RE: [Futurework] minutemen Scotland and violence???

[Harry Pollard]

A couple of weeks ago, I posted Australia as the most violent, followed by Australia – with the US twelfth. It was difficult to believe.   (Actually I put Switzerland at third to poke an elbow into Chris’ ribs.)   I remember about 10 years ago visiting a relative in Windsor – not 3 miles from the castle (not Ontario!) to find they had installed a code for the door. Once inside, you had to press the right buttons within a short period, or the alarm would sound.   Their little English house on a quiet street had been burgled three times.   We only lock the door at night and we have no technology, just an old lock that would open if you leaned against it.   Maybe the stats are right.   Harry   ******************************** Henry George School of Social Science of Los Angeles Box 655  Tujunga  CA 91042 818 352-4141 ********************************     From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Cordell, Arthur: ECOM Sent: Friday, September 30, 2005 1:44 PM To: FUTUREWORK (E-mail) Subject: [Futurework] minutemen Scotland and violence???   So.  What is going on in Scotland ???     OPINION Truth and violence | U.N. report undercuts cliches about America 415 words 28 September 2005 The San Diego Union-Tribune The United Nations might not be the source one might expect for a new report that undermines the common global stereotype of Americans as violent cowboys, but U.N. crime researchers have produced just such evidence. The report documented that not the United States but Scotland was the world's most violent developed nation. Scotland, England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand all had assault rates at least double America's. New Zealand is the developed world's sex-assault capital. Other data show street robberies are far more common in London than comparably sized New York. Even America's traditional No. 1 ranking in developed nations' murder rates is no more. A study to be released later this year concludes that, yes, Scotland has passed the gun-slinging Yanks. This news comes just as two more foreign films that depict Americans as culturally inclined toward sociopathic behavior have been released to critical applause. In the Canadian film "A History of Violence," a saintly small- town paterfamilias is revealed to be a skilled killer. In the Danish film "Dear Wendy," a troubled young man achieves release and redemption only through what The New York Times describes as "apocalyptic violence." These characters are plainly meant to be fictional stand-ins for America. How trite. How superficial. You will not be surprised to learn that the "Wendy" in the latter film's title is the name of a gun. Now, it's easy to dismiss these movies and their ilk as the smug work of America haters, but to a depressing degree, they matter -- and they do real damage. The pop-culture depictions of the United States around the world help form the perceptions of hundreds of millions of people, many of whom think this purported violent streak explains our war in Iraq. Alas, there's not much Americans can do about it except hope that with time, our foreign critics develop a more sophisticated view than assuming every U.S. president watches John Wayne movies for behavioral clues. It's possible. Consider French writer Bernhard-Henri Levy, who reveres America as "a model of democracy" and shares the Bush administration's deep anxiety about Islamic extremism. That he is France's most popular intellectual is a startling confirmation that America isn't as despised around the world as we may assume -- and that just as Americans suffer from national stereotyping, we're also guilty of it. ========================================

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