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Dextrous63
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12-11-2020, 10:05 PM
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America

I'm reading "The Sympathizer: Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction" by Viet Thanh Nguyen and wanted to share this quote with you.

"America, land of supermarkets and superhighways, of supersonic jets and Superman, of supercarriers and the Super Bowl! America, a country not content simply to give itself a name on its bloody birth, but one that insisted for the first time in history on a mysterious acronym, USA, a trifecta of letters outdone later only by the quartet of the USSR. Although every country thought itself superior in its own way, was there ever a country that coined so many “super” terms from the federal bank of its narcissism, was not only superconfident but also truly superpowerful, that would not be satisfied until it locked every nation of the world into a full nelson and made it cry Uncle Sam?"

Seems a fairly accurate overview to me.
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12-11-2020, 11:07 PM
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Re: America

keezoy
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12-11-2020, 11:33 PM
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Re: America

Living in The Pacific region with China breathing down our neck in every way it can today, tends to give one a somewhat different view. Having a mature adult in the White House rather than a spoiled, petulant 74 year old child gives us a bit more hope. As for every country feeling superior at one point or another: as for me and my own country, I can never remember either feeling superior to anybody else nor can I ever remember my country projecting an air of superiority to anybody else: apart from in cricket and surfing from time to time . Quite the opposite in fact. IN my young years I remember Australia being looked on as inferior by the Americans..and by the British. It is very different now. I can't speak for the British but for the most part the Americans view Australia as very much their equals - size proportionately speaking - and many of their finest minds are breaking their necks to get here. America has committed sins in the past of course. So has Britain. As has Australia to it's indigenous peoples.None of us has the right to point the finger when it comes to "superiority" The bravest course is to find the common ground and work towards a better world. Regrdless of our nationality or the sins of our forebears. Australia is the only sovreign nation on Earth that started as a prison and ended up a pretty cool country. THere are many parallels with the USA. THat's our common ground where we have a basic respect for each other. Maybe that's the ironic reason for the optimism.
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13-11-2020, 01:18 AM
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Re: America

I see the US as a mini global society. The whole word in one country. With all the good and bad that comes of melting international cultures into one national identity.
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13-11-2020, 03:26 AM
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Re: America

Originally Posted by AnnieS ->
I see the US as a mini global society. The whole word in one country. With all the good and bad that comes of melting international cultures into one national identity.
Absolutely Annie. That' how I see it. It has the very best and worst of everything imaginable. I like to think that it's too big to fail. Since it's amazing beginning as a modern nation (1776) it has withstood some catastrophies that would have brought a lesser nation to it's knees - permanently. But it has given us things that nobody else has. It gave us the motor car, the electric light, sound recording, powered flight, jazz and rock and roll..all the splendour of Hollywood..Great authors, playwrights, academics, musicians, artists and revolutionary thinkers.Hell they even gave us the moon! I have lived there and experienced some of the greatness of the USA. And a little horror as well. The former, I must add, greatly outweighed the latter. I for one, want to help preserve that.
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13-11-2020, 07:13 AM
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Re: America

Keezoy and Annie - I dare say you are both right in your assessments of the USA - unfortunately that is not how they project themselves. The quotation in Dex's post is nearer that mark - hence my thumbs up emoji. When it comes to PR they are their own worst enemy.

Mind you - they are not alone in that!
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13-11-2020, 11:08 AM
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Re: America

I don't see America as 'Super'......Just BIG! Everything is just BIG!
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13-11-2020, 11:14 AM
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Re: America

America has been a good friend to Australia and hopefully vice versa.
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13-11-2020, 11:22 AM
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Re: America

Originally Posted by Bruce ->
America has been a good friend to Australia and hopefully vice versa.
There are no such things as 'Friends' in politics Bruce...
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13-11-2020, 11:48 AM
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Re: America

So long as America is on our side, I don't care what they call themselves or get up to. I would rather America be a 'super' power than say Yemen or one of the 'Stan' countries.
 
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