Re: Why do we always back the USA?
Posted: Sat May 08, 2004 1:39 pm
No, Mart, signing up to a popular myth becaue it's 'groovy' (am I talking to Austin Powers here?) and then slating others smugly in what one fondly but erroneously imagines to be hip patois for daring to disagree does not constitute 'being right'. Neither does endlessly repeating 'You know I'm right' make one right.
Dibble is, as I've pointed out repeatedly, is a tiresomely money-obsessed (what are you trying to compensate for?) geezer who has all the social responsibilty and compassion of a tin of beans-the archetypal I'm alright Jack social Darwinist, and a living embodiment of the adage that when you think you know it all, you in fact know nothing.......the ultimate cynic who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. He's also witty and charming, and even very occasionally right. But then, we're all multitudes and contradictions, it's the spice of Life.
Yes, a lot of my friends, unlike Bush, are able to identify places on a map other than Noo York, and even occasionally pronounce them correctly. No, not a lot of them have degrees- they have to earn a living by hard work in a world made suddenly much more dangerous by a man whose testosterone- level would be better-employed keeping Condoleeza Rice out of the Oval Office. Dibsy would happily pigeon-hole me as a a feather-bedded academic with no knowledge of the 'real world'. Tough titty- I too had to make my way in the world on my Jack and my wits, the only differences between him and me being possibly better luck on his part, and certainly better taste on mine.
And a lot of my mates have (usually not very reluctantly, but there have been the odd 'heated discussions') been persuaded by me that the greatest threat to world stability is a nation that has supreme economic and political clout, and feels a responsibilty to no-one but itself.
He once more trots out the tired old 'jealousy' argument- it might be true for others, I can't say. I do often get the feeling that if the Islamic nations put as much effort into sowing their own row, minding their own business and building their economy, as they do into demonstrating, being discontented and firing off weapons, then we'd all be better off- but then I often feel that about the States, too.
I have no problem at all with the US consuming as many expensive gewgaws as it likes (I have been known to buy the odd trinket meself)- but NOT at my expense, or the expense of the planet at large. Those resouces are for ALL to share, not a tiny fraction of world to effectively use as its own private stock- you can either share it fairly and willingly, or one way or another it will be taken away, eventually. History shows that these situations usually end in a sudden and catastrophic collapse of the ruling power, not a pleasant prospect when the side-effects spread globally. Will he suddenly start learning Chinese in 20 years' time when THEY become the world's ecomonic titan? "Hey dudes, those little yellow guys, they're really cool, who's this Chairman cat, though? Have you seen my new motor, the software speaks in this really cute Charlie Chan voice, God, their music's crap though, all that twanging"?
And to criticise poorer nations by categorising them as secretly enamoured of consumerisim but unwilling to admit it is just crass piss-taking, and an insult- a lot of these people merely want the amount of 'consumerism' that is represented by three square meals a day, and would happily eschew a shiny new car for the privilege of not being daily shot at by their own militias, or bombed by a 'well-meaning' superpower. You fondly imagine that everyone wishes to live yours and the Americans 'lifestyle' (an oxymoron, surely?). Wrong- another example of your crashing ignorance and arrogance. This poor 'thinking' has led Bush directly to his current position- the Iraqis were grateful to be relieved of Sadaam, thankyou America, now piss off and let us go our own way: sorry, no, if we want any more Democracy, we'll get back to you, and can you please now stop shooting at our children? The notion that demoncratic values can be imposed on a nation from without is infantile, and typically American- can they not see from their own history that it takes at least decades for a strong middle-class to grow, eventually leading to demands (when they're tired of all those nice glittery things) for more political freedom? Bush and his allies expected Iraq to become Kansas overnight, and were bitterly hurt at the perceived ingratitude of the people. More naivety.
........If the spiritual side of life is so abhorrent to your heroes, why is it that every second business in California is devoted to remedying this perceived lack, in a mind-numbing variety of eclectic and eccentric (and usually expensive) ways?
Returning for a moment to your 'big kid' analogy, isn't it always true that the 'protector' secretly or overtly despises and uses the 'protectee'? Is that how little self-respect you've got? Do you really like the idea of this country being America's poodle? Send the kid down the gym to toughen him up. that's the answer, not get him a bloody minder.
Oh, and General Galtieri only 'took the piss' because Mrs Thatcher invited him to do so by temporarily abandoning the islands, in the hope that a Nice Little Winnable War against a Piss-Ant Army would bolster her rapidly-tottering domestic popularity- learn yer history.
Dibble is, as I've pointed out repeatedly, is a tiresomely money-obsessed (what are you trying to compensate for?) geezer who has all the social responsibilty and compassion of a tin of beans-the archetypal I'm alright Jack social Darwinist, and a living embodiment of the adage that when you think you know it all, you in fact know nothing.......the ultimate cynic who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. He's also witty and charming, and even very occasionally right. But then, we're all multitudes and contradictions, it's the spice of Life.
Yes, a lot of my friends, unlike Bush, are able to identify places on a map other than Noo York, and even occasionally pronounce them correctly. No, not a lot of them have degrees- they have to earn a living by hard work in a world made suddenly much more dangerous by a man whose testosterone- level would be better-employed keeping Condoleeza Rice out of the Oval Office. Dibsy would happily pigeon-hole me as a a feather-bedded academic with no knowledge of the 'real world'. Tough titty- I too had to make my way in the world on my Jack and my wits, the only differences between him and me being possibly better luck on his part, and certainly better taste on mine.
And a lot of my mates have (usually not very reluctantly, but there have been the odd 'heated discussions') been persuaded by me that the greatest threat to world stability is a nation that has supreme economic and political clout, and feels a responsibilty to no-one but itself.
He once more trots out the tired old 'jealousy' argument- it might be true for others, I can't say. I do often get the feeling that if the Islamic nations put as much effort into sowing their own row, minding their own business and building their economy, as they do into demonstrating, being discontented and firing off weapons, then we'd all be better off- but then I often feel that about the States, too.
I have no problem at all with the US consuming as many expensive gewgaws as it likes (I have been known to buy the odd trinket meself)- but NOT at my expense, or the expense of the planet at large. Those resouces are for ALL to share, not a tiny fraction of world to effectively use as its own private stock- you can either share it fairly and willingly, or one way or another it will be taken away, eventually. History shows that these situations usually end in a sudden and catastrophic collapse of the ruling power, not a pleasant prospect when the side-effects spread globally. Will he suddenly start learning Chinese in 20 years' time when THEY become the world's ecomonic titan? "Hey dudes, those little yellow guys, they're really cool, who's this Chairman cat, though? Have you seen my new motor, the software speaks in this really cute Charlie Chan voice, God, their music's crap though, all that twanging"?
And to criticise poorer nations by categorising them as secretly enamoured of consumerisim but unwilling to admit it is just crass piss-taking, and an insult- a lot of these people merely want the amount of 'consumerism' that is represented by three square meals a day, and would happily eschew a shiny new car for the privilege of not being daily shot at by their own militias, or bombed by a 'well-meaning' superpower. You fondly imagine that everyone wishes to live yours and the Americans 'lifestyle' (an oxymoron, surely?). Wrong- another example of your crashing ignorance and arrogance. This poor 'thinking' has led Bush directly to his current position- the Iraqis were grateful to be relieved of Sadaam, thankyou America, now piss off and let us go our own way: sorry, no, if we want any more Democracy, we'll get back to you, and can you please now stop shooting at our children? The notion that demoncratic values can be imposed on a nation from without is infantile, and typically American- can they not see from their own history that it takes at least decades for a strong middle-class to grow, eventually leading to demands (when they're tired of all those nice glittery things) for more political freedom? Bush and his allies expected Iraq to become Kansas overnight, and were bitterly hurt at the perceived ingratitude of the people. More naivety.
........If the spiritual side of life is so abhorrent to your heroes, why is it that every second business in California is devoted to remedying this perceived lack, in a mind-numbing variety of eclectic and eccentric (and usually expensive) ways?
Returning for a moment to your 'big kid' analogy, isn't it always true that the 'protector' secretly or overtly despises and uses the 'protectee'? Is that how little self-respect you've got? Do you really like the idea of this country being America's poodle? Send the kid down the gym to toughen him up. that's the answer, not get him a bloody minder.
Oh, and General Galtieri only 'took the piss' because Mrs Thatcher invited him to do so by temporarily abandoning the islands, in the hope that a Nice Little Winnable War against a Piss-Ant Army would bolster her rapidly-tottering domestic popularity- learn yer history.