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I'm not one to believe that anyone is 'fair game,' not extremist Muslims, axe murderers or even the Real Housewives, so plainly that extends toward Americans, too.
That said, I understand where the hatred comes from and why and it's not particularly surprising (to me) to hear that someone who was brought up here, really with a foot in two worlds, would turn against it. When you observe the superficial materialism in America and contrast it with the things our country has done to secure it for us while we sail on blindly singing "God Bless America' and thinking how fucking wonderful we are...why wouldn't someone learn to hate it? I have. The anger itself is not irrational.
And that said, the fact that the man has allowed his anger to turn to madness and hatred, well, what makes him so special? It happens all the time to all sorts of people.
What is alarming is the fact that there are so many people in the world feeling the same way, at the same time and the fact that they can communicate with each other so easily, which is validating and insulating. I don't know that there is a lot that America can do about it. No, we are not wholly responsible for the actions of our government, but we bear some culpability as a society. We chose to be uninvolved or not to see or to decide that what we've done was worth it.
Sorry to be so morose this morning, but I'm pretty sure it's the truth.
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Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce
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