Bad America
Why is everything American bad? Is it truly really that they (the political and economic superpower) are evil? Or have they been demonised by an envious ‘the rest of the world’?
Have they really been bad? At a glance they have not been the big bad wolf we, the rest of the world has made them out to be for the past two hundred years. Edison gave us the thing that was once previously an exclusive realm of the Lord. Bell gave us the telecommunications and license for everyone to go yakking away and eventually talk to ourselves like madman to the voices in our ears. And then Ford gave us the automobile and a reason to look cool. The Wright Brothers gave us wings before Red Bull even thought of it. Well, the long and short of it all is that they made the world more technologically savvy. Not to mention advances in knowledge, in areas of science and literature and the arts in general. Judging from these acts, no one would think that they are ‘bad’ by far.
It was due to these advances, the US rose to prominence in the 20th Century. They rose above all nations and states and became by the end of that century a prosperous nation. And with that power they became the single most powerful economy in the world and hence controlled the economy of the world. Because of that everyone had to follow and imitate them, (which includes their outrageous sense of fashion and music). That is the norm isn’t it? I mean that is not the first time in human history that happens. When the Indians were the most powerful, everyone were into Bollywood. When the Egyptians were in power, everyone danced to the tune of ‘Walk like an Egyptian.’ When Greek were powerful, everyone thought they were a God or Goddess or some smart-ass philosopher. When the Romans ruled, everyone thought the Italian accent was sexy. And when the Chinese came to power, everyone decided on eating noodles and dim sum and did the Kung Fu hustle. Well you get my drift.
But are they bad? My answer is no. Arrogant? Probably. But they have the right to be so simply because they earned it. Furthermore, they did something right. They worked hard and studied hard. That is the simple formula to success. I am not saying that the rest of the world did not but what I am saying is that the rest did not work as hard, and studied as hard. Yes if only we had worked harder.
The long and short of it all is that we, the rest of the world are envious of their success. Envy breeds contempt. And the contempt of it breeds the trouble we have today. Or is it?
Have they really been bad? At a glance they have not been the big bad wolf we, the rest of the world has made them out to be for the past two hundred years. Edison gave us the thing that was once previously an exclusive realm of the Lord. Bell gave us the telecommunications and license for everyone to go yakking away and eventually talk to ourselves like madman to the voices in our ears. And then Ford gave us the automobile and a reason to look cool. The Wright Brothers gave us wings before Red Bull even thought of it. Well, the long and short of it all is that they made the world more technologically savvy. Not to mention advances in knowledge, in areas of science and literature and the arts in general. Judging from these acts, no one would think that they are ‘bad’ by far.
It was due to these advances, the US rose to prominence in the 20th Century. They rose above all nations and states and became by the end of that century a prosperous nation. And with that power they became the single most powerful economy in the world and hence controlled the economy of the world. Because of that everyone had to follow and imitate them, (which includes their outrageous sense of fashion and music). That is the norm isn’t it? I mean that is not the first time in human history that happens. When the Indians were the most powerful, everyone were into Bollywood. When the Egyptians were in power, everyone danced to the tune of ‘Walk like an Egyptian.’ When Greek were powerful, everyone thought they were a God or Goddess or some smart-ass philosopher. When the Romans ruled, everyone thought the Italian accent was sexy. And when the Chinese came to power, everyone decided on eating noodles and dim sum and did the Kung Fu hustle. Well you get my drift.
But are they bad? My answer is no. Arrogant? Probably. But they have the right to be so simply because they earned it. Furthermore, they did something right. They worked hard and studied hard. That is the simple formula to success. I am not saying that the rest of the world did not but what I am saying is that the rest did not work as hard, and studied as hard. Yes if only we had worked harder.
The long and short of it all is that we, the rest of the world are envious of their success. Envy breeds contempt. And the contempt of it breeds the trouble we have today. Or is it?
Finger Acrobatics Performed
On Saturday, March 11, 2006 at 7:36 pm.
Skip It and Leave Some!
