--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > It's a bitch. > > For six years now I've lived in France and in Spain, > and traveled elsewhere in Europe, and it's taught me > a great deal about America and its image worldwide. > > I'd love to believe that I "fit in" here, and that > no one would mistake me for an American, but sadly > that is not true. If nothing else, my accent gives > me away every time, no matter how much I practice > my French or Spanish or Catalan. > > Things will be going along swimmingly with some new > person I've just met at a cafe or a dinner party, > and then I'll fail to pronounce Rouen the way Dave > Barry learned it should be pronounced, "Woon," and > the other person's 'tude towards me will change > abruptly. > > Instead of assuming that I am possessed of above- > average intelligence, which they thought a moment > ago, they now assume that because I am an American, > I am stupid. > > And not only stupid, but Ignorant And Proud Of It. > > THAT, my friends who live in America and don't travel > much outside it, is the legacy of modern America. > THAT is how the world is going to perceive you when > you travel, because that is how the vast majority of > the people in your country act. > > They have voted for people who they *know* told them > lies about why their country invaded Iraq, and they > have voted for them TWICE. Because they wanted the > lies to be true. They may have *known* inwardly that > the Iraq war was a lie, but they wanted to believe > that it *wasn't* a lie so strongly that they voted > for someone who just kept repeating the same lie over > and over again. They didn't *want* the truth; they > wanted the ignorance. > > They prefer the ignorance of "Global warming is a > hoax" to the truth of "Global warming and our contri- > bution to it as a nation is going to kill our own > children." > > They prefer the ignorance of "We have the highest > standard of living on the planet" to the truth that > "We are unhealthy and live in a constant state of > fear because we are as bankrupt and living on credit > as our nation is." > > They prefer ignorance. Period. > > And they're *proud* of thinking this way. > > And I get lumped in with them almost every time some- > one figures out that I'm from America. > > And it pisses me off and I'm tired of it.
Or you could embrace it and not have to relive it in the Bardo. > I'm tired > of having to go back and waste a couple of hours of > "remedial education" with these people to clue them > into the fact that I don't think like this, even > though I'm an American. > > But that's just the "advance PR" that comes with > you as baggage when you're an American living or > traveling abroad. It's what people assume about you > because you're an American, and it's all that they > expect you to live up to, or down to. > > I, for one, wish that the country of my birth would > dump this Ignorant And Proud Of It 'tude about life, > and just fuckin' smarten up. For once, America, do > something RIGHT, so that those of us out here in the > bigger world don't have to keep apologizing for you > and trying to distance ourselves from you. We'll do our best not to embarass you anymore. (but we still have Curtis-- so no guarantees). But thanks so much for being so dependent on us for your happiness and well-being. It makes us back here feel needed. > Elect someone smart for a change. Please. Gosh, we'll knuckle down and try! I just hope I don't get all dumb again like in the last elections. You know how dumb that us dufuses can get.
