldn't you say that Europe's behavior is more complex than just being more "civilized"? Some of the most civilized nations have also been the most cruel. Life is never that simple. Life is sooo interesting.
Say, fix4rso. Didn't I see you over at Maha's recently? I used to comment there regularly (with similar sentiments). I thought you made some good points. I identify with you totally.
bec - you have me trapped. "Maha's" ... ??? Oh my, it may have been I, but, I don't know ...
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't worry too much about it. Those polls over there are probably just as well rigged as the ones over here. I learned very early on in my Psychological Statistics course that you can make polls/studies say anything you want them to.
ReplyDeleteAnd I echo your semtiment. If it's so bad here, just leave. If you cannot love and respect this country, I suggest you leave and go find a country you CAN love and respect.
Alec, Blabs Striesand, Susan Sarandon, Martin Sheen and others all promised to leave the country 6 years ago. I say we hold them to their word.
Steve: Agreed, Buddy! :-)
ReplyDeleteBec sez: Wouldn't you say that Europe's behavior is more complex than just being more "civilized"?
Absolutely. They are like all peoples, everywhere. They are driven by their own self-interests, and that results in some pretty strange behavior at times.
I never encountered any anti-American feelings on a personal level during my entire times overseas, and that time was considerable. People tend to be very civil in one-on-one situations. I did, however, see anti-American grafitti on walls, read anti-American editorials in the papers (still do!), and heard crap on the TV/radio.
Personally, I think a lot of this stuff emanates from feelings of envy and powerlessness, and, in the case of older Brits specifically, a longing for what "used to be."
I cannot explain the US Radical Left, however. Why is it always blame America FIRST?
Becky: I believe all those individuals you list have been called out on their "promises." I can't remember a single answer, though. :-)
Alec Baldwin definitely was. He said he didn't really say that, despite the fact that his statement was recorded. He said that no, what he said was that this would be a good time to leave the US.
ReplyDeleteI still say, "Why are you still here?"
Buck, you asked why the radical left always blames America first. I understand it quite well. Don't know that I can explain it well, but I'll try. Hope you forgive the length here.
ReplyDeleteLet's see. It's a psychological problem in some of them obviously.
Think of people like Streisand or Jane Fonda... (sorry, just for a minute!) What they, and others like them, all have in common is high intelligence, sensitive natures (which is why they are good artists/actors/musicians), high standards and GUILT. It overflows from them. Also, they identify so closely with the U.S. that whenever it "seems" to be bullying or stupid or whatever (according to their supersensitive sense of self) they hold it aside in horror exclaiming "That's not me! I don't agree with that!" They have extremely high expectations for its "behavior." They love the ideals of our country (as expressed by the Founding Fathers or Lincoln or the underdog days of the U.S. against Britain) but they see it as having "failed" (treatment of Native Americans, blacks, perceived bullying of smaller nations, etc) and therefore don't trust in its innate goodness or nobility. They honestly wish they could, which is why they scold it all the time. Also, they tend to identify with the oppressed which, in some, comes from their childhoods. Instead of trying to sort out their own psyche (too difficult) they transfer all the rage to the "Father" land. Sometimes they do good works - charity, save the children stuff. (Angelina Jolie)
Of the three I mentioned by name, all of them had "issues" with their fathers.
They're the flip side of the "My country right or wrong" crowd, who seem (to the radical left) to be blind to any wrongs our nation has ever done. That's where the loyalty comes in. I think maybe they never learned what loyalty from a parent was like in their childhood - so anything that is an authority figure, they fear and mistrust. They will give loyalty to a fellow sufferer and never budge, but not to an "authority figure" because it's so powerful it doesn't need it, you see. (From their perspective)
Moderates don't expect perfection. They know we're all human.
I think you can slide left or right along the scale a bit and still be a moderate.
Well, what do you think?
Bec: The guilt explanation works about as well as any I've heard. I don't believe it explains the "hate America First" attitude completely, though. Those same people who complain loud and long about the USA seem to lose their voice when their party is in power. This thought is expressed time and time again at the more radical Lefty blogs: "things will be fine when we get rid of the Rethuglicans" (or variations on that theme).
ReplyDeleteAlso...just a brief anecdote. I used to belong to a pop music artist discussion group that was as much about politics as it was the artist and her music, sometimes very much more about politics. This list was VERY heavy with Lefties and a LOT of move-on-dot-org types. I remember one thread about displaying the flag as July 4th approached that year. I was SHOCKED when many more than a few list members (but not the majority, thank God) said they would NOT display the flag, ever. Why? "I'm ashamed to be an American." "I hate what the flag stands for." It wasn't too very long after that discussion I left the group, but not before trying (repeatedly) to make my case that America is still "good" and conservatives are not inherently evil. It was like talking to a wall.
And finally...one would think that our "stars," people who made tons of money within the system they despise wouldn't be QUITE so cynical about this country. One would think, but one would be wrong.
You make some good points, there, Buck!
ReplyDeleteAbout them changing their tune when their own party is in power – they’re a part of the “solution” now. They’re involved in “guiding” the country along the correct path and so they tend to forgive themselves more readily whenever a mistake is made. They bristle at the other side for criticizing them. (Human nature, I guess) They are also much more “understanding” of our nation’s past errors in general when they’re in charge. (You have to admit that the right wing does the same. That awful Big Government with all its waste and tentacles reaching everywhere seems so much bigger when the Dems are in charge!) Do they still hate America? They’ll tell you that they never do – just the government in charge (if it isn’t them).
As for the flag, the left seems to see its overt display as a faux religion – idolatry, you might say. They often have an issue with religion in general. You should have seen the ruckus over at Greenwald’s place when Maha brought up her approval of “spirituality” as found in Buddhism and other respectable religions whose members honestly search for the meaning of life and our place in it. (I think I mentioned it before. It went on for the whole weekend!) The atheists raced out, swords drawn.
After 9/11, however, the left actually felt like joining in with the flag waving. Although a little sheepish, many of them actually saw its meaning for the first time in their lives. (There’s nothing like an attack to bring everyone together.) Too bad that feeling didn’t last. Pages could be written about why not, mostly to do with the reality of messy democracy and someone else in charge who acts like a darn Texas cowboy when intellectual finesse is called for (in the left’s opinion).
(I've got to share a bit of Gogol's "Dead Souls" with you one day that speaks to this intellectual conceit many of us have. Hilarious. (I'm probably committing it right now, in fact!)
Anyway, when some of the members in that group you mentioned recoiled in horror, I'll bet they were saying that the flag now represents Bush, not the U.S. They can’t seem to separate the two. When Clinton was in charge, I'd guess Republicans were waving that flag even harder because they were thinking, "This is our country, dammit! You're not going to ruin it!" The left says, "The flag represents Bush now! Can't have it waving over me!" Quite a difference in perception, wouldn't you say?
As for making tons of money here and then being critical - doesn't it remind you of a kid who complains about his dad, all the while living off of the guy? No appreciation. Very spoiled and immature, I'd say.
I know it’s all much more complicated than I’m touching on here. I’m trying to get at some insights myself.