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#116
by Citizen Sirian - 2/6/2004 3:35:24 PM
| I think the revolutionary mind set is still very much active in the US culture. |
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I wouldn't say that. Been a lonnnnng time since we defined ourselves in relation to Great Britain. Our defining moment was our civil war. That is our culture, born in fire, tempered by the blood of our own, burned into our souls by a misery greater than any outside force could impose on us. We decided to confront our own devils, at unbelievable cost to ourselves, and yet we deem the bitter price paid to have been worth it. These kind of stark terms, we are comfortable with them. I do not believe Canadians or Australians would be. That is not how you define yourselves, or so it seems from my vantage point.
A willingness to fight for what we value, rather than to compromise and settle for half measures, has been our defining mark. We are a restless people. That can serve us well or ill, as the same spirit that won us our independence through arms also nearly tore us apart when we took up arms against one another. We are probably the most impatient culture on the planet, and again, that has both positive and negative outcomes. That spirit fuels our entrepreneurship, our inventiveness, our drive to succeed. It is a fierce and unyielding force when stirred, gathered and well led. We are like a locomotive. If we can stay on the track, we can move huge amounts of cargo to a desired destination more efficiently than any other vehicle, but we must always be alert and watchful, to have a responsible engineer at the controls, because if we fly off the track, the wreck will be spectacular.
There are historical reasons why Americans tend to be far more preoccupied with what other Americans are doing and saying than what those from other nations are doing. I know everybody has this tendency -- all politics are local -- but most cultures are forced by geography to pay more attention to neighbors, both friendly and otherwise, than we are. I think a lot of factors contribute to this, and that parties on both sides of this divide fail to grasp how wide a divide it actually is, how much different American culture is.
We are indeed unlike Canadians and Australians in our deeper passions and values. We tried the laid back thing, actually, and found that it did not work for us. When something doesn't work for us, we discard it and do not look back. We do not keep trying to force it to work on the strength of wishful thinking. Why the laid back approach works well for you but not us may be a can of worms best left closed. Suffice to say, our common interests and values far outweigh the differences, at least as far as getting along well together as neighbors and allies. We respect your people, your culture, and your occasional disagreements with our policies and outlook. We need your cooperation on any number of vital interests and we appreciate your friendship.
- Sirian
         
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#117
by Citizen Paguma - 2/6/2004 4:06:49 PM
| We need your cooperation on any number of vital interests and we appreciate your friendship. |
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Sometimes more than others... 
I like to describe the relationship between Canada and the USA as similar to that between two brothers.
You have common interests and beliefs. You'll always be there for your brother, but you don't necessarily agree or like everything they do.
One thing that bothered me was the way Canada got lambasted for not going to Iraq. Canada was not convinced there was a threat in Iraq and certainly no imminent threat, so we wanted to give it more time. We got accused of not being there to support the USA. Also, to this day I hear stuff in the US press about how the USA is fighting terrorism alone.
That really irks us, because we WERE there with you in Afghanistan. We believed in that threat. We fought that one with you. When you went to Iraq, we didn't oppose you, but we didn't join you because we didn't believe the threat. We did however take over some of your load in Afghanistan (we now are carrying the bulk of that burden) as well as some of the non military duties in the Gulf. We also commited financial aid in rebuilding Iraq right from the beginning.
We got almost nothing but critism for our stance on Iraq, yet not too long before that Canada suffered it's first casualties of war since Korea while fighting with the USA. Obviously it was an accident, but those casualties were also inflicted by the USA.
I'm sure we're not the only country helping in this regard, but the US keep reporting how they do it all themselves.
Heck, Australia even went with you to fight in Iraq and the press still says they are fighting alone.
This thread is probably too heavy, let's get back to talking about aliens.
    
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Hacker attacks can't stop the TRUTH!  Link
   
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