h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Ahmed, how did you get access to my falsified (going by the incorrect milk assumption) medical records? Do you have friends working for that second-rate spy agency, the CIA.

Ahmed, sorry about getting your state of origin wrong.

Incidently, as all young American males will tell you, Norwegian is in Scandinavia, just north of New Zealand

Anyway, most of them voted against the man who ended up as president.

The majority of Americans were too apathetic to vote. Others struggled to fill in the ballot paper correctly.

People who fall into either of the above catogories deserve to take a lot of the flak for the current state of world affairs. As soon as Dubya was appointed/elected President then the unfinished Gulf War - started by his father - was back on.

Too true. I am saddened and appalled by the tone of his rhetoric - surely even an imbecile can see that these attcks were caused by precisely the kind of sabre-rattling he is engaging in? I am also scared that the tendency of right-wing Americans to confuse lack of a better suspect with evidence of guilt will lead to an escalation of terrorist activities.

Hi honey...um, you are completely wrong about your impression of America (minorities and poor people). There are laws here that REQUIRE companies to have a certain quota of minority employees. My father has a hard time getting a job because of this. And you've never met anybody poorer than me, and I go to college. We have guaranteed financial aid here. And if you are disabled in any way and cannot work here, you get wellfare or free job training to help you find a job that is more suitable to your abilities. Anybody who wants to succeed and is willing to work here can do so.

As far as your experience with the ethnicities of the people at your conference...most people in the united states are white. yes we are a melting pot and all that, and there are millions of non-white folks around, but they are called MINORITIES for a reason. There simply are not as many of them as there are white people. Simple math.

Also, if latinos wouldn't call this the land of the free, then why do they risk their lives by the thousands every day to come here?

As far as black people, you need to hold on just a second. Black Americans are just as patriotic as the rest of us. we are truly the UNITED states of america. there are people of all ethnicities that voice problems in america. but you know what? we are allowed to do that here. we are still a work in progress. if somebody has a problem, you talk about it, protest it, do something about it. there are simply too many people here to please everyone. but we try our best.

kg

It is not that "people" unilaterally "hate" Americans, but certainly American foreign policy leaves a lot to be desired.

Examples? There are many, but many sickening accounts exist of why US citizens should scutinize more thoroughly their government's attitude to people elsewhere.

Only 10% of American citizens, I believe, own a passport. Over 90%, I believe, actively support military action against one of the poorest, most oppressed nations in the world, Afganistan. Is there not some awful discrepancy there?

Should you care to read it, below is the URL to an article outlining an incredible instance of US policy, relating to Rwanda.
[url removed by moderator]

[Don't know how to make direct links - sorry.}

Goens001, your generalisations apply to all western countries, not just the United States.

Incidentally, in my experience anything that needs the word 'united' attached to it, isn't.

Honey, the Greek Parliamentary democracy of ancient times, was limited to males who were free, no women, no slaves and no foreigners. Hardly what we would call a democracy! Americans amuse me the way they say their democracy was inspired by ancient Greece! It certainly was. BTW, black men got the vote in the 1870s, women of any colour did not get it til the 20th century.

I've read bits of this thread over the last several days. Some of it has been disturbing, but it's been enlightening too. On that idea of the 'United' States being not very united, it's true. Personally, I don't think that's a bad thing. This country is just too damn big and diverse to be homogeneous. So we have a centralized government which is supposed to try to represent the interests of its citizens as best it can. Theoretically, that's what governments are all supposed to do. Not a simple task, even for smaller countries with fewer resources and less complicated responsibilities.

What I'm wondering is what y'all think the US should do, what would work for everyone? That's a real question-- I'm not trying to be aggressive. If it's been answered in bits of the backlog that I've overlooked, I apologize for being redundant. And what I'm getting at is the going forward part... situations being what they are, the US having gotten involved in so much of the world's events whether for better or worse.

I get the feeling that a lot of people in the world wish we'd just mind our own business. Sometimes I feel it would be simpler that way, to invest in resolving the problems in this country (which are pretty frightening on their own) before trying to fix (or help with) problems in the rest of the world. I recognize that that's a very selfish view, and also that it isn't practical. It seems like a no-win situation.

Basically, my reason for posting this here is that I'm confused, as are many Americans, as to how this country can go about its business of ensuring a higher standard of living for us, while at the same time avoiding harming others in the process. And I'm interested in positive ideas, not in picking apart what's already been done.

Since you asked so nicely

When the American president speaks of a "crusade" and others within his administration of "civilisation" versus "barbarians", we out here in the rest of the world should be allowed some room for dissent. Just as we might wonder why the countless other tragedies befalling large numbers of innocent people in other places do not warrant the kind of 24-seven attention currently focused on Manhattan.

This is not anti-American. Having visited the place, stood under those now-eviscerated towers and marvelled at the exuberance, creativity, diversity and freedom of that society, I despise its shallow stereotyping by ill-informed detractors. But just as despicable is the labelling of any attempt to dispassionately analyse a superpower, and particularly its foreign policy, as "anti-American" or somehow lacking compassion for the victims of terrorism. It is precisely compassion for all innocent victims of violence that demands that we look for the causes of such horror, not blindly endorse or follow policies that may help to create the next generation of terrorists.

If anything, the events of September 11 did not change the world, as some would have it, but served to underline what a dangerous place it is already. The question, as ever, is why.

Loony,

Re your comment on "United" - Post 168

As Jacks wrote earlier last century in his attempt to distinguish United Nations from United Governments. "We may have the name, but not the reality."

IMHO 4 million years of group co-operation and at the same time violence between and amongst human groups supposes that the current bookmark is a genetic imperative in stasis. Friends become allies, allies become enemies, groups subsume groups. The friction between to-day's complex societies has the further imperative of the inability of some groups to come to terms with the modernity of others.

America is merely the latest in a long chain. This is perhaps why US is currently in the firing line. (No pun intended - or maybe there is.)

It would be nice to see Dubya call all the State Governors to Washington. Once assembled they would all (including Dubya) be locked into a room. They would only be allowed out when they agreed on a proper name for the United States of America.

Something that has great meaning in a Native American language would seem appropriate.

As a bonus, Dubya will be unavailable to meddle in current affairs

I agree, our president has chosen to use some remarkably ill-chosen words at times to make his points. I don't like the way they come across, or the images they bring to mind. I sometimes wish he'd speak more rationally, that he'd stick to the facts and stay away from what I tend to see as rabble-rousing tactics. *sigh*

One of the first things I said to my friends when I heard the news on the 11th was that now the US gets a taste of what the much of rest of the world has been living with for ages. It's been an eye opener for a lot of us, self included. Suddenly we have a bit more understanding in a personal way about something that has affected other people in the world, in a personal way. Suddenly a lot of us 'know' what these sorts of tragedies mean to our lives. Now the reaction goes direct to our guts, instead of through our heads. In a bizarre way perhaps that's a good thing, though I struggle with the idea that when one person suffers others ought to suffer as well out of common humanity. Bottom line, I can't see that spreading suffering around does any good for anyone.

Does this event warrant the kind of 24-7 attention it's been getting? Well, in this country it certainly does, in the same way that a family who has lost a beloved and influential member is focused on the death and invests a lot of time in grieving and trying to figure out what next for some time to come. To carry on the analogy, friends of the family will come to the funeral, and hold their hands, and be supportive and try to help them carry on, but it doesn't take over their lives for too long. And aquaintances will show up at the funeral and send a wreath and figure that they have made the appropriate gestures of sympathy. If it were 'just' people shocked and grieving, I'd say that maybe it doesn't warrant the constant media coverage. Like it or not, though, the repercussions from this event are probably going to affect a good chunk of the world in a personal way through the effects on the global economy as well as through the means our government choses to use to try to prevent future occurrences of this nature here and elsewhere.

Personally, I'm just hoping that this country proceeds carefully and can somehow figure out a way to resolve this issue in cooperation with all the other countries who find terrorist acts unacceptable. And yes, I'm a hopeless idealist.

Alright, everyone calm down, take a deep breath, and reevaluate a few things.

As the origanal person who started this thread, I feel that i should at least pop in here and there with my own opinions. Yes i do have them, i have just been reading the backlog, all of it. Now, I am American. I am proud of my country, as I'm sure that every person in this world is, and if they are not, then they are probably trying to do something to make it into a country that they can be proud of. I hope they succeed.

To the backlog, How did everyone get into things about apples and milk?? Im totally lost on that one.

For the record, I am a 16 year old American. I cannot vote (unfortunetly), I don't particularly care for the current president of my nation. I don't agree with all the policies the goverment has set, forgien and internal. I wish that America could be a better place that makes fewer mistakes. I know that there are alot of people here that are not open minded. I've met quite a few of them. But not everyone is like that.

I have many wishes for my nation, and hopefully some of them can come true in my life time. The current ones that i have arI wish that George W. Bush would think before speaking. Alot. Maybe a few weeks. Perhaps then he would not make terrible accusations and call for war, when he isn't 100% certain on who has actually done what. I know a lot of people here in the US want war, on somebody. I for one, do not. I do not want a war of any kind, but just seeing the current events, there will be some kind of war. I hope it is not a physical one.

Which brings me to another point. All of the 'debators' I thank you for your opinions, most i understand, a few are baffling, but i am trying to comprhend your point of view. I most likely will not succeed, But i will accept your opinions as they stand. However, the exchange of opinions does not need to turn into an online shouting match, then things would just get ugly.

I asked for reason on why some people hate Americans. As the people. The responses i have gotten from that and read elsewhere are that we are loud, pushy, arrogant, boistrous, annoying, greedy, etc etc. The great majority of opinions are not about Americans themselves, but rather about the American politics. America is a young country compared to those across the sea, and those that were here before us. WE have made a great many mistakes. Most we do try to fix. Half the time we fix them for our own gain. We are a greedy nation. Yes, I freely admit that. (I know i keep going off into little tangents, but please, bear with me) We Have supported the wrong groups of people because we thought that we were right. We try to police the world, when in fact, we shouldn't. I haven't the foggiest idea on who should, but it definetly should not be one country.We need to see the world in all shades of gray, instead of black and white. There are so many 'we should's and little 'we are'

I could go on, but few would be able to follow my train of thought, so please, your opinions about americans. love them hate them indifference, like them, leave them,

~Zoe
Please keep in mind that i am simply stating my opinions.

> "wish that George W. Bush would think before speaking"

Are you sure that's physically possible?

Hey Zoe
This question is unanswerable because of the following:

1. We may hate some but not all
2. You cannot possibly hate 200 million people. You should know someone to hate them
3. America by the way is NOT, I repeat NOT the US of A!

So, speaking for meself, I dont hate Americans. I loath US policies but again that is not America. Canada is in America, the whole of South America is in America.
Now did you want to ask why we hate the US of A?

If that be the question, I will give you 500,000 dead reasons and another 1 million in another posting. The first for dead Rwandese the other for dead Iraqi children.

Peace

I dont think it is possible for Dubya to spend precious brain cells to think. Now who would want to do that?

New Century - New Beginning - New Name

Following in the noble footsteps of brain-dead Yankee advertising executives (staff) everywhere, I nominate Siouxland as the perfect name for the nation formally known as the USA.

Send the cheque to the usual address

Linus,
Maybe your press is different from ours, but here in the US the press picks out the worst, most inflamatory comment it can find and plasters it on the front page. This does not mean that most US citizens agree with it! Hardly any US citizens want to obliterate Islam, or even kill anybody. But our newspapers, radio & TV are not controlled by the government (or anybody else, it would seem). I am not trying to make excuses for them, only saying that the criticizm should go where it belongs.

Interestingly, although it got very little press, one news service sent a muslim man and woman dressed in traditional clothes to the "ground zero" site in NY. They were equipped with hidden cameras to see how people responded to them. They were not molested or mistreated in any way. In fact one woman took time to ask them if they had lost any loved ones, and if they were being treated well by other people.

True, this is anecdotal, but I think it is a lot more representative of ordinary US citizens than headlines saying some american wants to destroy Islam.
Peace.