posted 08-04-99 07:55 PM ET        

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re: the seemingly never-ending bashing of all things American.

I am as guilty as anyone of throwing up random posts of bs and nonsense in an effort be a "wiseguy" but it's time to put jokes aside and ask ourselves some serious questions. How did this start and why is it perpetuating, at least in this forum. Many years have spanned the divide between school days and where I am today, so often my premises and assumptions will be incorrect. Admitting this, am I mistaken when I state that many of our ancestors came here to escape from several oppressive and tyrannical issue...taxation, monarchy and numerous other distintly European ideas? At what point does a love of freedom and the wish not to be shackled by the status quo of the power elite become an indicator of "bad" people? So those who came here, for whatever reason, were inherently bad...for what? Leaving Europe behind to look for something better? As far as I am concerned, I have found that to know Europeans is generally to love Europeans...I have had many friends from abroad and everyone I know who has ever gone to Europe returns with anecdotes about the kindness and warm-heartedness of Europe's people. I certainly do not automatically dislike you because you don't agree with me and I refuse to hate you or espouse hatred toward your ethnic or cultural group. I will argue with you...I will get into a flame-war with you...but for me to feel genuine hatred or dislike for you because of your views is literally impossible, because I don't know you. How can one hate that which they do not truly know. As Gautama Siddartha, Gurdjieff, Alan Watts and many others have pointed out...we cannot actively and truthfully feel anything in particular about something we do not know. And to speak knowingly of that which we do not know is little more than self-aggrandization and lying.
It is necessary to seperate the American people from their politicians. I can guarantee you that not one person who ever posted here has declared war on a small country or initiated a covert operation against any foreign regime. These decisions are made on high, not by the people you claim to dislike. We hear of oppression, un-necessary death, corruption, etc. and we grimace, exactly the way you grimace when you hear of these things. We, the people who read your posts, are not guilty of any of the crimes attributed to the Great Satan of America. When you say you dislike Americans, you are saying you dislike us, our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and all...and we simply don't see why this is. As I said, you will find that Americans will not automatically dislike you in turn unless, of course, you start killing Americans. And then you will feel not our hatred but our might. We are generous, kind and humanitarian to a fault. We do not hate others because they hate us...this is a distinctly American trait.

posted 08-05-99 04:12 AM ET            

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First of all: Given the chance, I will happily bash the good ole US with wild abandon. This is not because I particularly dislike Americans, but for the following two reasons: some Americans seem to think their country is absolutely perfect (which it certainly isn't), and such people need to be made fun of. Also, some Americans tend to get awfully incredibly upset when the US is bashed in some way or another, which naturally serves to encourage such bashing...

Anyway, I've actually lived in the US for a year, and there I learned the final secret of the Illuminati: The US is, in fact, pretty ok

DCA,
I detest life-insurance agents; they always argue that I shall some day die, which is not so.