Hardly. It should sound like what it says: America is an empire in decline not unlike the Roman Empire. We have tried to conquer foreign lands under false pretenses and then, rather that do anything meaningful to own to our faults, we instead laud ourselves for being so noble as to allow some of the conquered to live among us. I disdain …
Hardly. It should sound like what it says: America is an empire in decline not unlike the Roman Empire. We have tried to conquer foreign lands under false pretenses and then, rather that do anything meaningful to own to our faults, we instead laud ourselves for being so noble as to allow some of the conquered to live among us. I disdain noblesse oblige, especially in its American form.
The article is paean to the wrong impulse. My wife is a would-be-immigrant from China. And for all their faults, at least the Chinese won't throng to America after the United States wrongfully storms their nation in an ill conceived tele-drama that won ratings and did little else. Americans seem so incredibly squeamish about wanting to look at what we do abroad. Can you imagine what we would do if foreign tanks destroyed large swathes of Kansas City or Denver? But we are more than willing to contribute to this mayhem and then applaud ourselves when a lucky few come to our shores and tell us they like the smell of our bullshit.
Your comments do not sound like what you think they say.
It sounds as if you believe that not only is America in decline (a point I absolutely agree with, btw), but that America "was NEVER great." You sound exactly like a Leftist bitching about what a horrible country this is.
At least you have to decency to admit that immigrants shouldn't come to such a horrible country; unlike Leftists, who encourage illegal immigration out of one side of their mouths, while decrying America as a racist hellhole out of the other.
Choosing to focus on Iraqi immigrants wasn't really the best gambit for this author, but this essay attempts to make a point about American opportunity, not about American foreign policy.
Fair point. But I think the characterization of if/when America was ever a "great" nation is not productive. I make comments referring to the times in which I live. I also don't mythologize. I think it isn't necessary. I am a southerner at heart and have no problem admitting two important realities:
1. The South was wrong in the Civil War and deserved to lose.
2. Yankees are horrible people who took great pleasure in not only destroying the South but in rubbing salt in the wounds of southerners for generations.
Both are true.
1. America is the greatest nation on earth.
2. The greatest nation on earth is plagued by some damned ugly problems.
You are letting your southern sympathies geet the better of you. The Yankees never wanted to go to war. They dragged their feet at the beginning. The South fought valiantly. But that resulted in a lot of Yankee deaths and dismemberments. So, you can hardly blame the north for coming down hard on the enemy that had killed and maimed so many of its sons.
Hardly. It should sound like what it says: America is an empire in decline not unlike the Roman Empire. We have tried to conquer foreign lands under false pretenses and then, rather that do anything meaningful to own to our faults, we instead laud ourselves for being so noble as to allow some of the conquered to live among us. I disdain noblesse oblige, especially in its American form.
The article is paean to the wrong impulse. My wife is a would-be-immigrant from China. And for all their faults, at least the Chinese won't throng to America after the United States wrongfully storms their nation in an ill conceived tele-drama that won ratings and did little else. Americans seem so incredibly squeamish about wanting to look at what we do abroad. Can you imagine what we would do if foreign tanks destroyed large swathes of Kansas City or Denver? But we are more than willing to contribute to this mayhem and then applaud ourselves when a lucky few come to our shores and tell us they like the smell of our bullshit.
Your comments do not sound like what you think they say.
It sounds as if you believe that not only is America in decline (a point I absolutely agree with, btw), but that America "was NEVER great." You sound exactly like a Leftist bitching about what a horrible country this is.
At least you have to decency to admit that immigrants shouldn't come to such a horrible country; unlike Leftists, who encourage illegal immigration out of one side of their mouths, while decrying America as a racist hellhole out of the other.
Choosing to focus on Iraqi immigrants wasn't really the best gambit for this author, but this essay attempts to make a point about American opportunity, not about American foreign policy.
Fair point. But I think the characterization of if/when America was ever a "great" nation is not productive. I make comments referring to the times in which I live. I also don't mythologize. I think it isn't necessary. I am a southerner at heart and have no problem admitting two important realities:
1. The South was wrong in the Civil War and deserved to lose.
2. Yankees are horrible people who took great pleasure in not only destroying the South but in rubbing salt in the wounds of southerners for generations.
Both are true.
1. America is the greatest nation on earth.
2. The greatest nation on earth is plagued by some damned ugly problems.
You are letting your southern sympathies geet the better of you. The Yankees never wanted to go to war. They dragged their feet at the beginning. The South fought valiantly. But that resulted in a lot of Yankee deaths and dismemberments. So, you can hardly blame the north for coming down hard on the enemy that had killed and maimed so many of its sons.
He sure is letting his southern sympathies shine today.