From: Jon Gilbert (jjj@io.com)
Date: Fri 29 Nov 2002 - 00:07:09 GMT
>Yes I can see your point, though, but from my POV that is maybe the
>fact I dislike the most in the American/ Usasian attitude, that there ain 't
>' individuality ' in it.
>You seem to think all quite the same, one country, one nation, one voice !
That's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard!
>IMO, what you described in above can be seen as a ' faith ', no doubt
>a positive one from your side of the channel when you look at it, but
>from my side of the great pond I see a country that is willing to impose
>its " democratic " values and its compulsary memes upon the rest of
>the world. If you don 't realize that for others that is unacceptable you '
>re
>in the wrong country.
Most Americans don't even care about that sort of stuff.
>Oh I believe that is part of the American tradition and part of the ways
>by which America was founded, but it seems fair to say if you see the
>European cultural/ social/ political diversity as the major point why we
>don 't engage ourselves in a stupid war, than you make me upset.
>Than is the ways by which Americans, like you and Joe talk to us the
>Europeans a question of " culture " !
>If you say that the diversity, like Joe seems to indicate, is a flaw to the
>reason why we don 't go to war with Iraq, than you attack our/ my way
>of life... and I am not a Radical Muslim, far from it !
>
>It is this kind of attitude, this kind of reasoning, the lack of patriotism
>that you see as a slur on the European vail, that we/ I dislike !
>It is just in the diversity of our, yes, bloody cultures we find peace
>and ease of mind, and yes, the same diversity holds us back to become
>a true European nation, but at least we hold back the praises of wherein
>patriotism and sacrifice of authoritatives are displayed....
>That kind of conservatism is since long replaced by the Enlightment and
>Modernism and even Post- Modernism.
>
>And please, stop the stupid phrase that you have rescued us ! I am from
>the second generation after WWII and, really I don 't care,...the war is
>since long over, each year we remerber the deaths, but you ain 't gonna
>get that meme in my head !
>We the younger generation don 't care that the US helped us, we don 't
>even border to say thanks ! Why should we !? It was and still isn 't
>our war, and moreover, the war on terrorism is not our war either !
>
>For far I can tell, in Europe, Western Europe there hasn 't been an
>attack by any Muslim organisation in the sense of disctating us to
>confert ourselves to Islam !
>The hardest things that happened here were demonstrations and a
>few riots the last couple of days in Antwerp.
>And than again, when a racistic whitey shoots a Marokkian man
>out of, what now seems to be psychological distress, and when
>the Marokkian community haunts the streets shouting we' re all
>racists and don 't even border to watch_ its so spoonfed.
That's the same thing that we were saying before 9/11. So just wait.
Although, I personally don't believe that a war on terrorism can ever
be as effective as, for instance, a war on world poverty and
oppression.
>The possible, maybe real danger is that AEL movement, the
>Arabic European Liga, which is defending the ' rights ' of the
>Arabic community in Europe, with no support within that commu-
>nity...so for the time be...
>On the other hand, we had Trabalsi, a footballplayer who tried
>to blow up the American embassy in Paris, but failed, but again,
>there is no real threat.
>And today, after the attacks in Kenya, the police set a double-
>guard at the gates of the Jewish neigbourhood in Antwerp, but
>that's all....no soldiers in the streets, nothing !
>
>You 're getting panaroid folks !
>And like 9/ 11 indicates you have good reasons to be, but don 't
>compare Europe to your home country, we' re different and I like
>it to stay it that way.
>Maybe we're in the wrong and the future will tell, but don 't try
>to get us hooked on the terrorism- meme.
>Denile maybe works for us, let us be !
>Fights your wars, but leave us out of them.
>
>Kenneth
So now Europeans *want* America to act unilaterally? What?
JS Gilbert
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