NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/sci/econ/9929

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From: [e-mail] (Brent Irvine)
Newsgroups: sci.econ,soc.culture.usa,soc.culture.japan,soc.culture.british,soc.culture.canada
Subject: Re: US as No. 1 (3 data books)
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Date: 27 Jan 93 16:51:59 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.C1Iuun.Gn9
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Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Curtis Jackson) writes:
>Well, certainly the "look, everyone wants to live here" bit of
>"logic" is a factor, but there are many more that are probably
>more important. In particular, the issue of individual freedom
>and choice (at least, until the drug war started in earnest).
>
>Americans look at other countries and see things by which
>Americans are not constrained:
>
>Official state religions
>Mandatory government/military service
>Mandatory separation of college-bound vs. trade-bound students
>in the early/mid teenage years
>Unreasonable (to Americans) search and seizure in the name of
>public safety
>Mandatory shop closing hours (a la Germany, Nederlands, etc.)
>Legislation without true representation (House of Lords)
>
>Add to the above the military might of the country, and you have
>a citizenry who feel they are powerful as a country and powerful
>as individuals. They can own as many guns as they like, they can
>drive an automobile with no instruction after passing the most
>absurdly minimal of tests, they can worship whomever they like
>publicly, and they can stand in front of the White House and call
>the President a horse's ass as long as they're not so loud as to
>be considered disturbing the peace.
>
>That kind of personal (and national) power breeds arrogance and
>contempt; it is human nature. I seem to recall that England
>herself had a rather healthy case of it a few hundred years back,
>and it ended up costing her The Empire.

I would say that American are not Arrogant as much as others say.
With all the self depricating done oin the media that people buy,
and base policy on, America is a nation that continuously feels
it is on the edge of failure.  While proud, i do not feel that
there is a whoel lot of arrogance [esp. when immigration is a major
force making "American" a difficult-to-define term!].

I also think that "arrogance" was not the cause of England's
relative decline over the last 50 years.  There were a lot of
non-arrogance oriented events (WWII's debt) that did a far
"better" job than an assumed attitude...

>--
>Curtis Jackson            '91 Black Lab/Blue Heeler "Studley Doright"
>[e-mail]    '92 Collie/Golden "George"
>DoD #721    KotB        '91 Hawk GT    '81 Maxim 650
>"I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead." -- J. Buffett


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| Brent L. Irvine         | For a mere $50 these personal  | Ak! Its 1992 tax|
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