Posted by agent858 on March 12, 2006, at 18:54:06 [reposted on March 13, 2006, at 7:40:30 | original URL]
In reply to Re: policy » AuntieMel, posted by Tamar on March 11, 2006, at 21:40:55
> I guess I wonder if it’s possible for someone outside the US to criticize US foreign policy without seeming to be anti-American.
yeah. i've been wondering that myself. and then reading that interview with nagel... for a time... he didn't think it was possible even for someone inside the US to criticize US foreign policy without seeming to be anti-American (after 9 11).
i see. i didn't know it was like that...
> I feel disturbed at the failure to ratify the Kyoto protocol (but then the same is true of Australia I believe...
yup. same is true of Australia... (though i think it is more important for US to sign because it makes more waste / pollution)
> 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.
yeah. though i think you will find that if you critique your countries policy... you won't get many responses. probably lucky to get one (clearskies has shown an interest in other countries policies though)... but that is all. thats why i keep talking about US foreign policy... because people will talk about that. they don't want to talk about NZ foreign policy... they don't want to talk about issues i have with the NZ govt. why don't i critique the NZ govt? because people don't respond to that. but they notice when i critique the US govt. sigh.
> 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.
hmm... hrm... i agree with your sentiment. there are a lot of terrific thinkers in the US... i have trouble with the notion that the amazing thinkers were civil rights activists etc though... for the reason that... there are other countries in which the indegenous population was never considered to be animals (and hence not persons) in the first place... but yeah, i think i get your sentiment...
>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…
yeah. and economically colonized...
(or 'colonised' ;-) )
> Is it possible to express those concerns here without being misinterpreted as anti-American?don't think so :-(
but then... the 'misinterpretation' seems to be considered legitimate rather than 'jumping to conclusions'... sigh... i don't understand the world sometimes...
poster:agent858
thread:619739
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20060304/msgs/619739.html