Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site mit-vax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!whuxlm!harpo!decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!mit-vax!csdf From: csdf@mit-vax.UUCP (Charles Forsythe) Newsgroups: net.politics Subject: Re: America-bashing Message-ID: <312@mit-vax.UUCP> Date: Wed, 3-Jul-85 16:59:51 EDT Article-I.D.: mit-vax.312 Posted: Wed Jul 3 16:59:51 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 5-Jul-85 06:08:47 EDT References: <3140@drutx.UUCP> <1340253@acf4.UUCP> Reply-To: csdf@mit-vax.UUCP (Charles Forsythe) Organization: MIT, Cambridge, MA Lines: 43 Summary: In article <1340253@acf4.UUCP> mms1646@acf4.UUCP (Michael M. Sykora) writes: >>/* csdf@mit-vax.UUCP (Charles Forsythe) / 8:40 am Jul 1, 1985 */ >The fact that Americans may vote for a candidate whose foreign policy they >feel is nonsensical (it is not clear that most Americans did feel this >way) does not necessarily indicate that they don't care about said policy. >It may merely mean that they feel him to be a better candidate overall >than the others. Granted that Reagan may have been over all better, still most American I know (and I don't know a huge percentage) didn't care about foreign policy before and somee still don't. >> [Summary: Do you take the time to learn about other countries and >> their language and cultures? They learn English and follow American >> politics.] > >The fact an American doesn't do what a European does doesn't make him/her >arrogant. If he/she doesn't do these things because of chauvinistic >feelings, then he/she is arrogant -- he/she is arrogating to him/herself >a superiority that he/she doesn't possess. If he/she doesn't because >he/she would rather do other things with his/her time then there is no >cause to call him/her arrogant. He/she may be foolish, but not arrogant. > >>Charles Forsythe > > Mike Sykora Good point, but if you see arrogance as apathy motivated by ignorance ("I don't know and I don't care), then this is arrogance. Webster says it's "a feeling of superiority brought on by presumtuous claims". Now most Americans don't feel SUPERIOR to Europeans outwardly, but the fact that they don't consider them important enough to study is somewhat presumptuous and implies superiority. Perhaps arrogance is to strong a word in this case, but ignorance applies and being ignorant "fools" is not a good image either. -- Charles Forsythe CSDF@MIT-VAX "The Church of Fred has yet to come under attack. No one knows about it." -Rev. Wang Zeep