Midnight Oil

[Powderworks] VLMOC: anti-Americanism, so-called

craiggy@ozemail.com.au craiggy@ozemail.com.au
Wed, 16 Apr 2003 10:13:02 +1000


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Randy and others,

There seem to be a few interesting developments. 

Why do people take umbrage when someone criticises their governments? Should we? Personally I have no trouble differentiating between a person and their government and myself and my government.

The underlying notion that a government represents its people is baseless, and indeed, as we saw with Iraq, the governments view was entirely out of sync with the population. They went to war anyway.

This leads to a bigger argument about how (if at all) our democracies function.

I will say this. Personally, I find that the governments of Australia, the UK and the USA pursued a war against a Third World country for economic/miltary reasons. I find the justifications racist, shallow and appalling. I hold the governments and "investment-welfare" organisations responsible. The cannibals wear smart suits and ties!

I have loved every American person I have ever got to know. I think they should so something about their government, but it's outside of my sphere, and besides maybe its time I looked at my own aussie backyard, where I have a say.

It's about time we focussed on the real goal of where the West is heading (lead by the US government) and ask serious questions about whether this is what we want. I mean come on....  "My country? Right or Wrong?"

Craig

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<DIV>
<DIV>
<P>I want to add a little bit to the discussion around "anti-Americanism," since Felipe has called MO an anti-American band and others have thoroughly rejected the idea. 
<P>What is "anti-Americanism," anyway? Sometimes it seems to mean nothing more than disagreement with the policies of the U.S. government. Certainly, in the last couple of years, a wide variety of critics of the U.S. government's actions have been labeled "anti-American," whether they were radical Muslim clerics or&nbsp;French politicians or American activists. If "anti-Americanism" is defined as&nbsp;the pro-Bush crowd seems to&nbsp;want to define it, then I guess you have to count me in as an anti-American (or is it anti-Americanist?). 
<P>But then, it seems like some folks believe that anti-Americanism is just a sort of irrational prejudice against all&nbsp;the people and the culture of&nbsp;(the United States of) America. If that's all it is, then I think the burden of proof should be on anyone who uses the tag "anti-American" to show that the person referred to has no rational or principled objection to U.S. policy. This is probably doable in some cases, but clearly not in others. 
<P>To put it another way, I think Americans should quit whining about all this "anti-Americanism" that's supposedly out there, and either defend their country's actions or else admit wrongdoing where it has occurred. Cheers to all y'all who are already doing that. 
<P>best, 
<P>Tom</P></DIV></DIV><BR><BR>Opposition is true Friendship.<br><br>William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell<p><br><hr size=1>
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