James from Norway
Dear America,
It’s hard to write to a nation. I think it is important to take time to get used to emotions, who you are how to relate and cope with differences. It’s really important that INDIVIDUALS are constantly aware and open. Otherwise democracy is easily victim to forms of totalitarianism and thinks like a [illegible] wave.
The America democracy is not usual. I really LIKE the idea that a president can’t run for more than two terms. That idea should be in all new democracies. But two party politics is prone to some evils, especially when the setup is such that the richest party wins and takes bribes from various pressure groups. How can that be smart? I get the impression that these pressure groups are big industries like oil, Tobacco, Weapons, but I’ve also seen that the Jewish lobby groups are strong. Suddenly you are in wars that are supported by three of these lobby groups. But what does the average American get out of this? And what does the world get out of this?
I should remind you that the United Nations was the brain child of America. It has its flaws, works slow but it is the ultimate democracy. In a modern world America will need to be more and more part of the western world. This requires some sacrifices and attitude changes. But in the long run the alternative is to be left behind. And there is a danger of becoming a nation stuck in self love and scorned by the world. What a shame. There is no reason for that. In relation to the world, America is tinny, and such a rate will be disastrous.
In Europe America is seen as a cultural and environmental thing. Not big and not smart. America’s energy usage per person is many times greater than the worst of the Europeans. It will cost to repair that, but there is no logical alternative. There is not a scientist in Europe that understands how America can undermine worldwide efforts to correct very real and dangerous environmental problems of global warming. It’s an arrogance against nature that will come back and hurt you and the rest of the world.
It’s easy to talk about political differences but I feel also invited to say something about cultural differences.
There doesn’t seem to be willingness to take a punch in the states. Somebody sneezes on you and you see some dollars and sue. The end result is some crazy balance where reality and authority have nothing to do with each other that is dangerous.
In America money means to much. Money is just supposed to be a grease to oil the cogs of society. The goal should be to participate well, not just to get rich. Happyness is much more than that.
There is a culture of consumerism. People spend too much time cultivating meaningless whims, buying on impulse following fashion minute by minute and throwing all the old stuff away, even though it is ok. Identity is not what you do for others but how much you have consumed for yourself, so this culture presumes. Somebody has to produce all this stuff, since the consumers don’t produce as much as they consume. Who is it? Who gets the rough end of the deal?
Signed,
About the author:
Name: James
Country: Norway
Gender: Male
5 Comments
Published on Friday, October 20, 2006 at 1:35 AM. It’s hard to write to a nation. I think it is important to take time to get used to emotions, who you are how to relate and cope with differences. It’s really important that INDIVIDUALS are constantly aware and open. Otherwise democracy is easily victim to forms of totalitarianism and thinks like a [illegible] wave.
The America democracy is not usual. I really LIKE the idea that a president can’t run for more than two terms. That idea should be in all new democracies. But two party politics is prone to some evils, especially when the setup is such that the richest party wins and takes bribes from various pressure groups. How can that be smart? I get the impression that these pressure groups are big industries like oil, Tobacco, Weapons, but I’ve also seen that the Jewish lobby groups are strong. Suddenly you are in wars that are supported by three of these lobby groups. But what does the average American get out of this? And what does the world get out of this?
I should remind you that the United Nations was the brain child of America. It has its flaws, works slow but it is the ultimate democracy. In a modern world America will need to be more and more part of the western world. This requires some sacrifices and attitude changes. But in the long run the alternative is to be left behind. And there is a danger of becoming a nation stuck in self love and scorned by the world. What a shame. There is no reason for that. In relation to the world, America is tinny, and such a rate will be disastrous.
In Europe America is seen as a cultural and environmental thing. Not big and not smart. America’s energy usage per person is many times greater than the worst of the Europeans. It will cost to repair that, but there is no logical alternative. There is not a scientist in Europe that understands how America can undermine worldwide efforts to correct very real and dangerous environmental problems of global warming. It’s an arrogance against nature that will come back and hurt you and the rest of the world.
It’s easy to talk about political differences but I feel also invited to say something about cultural differences.
There doesn’t seem to be willingness to take a punch in the states. Somebody sneezes on you and you see some dollars and sue. The end result is some crazy balance where reality and authority have nothing to do with each other that is dangerous.
In America money means to much. Money is just supposed to be a grease to oil the cogs of society. The goal should be to participate well, not just to get rich. Happyness is much more than that.
There is a culture of consumerism. People spend too much time cultivating meaningless whims, buying on impulse following fashion minute by minute and throwing all the old stuff away, even though it is ok. Identity is not what you do for others but how much you have consumed for yourself, so this culture presumes. Somebody has to produce all this stuff, since the consumers don’t produce as much as they consume. Who is it? Who gets the rough end of the deal?
Signed,
About the author:
Name: James
Country: Norway
Gender: Male
Labels: culture, environment, europe, foreign affairs, foreign policy, middle east, middle east policy, military, norway, politics, war and conflict
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I just started reading some of this blog and I am already amazed. I think maybe there are becoming two worlds. One is the cyber world of blogs and wikipedia where everyone thinks their uneducated and inexperienced opinion is fact because they can post it on a website. The other world is the one where I have been able to travel a little and found that Parisians are polite, friendly and eager to help American travelers, the British are eager to bend the rules to make things easier for someone who obviously needs help, Mexicans are the hardest workers that I have ever encountered and they show no signs of relaxing their struggle to earn enough Money to feed and educate their children. Italians are strong minded and will not be told what to do by another country, Canadians are arrogant with a superiority complex and Swedes can eat twice as much as any American and still stay skinny as a twig.
Sending a letter to America is one thing but these letters are written to Americans. When you say Americans are too interested in spending money you are not only talking to 13th generation Brits and Africans but also you are talking to 1st , 2nd and 3rd generation Germans, Italians, Mexicans, Pakistanis, Ethiopians, Vietnamese and Koreans. At least that is the demographics of the people I work with at a high tech company here in the US.
So what is the demographics of the group you eat lunch with there in Norway?
I should remind you that the United Nations was the brain child of America. It has its flaws, works slow but it is the ultimate democracy.
Ultimate democracy?
Consult a dictionary James. The UN isn't even representative. What country ELECTS its UN rep and invests in them any authority to make binding decisions for them?
Un reps are largely appointed posts.
If any country out there elects their UN rep, I'd love to hear about it.
James: "But two party politics is prone to some evils, especially when the setup is such that the richest party wins and takes bribes from various pressure groups. How can that be smart?"
James, both parties in America are loaded. You're seriously misreading American politics to think the richest party wins. The issues determine who wins. Those issues usually revolve around the economy, domestic reform, and occassionally foreign policy. Each party has its strengths and weaknesses in all of them.
James: "I get the impression that these pressure groups are big industries like oil, Tobacco, Weapons, but I’ve also seen that the Jewish lobby groups are strong. Suddenly you are in wars that are supported by three of these lobby groups. But what does the average American get out of this? And what does the world get out of this?"
James, your impressions of what drives America's policies are not just wrong, but crazy wrong. The idea that America is controlled by Jews is so bigoted and stupid you should be ashamed to say it in public. It marks you as a fool.
James: "I should remind you that the United Nations was the brain child of America. It has its flaws, works slow but it is the ultimate democracy."
No, it isn't. The UN reflects the bulk of its membership, who are dysfunctional Third World regimes whose main purpose in life is to rob their citizens blind. Consequently, the UN is a giant kleptocracy where everyone is trying to rip off the world. The thievery of top UN officials with respect to the Oil For Food program for Iraq is but one example of many sorry episodes of UN corruption and incompetence.
James: "In a modern world America will need to be more and more part of the western world. This requires some sacrifices and attitude changes. But in the long run the alternative is to be left behind."
America is already the anchor of the Western World. We provide the defense of Europe which allows it to create unsustainable welfare states. Europe is not likely to leave the US behind in any respect. Your economies are mismanaged by socialists. It is you who are falling behind not only economically but demographically. You're slowly being populated by Muslim immigrants who wish you evil.
Changing your welfare states will take profound attitude changes and sacrifice, things you presently are unwilling to do. Most of all, resisting the Muslims will require drastic revision of your national identity. If you don't do these things, the America you disdain will be the only place you can flee to enjoy a free life.
James: "In Europe America is seen as a cultural and environmental thing. Not big and not smart."
I guess that explains why you Europeans beat us to the moon, invented the computer, cured polio, outpaced our economy every year, and made Norwegian blockbusters that the whole world lines up to see.
James: "America’s energy usage per person is many times greater than the worst of the Europeans."
We use more electricity because we can afford more electricity because we make more electricity. All this happens because we are a more productive compared to Europe. Your inefficiency is not a virtue.
James: "There is not a scientist in Europe that understands how America can undermine worldwide efforts to correct very real and dangerous environmental problems of global warming. It’s an arrogance against nature that will come back and hurt you and the rest of the world."
The idea that humans are warming the world is intellectual junk, the kind of bad idea that Europeans embrace with ignorant fervor like Communism and Fascism and Nazism. It is Luddism combined with Mathusian Specter, zombie ideas the Europeans have should have left dead and buried.
James: "There doesn’t seem to be willingness to take a punch in the states. Somebody sneezes on you and you see some dollars and sue. The end result is some crazy balance where reality and authority have nothing to do with each other that is dangerous."
There is a kernel of truth in this but in reality only a tiny portion of people lawyer up and sue people. It happens but I don't know anyone who has done it. I only see it on TV like you do.
James: "There is a culture of consumerism. People spend too much time cultivating meaningless whims, buying on impulse following fashion minute by minute and throwing all the old stuff away, even though it is ok."
We can indulge ourselves this way because we are richer than you and so the economics of our lives are different. You are critizing Americans the same way an African might criticize you for having more than one pair of shoes. When you are poor, you can't afford to lose a shoelace. When you are rich, shoelaces are easily replaced on a whim or changed for no reason at all.
James: "Identity is not what you do for others but how much you have consumed for yourself, so this culture presumes. Somebody has to produce all this stuff, since the consumers don’t produce as much as they consume. Who is it? Who gets the rough end of the deal?"
This is a goofy argument. You can't consume any more than you can afford, therefore your consumption is limited by how much you produce. The shopping malls don't hand out their products for free in America.
James,
Interestingly, although you think we are vulgar consumerists, actually America is a far more religiously observant land than Europe. In Europe, we see secularism run amok, and countries without ideals. We see a socialist system in which people want to get without deserving (rather like the people here who sue for anything and everything).
As for your comments about the Jewish lobby, please bear in mind that you come from the continent that gave us the Holocaust, the Pogrom, the Inquisition, the Purge, and a tremendous variety of anti-semitic events great and small. Your soil is soaked with Jewish blood, and has been for millenia. Habits die hard, and perhaps just a little bit of anti-semitism remains in your media, your official institutions, and in the beliefs of run-of-the-mill people. In a democracy, everyone pursues his interests, and does not disparage the right of others to pursue what they perceive to be their interest.
And, by the way, the UN that was the American brainchild was meant to be limited to liberal democracies. Filling it up with kleptocratic tinhorn dictatorships that are excited at the opportunity to poke a giant in the ankles was NOT our idea. But it seems that the UN has become exactly that, and is rather limited in its utility now. Of course that doesn't prevent us from having to provide the lion's share of the funding for it. It just means that we'll always be on the losing side of the ritualistic 150-5 votes, with 7 abstentions.
yap, american style is different with asian style. i like your blog.... couse you share everything !