John writes: > I really doubt it Stephen. Americans are very > arrogant. The ones on this > list aren't. But the average guy on the street is. > They are so full of > themselves it is to the point of being sickening. > Even though this incident > cost the lives of thousands of non-Americans, the > attitude is still against > the world. The way people here are acting and > speaking, it is almost to the > point of Nazism....
If it had been France or Germany or England who had been attacked, do you think that the nationalistic fervor in those countries wouldn't be as great than as in the US today? Do you think if it were Germany there wouldn't be skinheads on the TV screaming "Death to all Muslims (or Jews)!" and waving Nazi flags? I think the answer to both questions is "Yes". When your "home" is attacked, you rise to defend it. It's human nature. Some humans cannot distinguish between people who are terrorists, and those who just look like them, but the US certainly does not have a monopoly on those types. On the other hand: There is a Pakistani restaurant about a block from my office (called "Curry in a Hurry"). Two days after the terrorist attack, someone lit a fire against the back wall at around 10:00 a.m. As it was a brick building, no significant damage was done. However, by 2:00 p.m. the owner had to close up shop. Why? Because so many Americans (those same people some of you think are over-the-top nationalistic) showed up to show support for the owner that he ran out of food! We are entitled to be proud of our country and to rise in nationalistic pride in defense of it. That a certain percentage of our population are ignorant meatheads who write (or believe) the tripe that started this thread does not mean the rest of us should lay down in shame. And, speaking of metric (so Don doesn't flame me too badly!), I don't think the terrorist attack will negatively affect metrication in this country at all. Some of you seem to forget that it is the "newsworthy" who get on the news, and the easiest way to be newsworthy is to be an idiot. The vast majority of Americans will not change their opinion of metrication because of this. Jim Elwell
