Craig, I find your world-view strange and hard to understand. What is "today's pansy laden society?" I am an Irishman, living in Germany. I do not perceive and experience either the country of my birth, or the country in which I live, as "downtrodden and defeated". We are all going through a rough time at the moment (and it will get worse) as a result of greed and stupidity in those responsible for economic affairs in our societies. Such a crisis calls us to examine the principles according to which we organise our communal life and effect changes. As such, it is also an opportunity.
I have the impression - I may be mistaken - that you see a particular model/interpretation of the "American way of life", as being simultaneously better than all others and under acute threat, both from within the US and without. I do not share this way of looking at the world. I live in a western European country, where much, like everywhere else, is imperfect and some things are in a bit of a mess. Nevertheless, I feel free and secure. It is a society where a basic level of assent and consent is present, where, generally, peace, the rule of law and a strong sense of civil rights prevail. It is a culture which, with some exceptions, does have a sense of fundamental decency, where there is a basic solidarity with those who are weaker and a deeply-rooted desire to hand a more or less viable world on to our children and grandchildren. The Cold War has been over for twenty years now, and I do not feel threatened by the East. I do see a future in which the most populous nations of the world (in particular, the Asian countries of China and India) will have much more influence on a global scale, something which is only just, giving that the two nations I have mentioned alone are home to one third of the world's population. I think there is a good chance that their continuing economic development will be paralleled (causally, it could be argued) by positive developments in civil society (I'm thinking of China particularly here). But maybe one of the lessons we can learn from the Bush era is that these developments will not be furthered by forcing a particular vision of how societies should be ordered through the barrel of a gun, or economic bullying. The developing countries, as well as the tiger economies, have an acute sense of having been historically dominated and exploited by the west - rightly for the most part - and this makes them sensitive about and suspicious of what they perceive as condescending preaching (and incidental defense of the status quo) by the West. The values formulated in the Enlightenment - liberty, equality, tolerance, representative government, due process and the rule of law, basic solidarity as the foundation of society are embodied (in many respects, imperfectly) in the USA and the Western democracies. They are values worth standing up for. I believe, however, that example is the most potent force and that consistent adherence to these values (and their more perfect realisation) in our own societies, and the positive results resulting from this, are the strongest arguments for their more widespread adoption. Where these values - and our societies - are attacked, we must, of course, resist. However, the path of resistance pursued by the Bush administration for the past seven years has not been crowned with any great measure of success. Francis On 6 Feb., 20:52, Kierkecraig <[email protected]> wrote: > Chris, I didn't say my defense of Bush was easy. It makes it > especially hard when he bent over, grabbed his ankles, and invited the > democrats to do their business. The bailout was Bush trying to save > face after being completely humiliated and destroyed by the MSM. But, > nevertheless, I defend him. In fact I'm surprised that a man like > Bush was even possible in today's pansy laden society. I think the > Bush administration was the last vestige we will see of any attempt at > strength by the American people. From here on out you can plan on us > exhibiting nothing but weakness. I think we will pretty much reflect > the likes of every downtrodden and defeated society in the West. From > here on out will see the East rise. > > On Feb 6, 12:28 pm, Chris Jenkins <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Here's where we differ on that, Craig. > > We have 8 years of some fairly sizable errors in judgment, and crises of > > administration. Now, we have a new president who's been in office two weeks. > > You know I am more than willing and able to be critical as the need arises, > > but on what basis would you continue that administration, as opposed to > > trying out a new direction? The first bailout bill was the final act of > > Grand Larceny against the American People perpetrated by Bush's > > administration. I don't see how you wouldn't take umbrage with that. > > > On Fri, Feb 6, 2009 at 2:21 PM, Kierkecraig <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > I have no doubt I'm on my own. I defend him when no one else will. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
