At 12:20 PM 6/17/01 -0000 Ritu Ko wrote:
>1] What do you mean by the word �great� [or greater] when you apply it in
>the context of a country?
I believe that the contributions of that country to humanity are special
and important, and above and beyond those contributions of a typical country.
>2] Why is our agreement on the issue of America being �great� needed?
First of all, agreement on this issue is just needed as part of our pursuit
of the truth. It is reasonable that intelligent people would want to
consider the place of a coutry in a history, and hopefully these reasonable
and intelligent people can come to agreement on this matter.
Secondly, it is necessary, because this discussion with Kat remarking that
"Americans don't have much reason to be arrogant." I responded by arguing
that a reasonable person could see much that America would have to take
pride in, and while arrogance may not be justified, for many people that
pride might well become a reason for arrogance.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, this discussion exposed a virulent
anti-Americanism on the part of several members of the List, as quite a few
attempted to debunk almost every reason Americans might have to take pride
in their country. When I attempted to argue that America was a net force
of good in the world, many of these same people repeatedly chose to duck
the question, rather than concede that America *was* a net force of good
(or admit that their anti-Americanism actually leads them to hold that
America *isn't* a net force of good.)
In the context of this discussion, I then decided to up the ante by arguing
that America is not just good, but great. By arguing that America is
great, I narrowed the discussion to a few matters where America's
contribution is unique and special - that of ethcial advances in the realm
of world affairs. I think that by establishing that America is "great",
agreement can it least be one on the lesser point that America is "good."
More importantly, a discussion on whether America is "great" is an
excellent opportunity to confront anti-Americanism.
>3] Is there any particular time period or any specific aspect of the
>American nation that you feel deserves the title �great�?
I would use more or less the 20th century.
> I mean no offence but am just trying to understand your point of view.
>There is a lot in America that is worthy of praise but I am not aware of any
>reason why it should be called �great� to the exclusion of rest of the
>world. Could be I am just unaware.
Great does not exclude the rest of the world, that would be *Greatest.*
I have not argued that. In fact until the recent discussion on European
foreign policy, I had been scrupulous about not once criticizing another
list-member's country in this discussion.
> The same applies to the concept of America being a net force of good in the
>world. What do you mean by �good� in this context?
It means that the world is a better place thanks to American contributions
to the world that were a unique product of the American experience.
JDG
__________________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
"Compassionate conservatism is the way to reconcile the two most vital
conservative intellectual traditions: libertarianism & Catholic social
thought."
-Michael Gerson, advisor to George W. Bush
