Posted by Tamar on March 11, 2006, at 21:40:55
In reply to Re: policy » Tamar, posted by AuntieMel on March 5, 2006, at 15:22:48
> I can easily discuss, and disagree on a logical level any policy, foriegn or otherwise.
Cool!
> Sometimes it's hard to tell if someone (no one in particular here, it's just because you asked the difference) - if someone is criticizing just a policy or is being anti-American.
Ah, I see what you mean! And I think this was one of the points I was feebly attempting to make in my original post to 5. I probably didn’t do a very good job of it. I guess I wonder if it’s possible for someone outside the US to criticize US foreign policy without seeming to be anti-American. Yes, you’re right: it’s hard to tell. I still believe that many Americans feel profoundly unsafe and might view critique of policy as anti-American sentiment. I think that’s one of the issues that make debate so difficult.
> Not that this has anything to do with this particular case, it's just that you asked.
Sure, and it’s fair enough that you call me on it. I think… as someone who was born in the US but now lives abroad… that it’s possible for people outside the US to acknowledge the many good things that come from the US. In my own opinion, a lot of very important feminist and queer and civil rights ideas have come from the US. I’m very glad of the influence American thinkers have had on the world. But at the same time, I feel disturbed at the failure to ratify the Kyoto protocol (but then the same is true of Australia I believe); I worry about the proportion of women who die in childbirth in the US compared with countries in Europe; and my views on the war with Iraq cannot be published here without my incurring a block.
So I wouldn’t consider myself anti-American, but I am very concerned about aspects of American culture and policy. And at the same time I’m concerned about aspects of the culture and policy of my own country.
If you’re worried that lots of people outside the US have anti-American feelings, then I guess you’re probably right. America seems to be rather unpopular in some quarters. But I reckon you don’t have to look much farther than the civil rights movement to be able to claim that America has a long and proud history of radical thought. It’s not the perfect place; but then, no country is perfect. And of course, anti-American sentiment isn’t a criticism of all American people… I reckon it’s principally a critique of foreign policy combined with a fear of being culturally colonized…
Is it possible to express those concerns here without being misinterpreted as anti-American?
Tamar
poster:Tamar
thread:615250
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20060225/msgs/619124.html