[kj] OT : FY2006 Defense Budget

[Jiri]

Okay, Juliet, here's one American's view, since
xxxxxxx doesn't do it for you : )   Worry not, you
didn't strike me as arrogant; your other posts clearly
establish a credibility that tells me you're not just
taking blind swipes at an entire, um...citizenry (I
guess that's what I'll call it).

The "dream president speech" forward, I've actually
received it a couple times over the past couple years,
from friends sharing your disgust. It's so blindly
clueless and full of holes that it usually gets no
response, because what can you say? Americans who
identify with this way of "thinking" may be too far
gone and steeped in a perversion of the American myth
to be persuaded to look outside themselves. They
subscribe to a kind of self-promoting personal (and
national) ethos: "I have earned everything I have on
my own, while the rest of the world is propped up by
handouts from my tax dollars." Apparently, they would
tell you, the U.S. has never depended on allies, never
benefitted from other nations, and it only helps other
countries out of its innate altruistic spirit--not
because of its own economic interests. It's simply
buying the company line rather than bothering to dig
into the depth of issues.

Isolation is definitely a factor; this type typically
has no clue what effects the policies of their own
government have had on their own hemisphere, much less
the rest of the world. To them, the world can be
described on an index card. Complexity is undesirable
and ignored, one reason some people seem to like our
idiot president, who acknowledges no complexities. I
suspect this is why fundamentalist religion is so
appealing to this type.

On the other hand, like you said, ignorance knows no
borders, and there's quite a divisive battle going on
in this giant country, as by no means does a large
majority of America think this way. Bush didn't take
an overwhelming majority of the vote, but he does have
a much-better-crafted and connected political machine
behind him, one that has a knack for defining an
alternate reality to the uninformed.

Jiri, still American

--- Juliet Pleming <pricepleming at tiscali.co.uk> wrote:
> When I read over what I wrote, I was worried that it
> could come over a
> bit arrogant. What I meant, like you say is that
> there are ignorant
> people wherever you go. I suppose we are all
> ignorant in our own way,
> and by definition we are unaware of our ignorance.
> We can see others
> ignorance more clearly because we are not so
> involved in it. No
> nationality or person has a monopoly on ignorance or
> knowledge or
> intelligence. I hope I make myself perfectly clear
> or am I just trying
> to dig myself out of the hole I am digging for
> myself.
> 
> Juliet
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: gathering-bounces at misera.net
> [mailto:gathering-bounces at misera.net]
> On Behalf Of iPat
> Sent: 17 February 2005 13:45
> To: A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)
> Subject: Re: [kj] OT : FY2006 Defense Budget
> 
> oh i dont think they have a monopoly on ignorance,
> its just more
> noticeable as they are in the spotlight. I love the
> place and the
> people i tend to meet, even in NW Arkansas. We all
> have our viewpoint
> based on the information we receive. As Peter would
> no doubt agree
> with.
> 
> 
> On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 12:07:45 -0000, Juliet Pleming
> <pricepleming at tiscali.co.uk> wrote:
> > I agree. It is sad to think that this is the way a
> lot of ignorantly
> > isolated people probably do think. I was only
> young when I lived in
> the
> > States but even then I noticed how completely
> ignorant and
> Americentred
> > a lot of those people are. They are so unexposed
> to any other way of
> > thinking, and most of them believe the world was
> created in seven days
> > or some silly story like that, which just goes to
> show how bloody
> > gullible they can be. That is not to diss
> Americans as individuals
> > because there are many who are intelligent and do
> make an effort to
> > think for themselves.
> -- 
> iPat
> live for today, live for tomorrow
> "Truth is a pathless land. Man cannot come to it
> through any
> organisation, through any creed, through any dogma,
> priest or ritual,
> nor through any philosophic knowledge or
> psychological technique. He
> has to find it through the mirror of relationship,
> through the
> understanding of the contents of his own mind,
> through observation and
> not through intellectual analysis or introspective
> dissection..."
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