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

I've often been accused of U.S. bashing here, of being anti-American. It is true that I have posted innumberable links to tales of horrors that have been committed by various U.S. administrations, that I have questioned a very few of the fundamental principals that the country was founded on, and that I have been pretty much absolutely critical of George W. Bush and his administration.

Finally, I have found an articulation of the good things about the U.S. and its people that I admire so much, the good things that make the horrors commited by a few so much more horrific.

'We are the 55 million progressives who came together in this election, voted for Kerry and rejected the Bush agenda.

We came together because of our moral values: care and responsibility, fairness and equality, freedom and courage, fulfillment in life, opportunity and community, cooperation and trust, honesty and openness. We united behind political principles: equality, equity (if you work for a living, you should earn a living) and government for the people--all the people.

These are traditional American values and principles, what we are proudest of in this country. The Democrats' failure was a failure to put forth our moral vision, celebrate our values and principles, and shout them out loud.'

Mr. Lakoff has articulated what the world has always hoped to see in America and what the world has been very disappointed to see disappearing from American public discourse. But those of us out here in the rest of the world who look closely have always known to be true what Mr. Lakoff expresses as a hope: There are far more than 55 million truly good Americans.

'The only way to trump their moral values is with our own more traditional and more patriotic moral values. Proclaim them and live them, and we will find that there are many more than 55 million of us.'

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041206&s=lakoff

Would anyone else like to join me in offering praise of the true United States of America, the United States of America which has, sadly, so rarely shown itself to the world through its government?

Over thirteen hours and still no reply? Who would have thought that I, of all people, would be alone in praise for the U.S.

*looks around for Barbara Streisand*

alec...

Hey, anhaga. I think one reason why you've not heard much on this thread is that the US wasn't set up with any particular ideals in mind, except those which kept the ruling class free from government interference (and taxes). I mean, slavery was written into the constitution. Black people counted as a fraction of a person for federal tax purposes. The native Americans were systematically exterminated.

I know that Americans are just like everyone else (most of them are nice, polite and probably more hospitable than average), but as a nation they do what anyone else with lots of power would do. They exploit it and retain their dominance.

Thank God for rock 'n' roll, jazz and blues though.

Not Barbara Streisand though...

WELL MY FRIENDS, AS AN AMERICAN LIVING IN SUNNY NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WHERE ARNOLD IS OUR GOVENATOR. I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU ALL FOR AT LEAST SAYING THAT WE ARE ALL NOT BAD PEOPLE. I PERSONALLY AM A VERY COMPASSIONATE PERSON TOWARDS MY FELLOW MAN AND ALSO BEING OF NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN DECENT HAVE TO SAY THAT THERE ARE ALOT OF THINGS THAT I DON'T AGREE WITH WHEN IT COMES TO MY GOVERNMENT BUT AS A WHOLE, I DO HAVE MANY FREEDOMS THAT MOST PEOPLE DON'T GET TO EXPRESS LIKE THE RIGHT TO BARE ARMS OR FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND SO ON. I ADMIRE EUROPEAN PEOPLE DUE TO THEIR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AND THEIR LONG RICH HISTORY. WE CAN ONLY IMAGINE WHAT YOU GUYS GET TO SEE IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIVES THAT REMIND YOU OF YOUR HISTORY. THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF HISTORY THAT YOU CAN TRACE BACK BUT HERE JUST A FEW HUNDRED. SO ANYWAY, NOT ALL AMERICANS BELIEVE IN WAR JUST THE BAD ONES.
THANK YOU AGAIN FOR A COOL THREAD.
RUSSELL
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

What happened to "All men are born equal" or does that not apply if you are black or part of the indigenous population.

The Right to Bear Arms is not a right I have any particular desire to have. I pay taxes for other people to take on that responsibility.

On a historical note, the Right the Bear Arms was removed from the British people by William the Conquerer in 1066 or thereabouts. No King, Queen or Prime Minister since has seen fit to restore that right and I thank God for that.

Donald

SO WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN SOMEONES BREAKING INTO YOUR HOUSE AND TRYING TO DEFILE YOUR FAMILY AND TAKE WHAT'S YOURS?
CHASE THEM OUT WITH A HANGER?

No, I tap them on the head with a torque wrench that I keep handy for that purpose.

Because of the Gun Laws that exist in the UK, it is almost unknown for a burglar to go armed. The most dangerous thing you are likely to see is a knife and a tap on the wrist with the aforementioned torque wrench will sort that out.

Besides, burglary in the UK is not that common to justify every householder being armed. It just encourages the burglar to arm himself as well.

Donald

Well we don't shoot them.

Unless you are Tony Martin

G'day all.

Some excellent points, Anhaga. Babs 'n' all.

I find the whole *gun culture* quite puzzling. The statistics clearly show that having *the right to bear arms* has a negative effect on surpressing crime and specifically violent crime with firearms. And before anyone mentions it ad nauseum, I know the right to bear arms is a phrase that has little relationship to it's modern interpretation. In countries (like Canada and many other semi-sub-arctic and/or rurally dominated places) where there is a lot of hunting, farming, and wildlife combined with populous urban areas high in crime there seems to be less of a problem. I really don't know why that is. I assume it's because of the *Wild West* attitude that grew out of the US's middle history. Perhaps it has something to do with slavery or the Civil War or the War of Independence or all of them or none of them. The USA has always been a particularly warlike country in a sense but at the same time it has been a beacon of liberty and freedom to millions. It's a conundrum why this is or why various US governments have felt compelled to physically interfere with ideologies they found to be in some way *wrong*. This is not to say they they haven't more often fought the good fight, but again the history books are written by the winners. Of course they are not alone in this, the various *empires* of history have righted many wrongs and wronged many who were right. It's just that at this particular juncture the (present) US (government) has the ability to destroy the entire planet, either with a bang or a whimper and every possibility in between it would seem. And it doesn't seem to care what the rest of us think about that.

"SO WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN SOMEONES BREAKING INTO YOUR HOUSE AND TRYING TO DEFILE YOUR FAMILY AND TAKE WHAT'S YOURS?
CHASE THEM OUT WITH A HANGER?"

First of all, I can't say that anyone has ever broken into my house or tried to defile my family (whatever that means). As for taking what's mine: property is theft. The vast majority of people in my country (Canada) and I would suggest in the U.S. as well, never have their homes broken into nor their families defiled. I do remember an interesting moment during Christmas shopping when I was in High School: my friend and I fortuitiously bumped into two young men who had used a knife to cut a hole in my friends convertible top and we caught them red-handed with a Miss Piggy puppet they had taken. What did we do when faced with these knife wielding bandits? Simple. We said, "Hey guys, that's our stuff. Janet, go get the police please." The two banditos chatted with us while we waited for my friend's girl friend to bring the police back. It was all quite polite. Why would anyone want to add a firearm to that equation?

I did have one of the local street people (gleaners, I call them) poke his head into my back door once (unlocked, of course, in the true Canadian fashion) looking for empty bottles. I just went out and asked him not to do it any more. Never had a problem since. In fact, sometimes if I meet the gleaners in the morning we'll clean the empties out of my truck together and they save me a trip to the bottle depot.

What's it like to live in a place where you're so afraid of your fellow citizens?

Oh, I forgot. In the almost inconceivable event of someone actually breaking into my house (whether for the purposes of defilement or the theft of my stolen goods), I suspect I would pick up that annoying device (the phone) and call those very helpful people whose job it is to deal with the bad guys. Up here we try teach our children that the police are our friends. Perhaps strangely, I've always gotten along very well with the police. I've found that if you are civil and polite with the police they will, not surprisingly, turn out to be people who have a very useful and difficult job to do. I don't envy them their job. Why would I want to do it for them?

Well said Donald, btw. Our gun laws became a bit of a joke only due to government mismanagement and wasteful spending. The concept is still generally held to be a good one, if tweaked to include reasonable exceptions for hunting and collecting.

Anhaga, as the exowner of 6 MGBs at various times in my life (obviously a gluton for punishment), I've had my *rag top* cut three times- and each time the doors were unlocked! Obviously education would reduce the costs related to crime.

I've been robbed precisely twice in Canada, once a break-in when I wasn't at home and once a locker in uni. Outside of the country I've been robbed three times, once in Marseilles, once in Los Angeles, and once in Detroit. The only time I felt endangered was in Detroit when a gun was (I think) used. I just handed over everything and went straight to the nearest phone to cancel my cards and phone the insurance company. Oddly I never thought *Gee, I wish I had a gun.* Imagine that.

Gee, I had the top on my Miata cut a few times as well. Boy, if I'd had a gun . . . I would have still slept through the whole thing and found the mess in the morning.

<>
That's way , anhaga!

It may be cool, but it's real.

Interesting thread drift: the "anti-American" tries to offer praise to the real United States and we end up talking about guns.

I'm the same reason I'm pro-Second Amendment (barring such ridiculous machines such as assault rifles) for the same reason I'm pro-gay marriage. I have never been in their shoes, and never hope to be (whether it's being in a situation where I would need a gun to get out or not being able to marry someone I loved), but I can't deny options to those who are.

I've never been in a situation that requires an RPG for escape (or a thousand other hypothetical situations). I have, however, been in situations in which I required the help of police, paramedics, and fire fighters. Interestingly, some of those situations are the ones in which some here seem to think a gun is necessary. I never had a gun in any of my experiences. And I got out of those situations. And no one got hurt. Gee, I guess that police, paramedics and fire fighters worked just as well as a gun would have.

I find it strange to think that the right to marry the one you love is somehow equivalent to the right to blow somebody away with a firearm.

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." So, what does a "well regulated Militia" have to do with blowing away burglers?

While we're on the subject of the Founding Fathers of the country I've been trying to praise, what do the devotees of the 2nd ammendment do with the Declaration of Independence? "the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions." Hardly the way to talk about those kind fellows who shared that little meal with those sour faced Puritans.

Gee, I guess that's the same logic that is making the US develop space based nuclear missiles deterents in a world where they are the only ones with nuclear missiles. And I guess Russia and China responding by saying they'll now develop nuclear missles again.

Great thinking!