And BTW, this isn't the first time I've heard South Americans get pissy about the American thing by specifying us as North Americans. "But we're Americans too..." is the general complaint.
Face it world, there's only one America, and we're it. When the world hears the word "American", a citizen of Ecuador or Peru is definately not the first thing anyone thinks of. Fair or unfair, that's simply the way it is, and it really has nothing to do with anything, so I suggest the energy spent whining about it be channeled into more productive pursuits.
We're not what's wrong with the world.
In fact, we're the very least of the world's problems, and possibly the answer to many of them.
Great job!
I kept wondering if I would come to a point where I would say, "Well..not that, of course!" but it didn't happen.
I'm happy to have discovered your site.
Excellent post! However, I think it may have been in vain as, if you've never had a political conversation with a Brazilian, then you really don't know how incongrous it can be.
TOM's Best of Best of Me award this week goes to "That Sumbitch ain't been BORN."
Kevin describes for his foreign correspondents the liberating cussedness of American individualism, connecting the dots of the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and national character.
Kim led me here, but after reading "That Sumbitch Ain't Been Born", it'll take a big stick to run me off.
It's writing like this that makes me proud to be an American. Proud you are my fellow American. You're what real Americans are all about. And you say it soooo goooood!
I'm forwarding your "That Sumbitch" to everybody in my address book and I bet you'll pick up at least 20 hits daily from them. They're great Americans, too!
Great job and I look forward to reading the rest of what you have to say!
You write, "Well, despite the fact that I am a Brazilian and a Latin American, I don't hate North Americans. I really think there are great people in USA, alive and dead, like Noam Chomsky...."
Well, despite the fact that I'm a North American, I like Brazil, particularly futebol brasileiro.
BUT, you need to look at Noam Chomsky with a more critical eye. What is Noam Chomsky? He's a professor, an academic. And what is the state of academia today? It is rife with joblessness. And what exactly has Chomsky done about this joblessness? Exactly nothing. He won't even write an article about it.
I used to share your views, but I just saw too many instances where leftists like Chomsky refused to do things they should have done, things that their own leftist principles demanded that they do.
I eventually decided to take a step back from the left and subject it to a critical review. Not much survived.
Regarding the U.S. and the Third World, most countries of the Third World have problems that are their own fault. Take a look at Zimbabwe today to see what I mean. These countries have corruption, bad educational systems, barriers against getting ahead, and so on. There are also countries in east Asia that are thriving today that were nothing when I was a child back in the 1950s. Indeed, in the 1980s, we thought that Japan was soon going to dominate us. In other words, there is nothing preventing any Third World country from eventually dominating the world.
Brazil right now is actually an exciting place. You people have designed cars that can run on any combination of gasoline and ethanol. That is the spirit that made America great, of figuring out new and better ways to do things, instead of waiting for others to do this for you and then complaining that they are oppressing you.
Maybe Brazil will indeed be the country of the future.
Note:
All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost;
references to haloscan comments have been partially automatically remapped, but accuracy is not guaranteed and corrections are solicited.
If you notice any problems with this page or wish to have your home page link updated, please contact John Hardin <jhardin@impsec.org>
JS-Kit/Echo comments for article at http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2003/11/that-sumbitch-aint-been-born-early.html (19 comments)
Tentative mapping of comments to original article, corrections solicited.
Amen!
And BTW, this isn't the first time I've heard South Americans get pissy about the American thing by specifying us as North Americans. "But we're Americans too..." is the general complaint.
Face it world, there's only one America, and we're it. When the world hears the word "American", a citizen of Ecuador or Peru is definately not the first thing anyone thinks of. Fair or unfair, that's simply the way it is, and it really has nothing to do with anything, so I suggest the energy spent whining about it be channeled into more productive pursuits.
We're not what's wrong with the world.
In fact, we're the very least of the world's problems, and possibly the answer to many of them.
Bravo, Kevin! You're getting better all the time.
Every sixth grader should have to memorize what you so perfectly wrote.
Good Job
Great job!
I kept wondering if I would come to a point where I would say, "Well..not that, of course!" but it didn't happen.
I'm happy to have discovered your site.
Happy to have you visit.
To complement Geek's comments:
North America and South America are continents.
The United States of America, commonly referred to globally as simply "America," is a country of North American continent.
Canada is another North American country, but they don't refer to themelves as "American."
Scotland and Ireland are part of the United Kingdom. It would be not be wise to refer to those citizens as "Brits"...
Excellent post! However, I think it may have been in vain as, if you've never had a political conversation with a Brazilian, then you really don't know how incongrous it can be.
What Kevin said.
Absolutely outstanding.
Kickin'! You just made my daily visit list.
Totally awesome post. Thank the Jim for the Bestofme Symphony! I would have missed this otherwise...
Wow. I didn't know "totally awesome" was still in use! :-)
TOM's Best of Best of Me award this week goes to "That Sumbitch ain't been BORN."
Kevin describes for his foreign correspondents the liberating cussedness of American individualism, connecting the dots of the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and national character.
Excellent post
Tell it to the Indians
Kevin,
Kim led me here, but after reading "That Sumbitch Ain't Been Born", it'll take a big stick to run me off.
It's writing like this that makes me proud to be an American. Proud you are my fellow American. You're what real Americans are all about. And you say it soooo goooood!
I'm forwarding your "That Sumbitch" to everybody in my address book and I bet you'll pick up at least 20 hits daily from them. They're great Americans, too!
Great job and I look forward to reading the rest of what you have to say!
Well, thank you!
Absolutely superb. Amen and three cheers!
Thank you, and thanks for the link, too.
Dear Tupiniquim:
You write, "Well, despite the fact that I am a Brazilian and a Latin American, I don't hate North Americans. I really think there are great people in USA, alive and dead, like Noam Chomsky...."
Well, despite the fact that I'm a North American, I like Brazil, particularly futebol brasileiro.
BUT, you need to look at Noam Chomsky with a more critical eye. What is Noam Chomsky? He's a professor, an academic. And what is the state of academia today? It is rife with joblessness. And what exactly has Chomsky done about this joblessness? Exactly nothing. He won't even write an article about it.
I used to share your views, but I just saw too many instances where leftists like Chomsky refused to do things they should have done, things that their own leftist principles demanded that they do.
I eventually decided to take a step back from the left and subject it to a critical review. Not much survived.
Regarding the U.S. and the Third World, most countries of the Third World have problems that are their own fault. Take a look at Zimbabwe today to see what I mean. These countries have corruption, bad educational systems, barriers against getting ahead, and so on. There are also countries in east Asia that are thriving today that were nothing when I was a child back in the 1950s. Indeed, in the 1980s, we thought that Japan was soon going to dominate us. In other words, there is nothing preventing any Third World country from eventually dominating the world.
Brazil right now is actually an exciting place. You people have designed cars that can run on any combination of gasoline and ethanol. That is the spirit that made America great, of figuring out new and better ways to do things, instead of waiting for others to do this for you and then complaining that they are oppressing you.
Maybe Brazil will indeed be the country of the future.
Note: All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost; references to haloscan comments have been partially automatically remapped, but accuracy is not guaranteed and corrections are solicited.
If you notice any problems with this page or wish to have your home page link updated, please contact John Hardin <jhardin@impsec.org>