I think you may be missing the point too, Jim!! I fully agree that many Americans are vocal in their condemnations of certain actions by their Government!!
My point is that too many Americans seem unable to take criticism at all, whether or not that criticism may be justified!! Many Americans have criticised the British over the situation in Northern Ireland over the years, seeing the IRA as some kind of 'freedom-fighters'!! My own view on this particular question is that the country should have been fully united in the 1920's and leaving the country divided only allowed bigotry on both sides to grow and fester!! The British themselves have often been described as arrogant, often with good reason!! Yet, as I have said above, any criticism of the American way of life seems to bring out the paranoia in them!! Your view that the tearing up of the Kyoto agreement and of nuclear arms agreements purely in the name of self-interest is a good thing is, not surprisingly, seen as arrogant by a great deal of the World, especially as you are one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gasses which has a bearing on all of us!! By all means pull up the drawbridge, Jim!! Just don't be surprised by the criticism that you are arrogant, that's all!! Regards, Steve. [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Elwell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Stephen Davis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2001 3:06 PM Subject: Re: [USMA:16705] Re: I don't understand American attitude! > Steve: > > It is clear to me from your email that I have failed in what I have been > trying to say on the forum. Allow me to try again. > > First, I have tried to make a point that Americans are not as bad as some > foreigners claim us to be. Like every country, we have a whole breadth of > people, ranging from arrogant to decent. Therefore, blanket assertions that > "Americans are arrogant" are stereotyping and are wrong. How would the list > react to a post such as "The French are snotty and elitist"? I would > presume there would be justified criticism of such a comment. > > However, I am *not* trying to say that we are perfect, or that any > criticism is unfounded. In fact, people such as me (libertarians) have been > among the most vocal Americans in claiming that this country (or, as you > point out, our government) is meddling all over the world where it ought > not, and this meddling and interfering with the affairs of other countries > has contributed in part to the hatred many people have towards the US. > > (The last figure I recall is that America has troops in 118 countries (out > of 130 or so). To a libertarian, that is absolutely abominable and > disgraceful.) > > Nonetheless, I am not sure that this argument of who hates whom, who is > responsible for what, etc., has much to do with the metrication debate, so > I will try and restrain myself in this regard. > > Second (and this is the point I should emphasize on the forum): you cannot > persuade by criticizing. If foreigners want to help us metricate this > country, when they are talking metric they need to keep their criticisms > (right or wrong) to themselves. This is not unique to Americans: nobody > will listen to someone who starts out by calling them names. > > Finally, your comment about Kyoto and the ABM treaty bring up an > interesting question. Why are we considered "arrogant" or "elitist" just > because we take actions we consider to be in the best long-term interest of > the US and (sometimes) the entire world? Personally, I absolutely agree > with our government on these two issues. I do not believe I am arrogant, > and would be happy to discuss them with anyone. But if such a discussion > starts out "You arrogant Americans..." then it will not get far. > > Jim Elwell >
