When I was a young man, I was quite the philosopher.
I developed a combination of laws of physics and morality
that I described as "moral relativism." No one person
or nation had a monopoly on right or wrong, good or
evil. The most deranged murderer or evil empire was
only so from my perspective. From his/their
perspective his/its conduct was somehow justifiable.
Just like objects moving in space. The moving object
is only moving from the perspective of the observer.
From the perspective of the object, it is standing still
and the observer is moving. Applying this concept of
physics to morality, any code of conduct is justifiable
from someone's perspective. Euros are ungrateful
freeloaders of American provided security. Americans
are "fear-fucked" "war mongering" and "greedy". Both
descriptions are equally true or false depending on the
perspective of the viewer.
But then I remembered that all those complicated calculus
equations in physics always ended with "+C", which was more
or less disregarded in working through the equation but was
always there to denote the location of the mass, etc.
The +C was in every calculation and was the perspective of
the viewer. My +C cannot be ingored. America's
+C cannot be ignored. Thus, I went from
a Nihilist not believing in any right from wrong, any
morality, to saying:
"Fuck! I have a perspective. That is the only
perspective that matters. I have morals and I know
right from wrong and good from evil. Others may have
a different opinion, but they are WRONG from my
perspective, because in the end my perspective is the only
perspective in the world that matters (from my
perspective)."
This does not mean I don't care what others want, need or
think, because that would be a bad trait from my
perspective, but how the wants, needs and thought of others
are incorporated into a code of conduct must be evaluated
according to my perspective -- not theirs.
What is the meaning of all this? Your perspective is
not mine. Your perspective is not that of an
American. You are an object moving away in
space.
Random thoughts:
America is such a racist country because of its history of
slavery, but all accounts suggest that the Arabs imported
far more African slaves into the Middle East than were
shipped to the new world. America still has a
significant black population, slowly but surely rising out
of discrimination. But what ever happened to the
millions of Africans that were imported into the Middle
East as slaves. You and I both know, don't we?
If you were a captured African, which would you
prefer: The slow boat to Carolina or the Caravan to
Bagdad?
I pay off my sizable credit card bill every month.
So, I don't carry a balance from month to month and pay no
interest. However, the card enables me to manage my
spending and defer actually paying for expenses for up to a
month. Plus, I get American Airline mileage for every
dollar spent.
I have three Tivo units throughout my house. I rarely
watch anything "live." I record the show or event and
start watching it 30 minutes or so later. That way I
can fast forward through the commercials. Watching
commercials has become so voluntary. The only time I
really do it is during the Super Bowl.
It is humorous that you think the media has made Americans
mind-numb America-loving robots. Most media observers
admit that the US mainstream media has a significant
anti-war, anti-administration bias (i.e., the NYT breaks
the law against disclosing illegally obtained classified
information and reports on phantom secret CIA prisons in
eastern Europe that don't seem to really exists, and the
NYT is not prosecuted. Rather, the reporters are
given Pulitzers!) If anything, the media has an
agenda to undermine support for the war at home and
embolden the terrorists abroad. If America is
unsuccessful in Iraq, the media's preferred party has a
better chance of securing the White House in 2008.
So, the NYT puts "Administration Invades America Citizen's
Private Banking Records" in a bold headline on page one and
buries "FBI arrests 7 Muslim terrorist in Miami planning to
blow up the Sears Tower" on page 22 (That actually happened
today for instance, but of course the terrorists were not
even described as Muslims) or "85 innocent Iraqis abducted
and beheaded due to America occupation" on page 1 and no
coverage whatsoever of a school being built by US
soldiers. Can you identify one US soldier or marine
that the media has portrayed as a hero for bravery in
battle against terrorists? (and Jessica Lynch does not
count. She was a victim of a car accident -- not a
war hero.) Not one? So, all the Americans are
doing in Iraq are stacking naked detainees into pyramids,
and going from room to room in Haditha shooting women and
children in the head? With respect to your impression
of the US media, like I said, you are truly an object
moving away in space!
The next time an Austrian asks you, "How could Bush have
been re-elected?", tell them, "Gee, I don't know.
Apparently, Americans tend to vote who will protect their
best interests, and they don't seem to care what we
Austrian's think. Maybe we should propose legislation
in Brussels that gives EU citizen a vote in American
elections. I'm sure the UN would support it."
Then remind them that there has not been an attack on US
soil since 9/11, unemployment figures are at the lowest
rate ever, the stock market is up, the economy is growing,
taxes have been reduced but revenue has increased. If
all you do is read the Reuters headlines, of course it
would be absurd to re-elect Bush, but Americans actually
live here and know how things really are despite, not
because of, the media elite.
Let's see how long that Italian government lasts. I
can see communists and Catholics joining to boot a bozo out
of office, but not working together to run a country.
What happened in the elections in Germany, Great Britain,
Australia and even liberal Canada?
I spent two weeks in Italy in 2004. It was cool, but
everyone was so fucking stupid. I couldn't understand
a word they were saying.
On Jun 21, 2006, at 6:16 AM, xxxx wrote:
Why are
you so quick to validate criticism of AMERICA?
ANSWER: The
2000 Election, and 9 months later 9/11, and then the
invasion of Iraq. All three events are open to a vast
amount of speculation. I truly believe all three were
planned years in advance.
Then, Bush & Co. actually got re-elected. This
event is beyond reason. The #1 question asked of me
over here is, "How did he get elected again?" Thus,
the answer to your question...
What
happened to you when you were here?
ANSWER:
Actually, I had a pretty damn good life in America, no
regrets. I came here originally intending to stay
several months, but Europe really appealed to me. In
America, the worst experience was a horrible two
months in 1990. I quit my job, then
my wife quit me, and then I totalled my
car. So I did suffer from Credit Card debt as a
result. I never really let it stop me from doing what
I wanted to do, though.
However, I believe the credit card system in America and
the profits they generate annually are
obscene. Buying anything and everything on
credit is as American as apple pie. Here in Austria,
it is not this way, so I guess I've been enlightened to the
absurdity of American credit card use. When I summer
in the States, it is truly amazing to watch TV and all
the commercials. For example, buying new
cars with "...cash back allowances
and rock-bottom A.P.R.'s". My brother Joe and I
watched a Phillies game one night last July and counted the
car commercials - by the 5th inning and the
number nearing 40, we got bored...
AMEX "don't leave home with out it?" or VISA "it's
everywhere you want to be"?
Were you hassled
by the cops (if so, what did you do to deserve
it?).
Yes, in 1994. Out in Woodland Hills, I got pulled
over by CHP two minutes after leaving a bar - I was driving
my girlfriends white, T-top powerful sports car.
Police report claimed: "I spun my tires (peeling out)
at the signal prior to the freeway on-ramp, then was
observed changing lanes in an erratic fashion on the
freeway, swerving back and forth without using my
blinkers..."
Um, we were pulled over on a service road "enroute" to the
freeway on-ramp. We hadn't even gotten on the damn
freeway yet, but my hot, busty blonde girlfriend Julie was
with me and we were obviously observed leaving the
bar. I blew a .11 - pretty damn low for having
just left a bar - and I was arrested and put in jail, while
Julie was ogled and chatted up.
Fortunately, we had a witness; a friend at the bar who left
a few minutes after we did had seen us pulled
over, and the witnesses father was a CHP out in
Palmdale. I hired a lawyer to fight my case
(interesting side note - I thought it was so outrageous I
met with and tried to convince Harlan Braun to take my case pro bono!!!). My
eventual lawyer charged $5000 bucks in fees, and the
judge threw out the traffic citations and fines but still
made me attend the $1100 "DUI school".
Did I deserve it? Maybe. Did the cops
completely fabricate the arrest report? Definitely.
I don't
understand what freedom you think I have been deprived
of. At the same time you accept criticisms of
America based upon its excessive freedoms (gun violence,
rapes, etc.) Which is it? Are we too oppressed,
or to free?
You are being deprived of living among non-fearfucked
people. It takes a helluva lot of scared
sheep to re-elect somebody like Bush.
Gun violence and rape are not freedoms, they are
crimes. Shit poor school systems and a TV obsessed
culture are dumbifying America. I believe Americans
are numb to violence and they are numb to corruption in
their government.
America itself has not been ravaged by War since
1865. Present day Americans, on the whole, have
no concept of how horrible and utterly devasting
war is for the "host" country(s).
"OH, THOSE TERRORISTS KNOCKED OVER OUR BIG BUILDINGS!
WHAA! WHAA! GET THE BAD GUYS, GEORGE!
WE'RE SCARED! WHAA! WHAA! SAVE US FROM
THOSE MEAN OLD RAGHEADS OUT IN THE DESERT! WHAA!
WHAA! WHAA! WHERE'S MY BLANKEY?
Tom, aren't you disgusted with how it took just one day to
scare the living crap out of the entire population in the
most powerful country on Earth? You yourself called
the U.S. government totally corrupt. In less than a
day they manipulated the world - and is a
N.W.O. not happening now before our Homeland Secured eyes?
Europe was physically destroyed twice in the past
century by War. A large percentage of Europe's
population that were directly effected by the last World
War on their soil are still alive today. That's why
it's unimaginable for the vast majority of
Europeans to respect a war-monger like Bush, Incorporated,
as well as the country he represents. The same
holds true for me.
Having lived over here for 5 years, without the OPPRESSIVE
media machine of American propaganda beating into
my brain 24/7/365, I have shed, or
peeled away, my "America is #1" and
always-right-by-God arrogance and ignorance.
I say stop making
war, negotiate a deal to keep the oil flowing and
clean up the horrible problems that exist in America
today. Is
that anti-American?
You can take your Orange, Red and Yellow terror alerts and
shove them up every paranoid, fear-fucked American's
asshole. In the year 2050 we might see 20% of
Europe Muslim? So what? This frightens you?
Tell me, please, what nation in the history of the world
has ruled forever? None. You, as a historian,
should know that. The reason for almost
all dynastic or world dominating powers to eventually fall
is what? Over-extending its boundaries and/or
influence. Greed. Tell me, who is the greediest
nation on Earth at this time?
Doh!
Spend 5 years in a cool European country like Italy, and
you may be singing a different tune, too.
BTW: War-backing Berlusconi was bounced out on his ass
the last Italian election...
Dave R. ps. beer here is superb - and
cold.