American or not, please read this

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Innocent Eyes

The Fly
Joined
Jun 7, 2001
Messages
46
Location
Michigan,USA
Widespread but only partial news coverage was given recently to a remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair,a Canadian television commentator. What follows is the full text of his remarks as printed in the Congressional Record:

"This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly least appreciated people on all the earth.
Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.
When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there I saw it.
When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the U.S. that hurries to help. This spring, 59 U.S. communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped.
The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering Americans.
I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the U.S. dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet or the Douglas DC10?
Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy,and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy, and you find men on the moon- not once, but several times and safely home again. You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them are getting American dollars from home to spend here.
When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke.
I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.
Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those."
 
This article is not new, it was written during the vietnam war in 1973. It has also appeared here on interference the last couple of days.

I ignored the previous posts, but I feel compelled to respond to this thread.

I wouldn't confuse jingoism with patriotism. References to the French "swindling...insulting," Japanese and German technocracies being reduced to iconic consumer products, suggestions that we are innately and morally superior to virtually every other country, et al - are examples of generalizing about countries and their peoples -- generalizing that helps create the very climate and temperament we purport to abhor.

I don't find this article uplifting. I find it objectionable. I realize I am in the minority with this response and hope it is received in the spirit it was written.

peace,
Christian
 
Sigh...oh well...just trying to make the mood a little more patriotic around here.And don't worry, I won't confuse jingoism with patriotism.
 
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