tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2599677908548805489.post7690605576722600270..comments2024-03-28T13:09:58.564+00:00Comments on Apples and Roses: TheatrocracyMrs McLeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18095035617334068201noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2599677908548805489.post-16861060502397240052020-05-23T14:24:59.362+00:002020-05-23T14:24:59.362+00:00I'm sorry you have that experience, and you ar...I'm sorry you have that experience, and you are definitely not the first American to be shocked and repelled by the rudeness of non-Americans. If isn't fair, and you are greatly to be praised for not taking the coward's way out which is to agree with the America-bashers. Americans who join in with the abuse are, I've noticed, considered good sorts. <br /><br />I have often thought that anti-Americanism in Europe stems from an objection to American foreign policy, not from a deep dislike of actual Americans, especially as Europeans consume American pop culture as much as anyone else. I recall being on the Via Veneto in 1998, and seeing that the largest crowds of Italian youngsters were around the Footlocker shop. However, I also pointed out in 1999, to a Frenchman saying unkind things about American culture, that he was drinking a Coca-Cola. Anti-Americanism is a strange and undeniable aspect of life in Europe. <br /><br />I am not myself an American-basher: for one thing, I come from a very long and extensive line of Americans, and for another my best girl friends are an American and a Canadian with an American grandmother, like me. My largest audience has always been American, too. But given the continuing prominence of the USA in the world, it is impossible not to comment on the nation or its people(s) from time to time. Pax!Mrs McLeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18095035617334068201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2599677908548805489.post-7024970724720933432020-05-23T11:10:01.616+00:002020-05-23T11:10:01.616+00:00I can assure you that I have never in my life spok...I can assure you that I have never in my life spoken to a Canadian (or any other nationality) in the same fashion as your correspondent. (Although, as an East Coaster, I semi-wonder if this person were merely being “sarcastic” for the sake of humor? Perhaps, perhaps not. I have no clue, and that matter is really between you and your correspondent. There is a [strong] tendency toward sarcastic humor among us East Coasters, but Europeans, particularly secularist / modern Germans and other liberals, sometimes appear to be too literal to understand it. Nevertheless, even with my “sarcastic” background, I can still say that I would not make such statements to a Canadian.) I must add, that, as an American, I have had far worse said to me by various Europeans, Canadians, and Austalians. I am supposed to just sit there and smile politely at professional meetings while supposedly highly educated people sip fine wine and excoriate my country, which they rarely (never) know as well as they assume. Such generous and sophisticated behavior on their part! It turns one off after a while...I merely wish that people who claim a Judeo-Christian background would think twice before so easily accepting negative stereotypes of people from the US or before swallowing uncritically “media-approved” revisionist history / news.That is all I am going to say on the topic because I can see that this is pointless. I thoroughly appreciate pro-life, pro-traditionalist writing, and I have absolutely no desire to offend anyone here or to trade barbs/ bad memories. “Pax”.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2599677908548805489.post-25375582965861860002020-05-22T13:05:22.737+00:002020-05-22T13:05:22.737+00:00Thank you! I have read "Amusing Ourselves to ...Thank you! I have read "Amusing Ourselves to Death" and "The Disappearance of Childhood", but not "Technopoly." I will look into it, thanks! <br />Mrs McLeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18095035617334068201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2599677908548805489.post-74059522223970238592020-05-22T12:49:34.735+00:002020-05-22T12:49:34.735+00:00Well, it's this Canadian's opinion that th...Well, it's this Canadian's opinion that the American Revolution was a wicked and ungodly war. Ahem. <br /><br />That's actually not why I'm commenting, though; have you ever read any Neil Postman? Your comments on theatrocracy reminded me of his excellent book <i>Technopoly</i>, which I recommend to you. Christine Phttps://inthisordinarytime.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com