Tim--You almost make me want to defend "us," but not quite. Perhaps
just complicate matters a bit. Yes, there's a sickness in America,
always has been. What has made it erupt this time is a combination of
fear (9/11 etc) and corruption, most significantly of the electoral
system and the checks and balances (these days, the judicial,
legislative, and executive branches are all run by bushies, who demand
absolute loyalty to themselves, not the constitution). I see people, in
a very odd way, reacting against certain kinds of corruption with a
religious fanaticism that only makes matters worse.
But I think you let yourself off a little easy, by blaming "America" and
letting off the "UK." If Tony Blair were doing this alone, he would be
a dictator; the UK has the same kind of simulated democracy that we do
these days.
What you DO have that we do not is a free and engaged press. Ours has
been crushed under the weight of Fox and its imitators. Among the
values lost is that of honesty; no one in government is called out on
the carpet for lying any more, because that is simply how it's done. So
Bush and Rice and Rumsfeld lie all the time and the media presents it as
"Bush says X and the Democrats say Y." End of story.
And don't the UK and the USA share many characteristics: racism,
classism, sexism, rampant use of energy resources, and so on?
Historically speaking, the USA has simply taken up the imperial gauntlet.
This is no defense of the USA, however. What has happened here in
recent years makes many of us ill (and fearful in our own ways). I
expect that resistances will erupt soon, although resistance will be
more difficult now (after the Patriot Act).
Several commentators have referred to the USA as being engaged in a
"cold civil war." That's how I see it. I've traveled a bit in recent
months and discovered that many people would not even talk to me about
politics because they disagreed so violently. That's the scariest thing
of all, seems to me.
Very disjointed, but I wanted to put a few thoughts down.
aloha, Susan
PS My husband says next time we leave the country, we're not from the
USA, but from Hawai`i.
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