Going Down Laughing“The political and commercial morals of the United States are not merely food for laughter, they are an entire banquet.”
—Mark Twain (1835-1910), curmudgeon,
from Bernard DeVoto, ed., Mark Twain in Eruption:
Hitherto Unpublished Pages About Men and Events (1940)
from Bernard DeVoto, ed., Mark Twain in Eruption:
Hitherto Unpublished Pages About Men and Events (1940)
Today in History
2005: Mahmoud Abbas sworn in as Palentinian president; 2004: NASA’s rover, Spirit, starts wandering over Mars; 1974: Happy Days premiers; 1970: Moammar Qaddafi become premier of Libya; 1967: First Super Bowl: Green Bay 35, Kansas City 10; 1919: Molasses floods Boston streets; 1870: First use of the Democratic donkey; 1777: New Connecticut (Vermont) declares independence from England; 1559: Queen Elizabeth I crowned
I so agree.... I wonder if Americans ever consider how they appear - as a society, individually, culturally, politically, economically - to the rest of the world...
ReplyDeleteI've been here almost five years... and I am still struck daily by the discrepancy between the PR version of the US and the reality of daily and national life here... and the sheer cheek/daring of the justifications for what goes on is breath-taking...
This country is full of double standards and hypocrisy - self-righteously proclaimed principles seem to fall under the wheels of the bus of expediency at the first test of integrity and sincerity...
Other countries have their own issues, but few go around the world shouting 'we are the best, we are the saviour of the world and its our job to police the rest of the globe', insist virtuously that this version of (democratic capitalism????!)reality is the only valid one and then attempt to force this particular brand of politics and economics down the throats of the rest of the global community...
Different and equal is not a concept that is understood and accepted widely here, despite the taglines doing the rounds.... just look at any city and see the ethnic and economic divides - some of which are systemic and some of which are self-imposed by people/communities themselves...
Such a schizoid society - Obama has a lot to do, if he doesnt want to watch this country continue its melt down into a kind of hybrid Orwellian/Mad Max hell-hole.... poor guy!
We discussed this today in my 2010 class actually. The US looks a bit ridiculous when they are compared to the rest of the world. But I guess I think it's okay that we can give the rest of the world a laugh in such bad times!
ReplyDeleteIn one of my other classes someone had mentioned how the lived in Australia last fall semester during the elections. She said that the night of the elections every channel in Australia was covering what was going on in America. I think we as American citizens are almost like role models to other countries, almost like they are watching our every move.
ReplyDeleteWe in other countries dont necessarily watch what's going on in yours because you are our role models... we watch in an amused bewilderment at the outright foolishness and arrogance so often displayed and in dismay because you seem to have a need to inflict your foolishness on the rest of the world...and your sheer size makes it difficult for the rest of us to just shrug you off and ignore you...
ReplyDeleteSeriously though - why wouldnt we be watching what you do next, after the Bush-Florida debacle and then the outright insanity your country displayed when you re-elected the man... we were watching to see what will happen next in the big-money farce you call democracy...unfortunately its true that what happens in this country (good or bad) ripples out to affect the rest of the globe... sad to say, IMO its more often bad... your (illegitimate) leadership sticks its nose in where it doesnt belong, or ignores situations that dont match with its political agenda, breaks international law as it pleases, supports dictators in one part of the world and then appoints itself global policeman to topple a dictator in another, in the name of stopping terrorism and defending human rights and democracy when its really about ensuring (favourable) access to oil resources ...