Do tell? When did that start?
... The Americans are different from us and here are some examples. They resent their dependence on our oil because they are used to finding and inventing things while catering for themselves and helping themselves in this life. They are vocal about this resentment. Therefore, there are no hidden issues. At the same time, they work hard and invest heavily to find other means.
| One day, perhaps, Arabs can go back to their treasured tribal traditions as they sit on piles of sand, their most valuable resource, in splendid isolation... |
We, on the other hand, watch their movies, eat their junk food, drive their cars, fly in their planes, and use their currency. All the while, we are inventing nothing and investing in the void. Yet, we see ourselves as morally superior.
| We Americans perceive this as arrogance, though in reality it's... uhhh... something else. I guess.. |
If someone around here finds it in him or herself to stand up to corrupt authority at school or the office, he is labeled a "troublemaker." The end of the road to such a person is all too obvious. In America, such a person would have a bright career ahead. Even Ralph Nader found a niche to snuggle into. The reason for this is that Americans, before becoming Americans, had a proactive Robin Hood and William Tell in their history. We only have passive martyrs.
| Since becoming Americans we've had Washington and Lincoln and Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone and Sam Houston, both General Custer and Sitting Bull, Horace Greeley, H.L. Menken, Geronimo, Stephen Decatur, John Wesley Hardin, Al Capone, Elliott Ness, General Pershing, J. Edgar Hoover, Huey Long, and thousands of others. Most would have had their heads cut off, had they been Arabians. |
| Eleanor Roosevelt, Sally Ride and Sacagawea would have had some trouble in Arabia, too, I'm just guessing. |
The concept of dignity in America is individual. Ours is collective.
| Bingo! This is the crucial point... |
What I mean is that an American sees himself as an independent unit within a whole. We see ourselves as dependant units that make a whole.
| ... as faceless masses, in fact, ruled, rather than governed. |
Our dignity is that of our leader, not ours individually.
| The very essence of literal fascism: Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuehrer... |
How else could you explain the presence of so many who are actually willing to die for a man like Moqtada Sadr? Historically, Shiite theologians and imams were known for superlative eloquence and impressive scholarship, neither of which this man seems to have. He can hardly string three words in one simple sentence.
| He's a small-time thug who made good, but the author's right. Iraqis are so used to hollering "Saddam we will defend you with our blood" that all they had to do was change the name. When Tater's gone, they'll come up with someone else to defend with their blood. Maybe a hundred years from now they'll be willing to defend themselves with their blood, though not if the Islamists have their way. |
Both Arabs and Americans are judgmental in nature. Where we differ is in the consequences. We sit back and cry foul, they jump to their feet and go investigate. This simple difference means that they have the chance to see differently and perhaps change their judgment, while we are stuck in ours for a thousand years.
| It also gives us the incentive to fix things that don't work and to abolish things that are wrong... |
Che Guevara, though not a Bin Laden or a North American, gave up his bourgeois life and went into the jungle. He was honest enough to flaunt his little bourgeois vice of cigar smoking in public.
| Che was superbly competent at executing unarmed men. He could fit right into Arabia. |
The Cave man [bin Laden] is not that honest. I wonder what little vice (apart from seeing people blown to smithereens) keeps that man going.
| It's that desire for the jewelled turban, the urge to see all the little people bowing toward him, the urge to have his hand kissed. His ego's big enough to see himself as not being a part of the faceless masses. His culture's restrictive enough and his soul's small enough that he can't imagine a world in which his fellow man isn't... |
For those who think me too accommodating of the Americans, here's something where we come together like two odd thumbs. Their men of the cloth (those with puffed hair and polished nails) and ours, hark back to biblical times while shamelessly enjoying the rewards of this modern world. |