this guy gets it. Much of the deepest roots of American "arrogance" or the perception of it by people in other nations comes from the fact that America is the most powerful nation on the planet, both militarily and economically. No other nation (including China or even Britain, if for some reason it came to it) can challenge us militarily in the air or at sea for decades to come. But CHina has been thinking long-term, and they play by different rules and have more resources - they're catching up. We Americans are almost ashamed of our offensive military power and have had poor leadership. Similar to the British in the 1st half of the 20th century.
the difference between arrogance and obnoxiousness is, to me, whether one can back it up, but the actions to an outsider might be perceived the same. I think Americans are rightly perceived to be expressing our patriotism loudly lately, and that at a deep level, it's out of fear that we can no longer back it up.
thus the drunken ramblings of a former frequent politics board contributor who once nearly got beat up in a London pub for praising Thatcher.
p.s. sorry about Tom Hicks- he's a lousy owner- even of our teams!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel_
Please don't accuse me of anger - I feel sadness. America is a great country. Some of the people I care most about are American. I love American culture, i read American books, watch American shows, watch American movies, listen to American music.
I don't get American sports, and wonder why you can't see how much better F1 is compared to Indy racing, but that's not anger.
What I see in America is what I see in reading history about the British Empire of the 1920's. You have the facility to control so many things in the world and influence them for good, but you're living high on the hog, and not realising that the people you think should love you actually want what you've got and will take it from you.
I don't want to see the US got through the pain that the UK did after WWII, but I fear it's coming in a generation.
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