From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)
Date: Fri Aug 23 2002 - 19:25:28 MDT
Dan writes
> On Friday, August 23, 2002 10:47 AM Brian D Williams talon57@well.com
> wrote:
> > Gee, if you'd have asked us 40 years ago we could
> > have saved several fortunes, and you'd all be
> > speaking fluent Russian by now.
>
> First, who is this "we"? Are you a member of the US
> Federal government? Do you make policy for it?
Brian Williamson loves his country, and says "we" in just the
tone of voice that people do who identify with their family,
or their company, or their country. As I explained in an email
a few weeks ago, love of country---so prominent in the writings
of late 18th century Americans and so strange and bizarre to
most Extropians, causes one to see the actions of one's country
through rose-colored glasses (some of the time at least), much
in the way that a man who loves his wife perceives what she does
and says in the best possible light.
I know this from personal experience, because I had a country
that I loved very much from 1960 to 1998. Some things just
have to be black and white for me, and it can't be that way
any more for me, but I'll never forget how it was. You
probably simply can't understand how a person thinks and
acts who loves his country. (See below)
> Fourth, since the statement was directed at me: I was born, raised, and
> continue to live in America. Technically, I'm a US citizen. I don't
> equate being critical of US government policy with being non-American or
> un-American.
Like you, "technically" I'm a US citizen. But citizenship in
no way, of course, makes us similar at all to those who love
their countries.
Try to keep in mind the analogy of a loved family member.
As a realist, for example, you may admit to yourself that,
yes, your son does have a drinking problem, and yes, sometimes
he loses his temper. But he's still your son, you love him
very much, and you cannot bear to have people running him
down. (And all this is on the assumption that your son
really *does* have problems---but what if it's just a tough world,
and the truth is that your son has had to take care of himself,
sometimes not in the gentlest fashion? The truth is one thing,
and must always be searched for---but your love is another, and
is not qualified.)
> In fact, regarding the US government's imperial policy, I
> think those who support it are truly anti-American.
That's simply ridiculous. That's a flagrant, though entirely
typical, misuse of language. Again, the family analogy which
will help those who've never loved their countries: suppose
(just suppose) that your son is guilty of breaking the law,
and suppose (just suppose) that you seek to shelter him from
the law and do other things that are wrong to aid and abet
your son. Anyone who says that you are truly "anti" your son,
"because you aren't doing what is best for him in the long
run" is misusing the language. The truth is that you are
too "pro" your son, and you probably need to balance that
with more respect for the law.
Lee
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