sonorakitch
Overseas hunter
McDread,
You have some very good points there. I generally agree with Leowind; Americans don't look down when they are "on top". I find this sad...many of my friends have never even been out of the country excluding Mexico. That is the interesting point though. Here in Arizona, the people know a great deal about Mexican culture, politics, etc., because of the great interaction that we have with Mexico...New Englanders don't know a great deal about Mexico but know much more about Canada. It boils down to exactly what Leowind said: People here don't care unless it affects them. I will tell you one thing though: I lived in China for a year studying and I found them to be even more ignorant about the world around them. I guess thats what happens when you are fresh out of isolationism after 4000 years...
Referring to "God Bless America" statements, one must understand that America is still a religious country; the great majority follow one religion or another. I am not religious myself, and I really frown on the religious right here, but it is inevitable with so many "people of faith". And about the environment, I think Americans do care, as long as they don't lose their jobs trying to protect it. If you have ever travelled around America, though, I think you'd find we do an excellent job maintaining our natural beauty...and no offense, but I have been through Europe several times and don't see that there. I know it wasn't your generation, and it is due to the enourmous population density, but forests are rare and every river is polluted. So when Europeans criticize our environmental positions, such as Kyoto, I think it would be important to consider this. And Kyoto had serious flaws that would have affected this economy in a very bad way...I think our leaders have requested many revisions, like including China and India into the protocal, in attempts to salvage the agreement, but they did not work. So sign it; I hope you guys can take the lead on this issue.
And the death penalty, well, that issue has strong support here, including most leftists, so don't worry about it. You can protest against it, but nothing will change for a long time. The theory here is that it will help curb the crime, where Europe enjoys much lower crime rates.
And I agree, there are some nations in Europe which have equally free constitutions, but in my interests, such as hunting, Europe is much more oppressive in terms of state land use, etc. And the socialization of business and a notable lower amount of economic opportunity, business is not as free-market oriented. Consider the fact that opening a business in America is really a straightforward ordeal...a few papers and approvals and your off! In Europe, I have personal experience which leads me to believe this is not the case (a huge amount of red tape in Germany, for example). So while I agree with your statement, I would rather live here. This is still the place, with a small handful of other nations, which provides real chances of gaining wealth and power from nothing. Look at some of our past presidents: Jimmy Carter (born into a peanut farming family), Ronald Reagan (born dirt poor in a small town in Illinois), Bill Clinton (born in Arkansas to a poverty-stricken family with only a mother). In Europe, it seems that it is more difficult to rise up like this...although of course I am not saying it doesn't happen.
I do wish Americans would take more interest in world affairs. It would certainly improve our abilities as the sole superpower if people understood the world around them.
~Chris
You have some very good points there. I generally agree with Leowind; Americans don't look down when they are "on top". I find this sad...many of my friends have never even been out of the country excluding Mexico. That is the interesting point though. Here in Arizona, the people know a great deal about Mexican culture, politics, etc., because of the great interaction that we have with Mexico...New Englanders don't know a great deal about Mexico but know much more about Canada. It boils down to exactly what Leowind said: People here don't care unless it affects them. I will tell you one thing though: I lived in China for a year studying and I found them to be even more ignorant about the world around them. I guess thats what happens when you are fresh out of isolationism after 4000 years...
Referring to "God Bless America" statements, one must understand that America is still a religious country; the great majority follow one religion or another. I am not religious myself, and I really frown on the religious right here, but it is inevitable with so many "people of faith". And about the environment, I think Americans do care, as long as they don't lose their jobs trying to protect it. If you have ever travelled around America, though, I think you'd find we do an excellent job maintaining our natural beauty...and no offense, but I have been through Europe several times and don't see that there. I know it wasn't your generation, and it is due to the enourmous population density, but forests are rare and every river is polluted. So when Europeans criticize our environmental positions, such as Kyoto, I think it would be important to consider this. And Kyoto had serious flaws that would have affected this economy in a very bad way...I think our leaders have requested many revisions, like including China and India into the protocal, in attempts to salvage the agreement, but they did not work. So sign it; I hope you guys can take the lead on this issue.
And the death penalty, well, that issue has strong support here, including most leftists, so don't worry about it. You can protest against it, but nothing will change for a long time. The theory here is that it will help curb the crime, where Europe enjoys much lower crime rates.
And I agree, there are some nations in Europe which have equally free constitutions, but in my interests, such as hunting, Europe is much more oppressive in terms of state land use, etc. And the socialization of business and a notable lower amount of economic opportunity, business is not as free-market oriented. Consider the fact that opening a business in America is really a straightforward ordeal...a few papers and approvals and your off! In Europe, I have personal experience which leads me to believe this is not the case (a huge amount of red tape in Germany, for example). So while I agree with your statement, I would rather live here. This is still the place, with a small handful of other nations, which provides real chances of gaining wealth and power from nothing. Look at some of our past presidents: Jimmy Carter (born into a peanut farming family), Ronald Reagan (born dirt poor in a small town in Illinois), Bill Clinton (born in Arkansas to a poverty-stricken family with only a mother). In Europe, it seems that it is more difficult to rise up like this...although of course I am not saying it doesn't happen.
I do wish Americans would take more interest in world affairs. It would certainly improve our abilities as the sole superpower if people understood the world around them.
~Chris
You understand what I mean? Yes, guns can cause crime and problems, but so do stupid people. So do a LOT of things. But then unless we join the Taliban, it's how it is. And even Taliban can't make things better, they make things worse in MY opinion. I dunno, rights are rights, take em away and what do you have left? A safer world? Maybe. A reason to live? Maybe not.
Not trying to offend with that at all.
.Mental note: never make generalizations about any group anymore.
). The fact is, though, is that this is not realistic. Consider the drug war. Whenever our government tries to enforce against a popular item, they miserably fail. So the result would be good people would have no protection against bad people who didn't give up their guns. Do you really think that gangsters and thugs would line up to give in their handguns?
