From: orpheus@reed.edu (P. Hawthorne)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.usa
Subject: Re: Myopia. A common ailment among Europe's intellectual elite? was (Re: [military] sending troops to the Middle East)
Date: 12 Aug 92 15:17:40 GMT
Article-I.D.: reed.1992Aug12.151740.1246
Organization: Reed College, Portland, OR


  silva@pangea (Holly Silva) writes:
: Jyrki, that you focus upon this aspect of this particular government is
: telling enough. That you obliquely suggest the possibility that 'Yank may
: be synonymous with totalitarian' is also, telling. Why fixate upon this
: aspect of the US, you who grew up in the shadow of the Soviet Union?

  jkp@cs.HUT.FI (Jyrki Kuoppala) writes:
: #oversimplification on
: Perhaps that's just why.  There are many signs that USA is turning
: into another Soviet Union - an oppressive, totalitarian oligargy.
: #oversimplification off

  What a jerk! This is the essential clue to the mystery of this thread. 
I have long wondered what was really bothering this guy. I mean, who poked
him in the eye, anyway? Why the malcontentia?

  In case you missed it, Holly called Jerky on one of those grossly
transparent insinuations that have become his stock and trade. Jerky's
response is to assert that the USA is becoming another USSR, a statement
for which he attempts to shirk responsibility with palsy disclaimers.

  Jerky is obsessed. Blind to the importance of freedom in American
history, as well as to the horrifying cost Americans have paid for their
opposition to tyranny, he must find some thing he can see to continue his
overly pessimistic, if not utterly and completely bigoted, insults on the
American character.

  Why, how convenient for the Soviet Union to need an understudy! A perfect
villain role just happened to become available, and at just the right time,
too. He gets no other meaning from the demise of the former SU than a grim
spectre he can raise and point to as if it were us. Why, can you imagine
him _not_ taking the opportunity to be dis'n on us as a people?

  Of course not! He must do it. He has no other choice. He is the messiah
with the one true word, and any sense of worth we Americans might feel
about ourselves are completely beside the point. I doubt the comparison
would be made by those who knew the USSR and the USA very well. 

  Hell, how many times has Finland been liberated from Oregon? Having seen
Popeye defeat Bluto, Olive Oil gets mad at Popeye.


  silva@pangea (Holly Silva) quite rightly asks:
: Why have you chosen to fixate upon the presence of this ugly undercurrent
: in American culture?

  jkp@cs.HUT.FI (Jyrki Kuoppala) blithers:
: Perhaps because the president of USA happens to belong to that
: undercurrent. And judging from the actions of the U.S. government it
: also seems to act based on that undercurrent. Is that a good enough
: reason?

  Of course there are elements in our nation that can be held in contempt.
Listen up, Jyrki! No culture is without their bad elements, elements whose
sway can be alarming and whose prominence can be disheartening.

  However, that does not mean that you have to insult us by ranting on and
on about a presidency that many never voted for, and never will. 

  The least you could do is shut up until the presidential election is
over. If Bush wins, you could post a single article here about how we are
all brainwashed fools and I wouldn't hold a grudge. As it is, you are
nothing more than a bigotted purveyor of hatred and propaganda.

  There is an old saying which may not be well known your own part of the
world. It is about a pot calling a kettle black. Since you seem to be weak
on this line of thinking, let me spell it out for you. If you are so very
concerned about tyranny that you feel you must point it out in others, you
ought to first look at your own environment and contend with the tyrannies
within it. So go counsel victims of violent crime in Germany or something
and stop your armchair condemnation of Americans. 

  Really. No, really. I mean it. If you're so all-fired up against tyranny,
you should rise up and fight it. That's how it's done. Not by whining on the
newsgroups of other cultures.


	"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility
	 to all forms of tyranny over the mind of Man."
       - Thomas Jefferson
					Prometheus Hawthorne - Jones
					orpheus@reed.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.usa