At 11:31 AM 5/23/01 +0300 Charlie Bell wrote:
>John wote:
>> America has always been at the forefront of technological
>> innovation, and a
>> great many of the important inventions of the past 200 years were made
>> here.
>
>Like the steam engine, antibiotics, the car, radio, television, the internal
>combustion engine, the machine gun, the jet engine, the pneumatic tyre, the
>bicycle, the mechanical loom, steel and the train?
>
>Thanks John. That entire post neatly illustrated exactly what Kat was
>talking about.
And thank you for proving my point.
You basically presented the following logic:
"The UK has made a number of important inventions, therfore American claims
to be a leader in technological innovation amount to nothing more than
arrogant bluster."
With thinking like that, it is not surprising that this discussion never
gets anywhere.
After all, in my post - not once did I put down another country. Not once
did I insinuate that *no* other countries have achievements to be proud of.
I simply listed a great many of our achievements, but you just felt
compelled to come firing back "well the UK has some similar achievements
too - therefore your whole list just proves your arrogance."
This discussion is not about proving American superiorit. Kat proposed
that "Americans do not have much reason for being arrogant." I am seeking
to disprove her proposition.
Kat's proposition makes it a given that:
-Some people will be arrogant.
-There are reasons for being arrogant.
I am therfore arguing that arrogance might reasonably stem from pride in
one's accomplishments. Thus, I am pointing out that Americans have a
great many accomplishments that one might reasonably take pride in.
JDG
__________________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
"The point of living in a Republic after all, is that we do not live by
majority rule. We live by laws and a variety of institutions designed
to check each other." -Andrew Sullivan 01/29/01
