And I hate to tell ya this...but the "big city" ain't much better. Where
I grew up in downstate rural IL. Elmwood, IL for the record; which is about 20 miles west of Peoria on IL 8.
Pardon me for this but I want to use it as it would be said in the "deep" South. "There is good people everywhere and there is bad people everywhere."
From what I've experienced, St. Cloud MN was more "tolerant" of openly gay people than Chicago in general but the large Somalian population was accepted as well, except by a fringe element (closely aligned with the NeoNazis and KKK) but you have that rogue element anywhere.
As for the comments about Arabic/Farsi/Hebrew or other Middle Eastern languages (let's face it, how many hicks from the sticks could tell he difference? I could probably be able to discern the difference between Arabic and Hebrew and tell which was which..but put Farsi and Arabic next to each other...and I'd have no clue.)
It seems that much of the intolerance in this country is fed/managed/manipulated by the Administration that's in power at the time.
Reagan had the dirty "secret" of letting all the homosexuals die..."it's just a few thousand gay men" and he fed the Religious Right. Russia was the big "boogeyman" which Reagan did tame. Did he bring it down? Maybe he helped, but he didn't do it on his own (nor did the Administration in power at the time). Suddenly the Russians were the good guys and all wonderful and wanting to be democratic and Westernized. We need a new "them"
Bush the First started the feeding frenzy against the Middle Eastern people with the war in Iraq and Operation Desert Storm. Yes, Kuwait was invaded. Yes, it's our ally. But a war to save democracy? Please. Kuwait has a Ministry of Sex. It's a kingdom. Women have almost no rights, but it's the most "Western" nation in the Gulf region. Frightening that the American people just cowed to "Save Democracy" and went along with a war for low oil prices. Aha! We have a new "them" it's those crazy Middle Easterns who hate America...
On a side note, Rwanda was a genocide...the US ignored it. East Timor. ignored. We only do things when it is politically advantageous, not because it's the right thing to do. And even then it can come back to haunt us. Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban..originally called the Northern Alliance ... financed and armed by ... the UNITED STATES to fight the Russians in Afghanistan. "Help us fight and we'll help you rebuild your country."....which became "Thanks for the help...we're outta here." leaving the Afghanistanis with a shattered country and no help from the US. And people wonder where the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden got their hatred of the US? How did Saddam Hussein stay in power for so long? Oh yeah, the US supported him during the Iran-Iraq war during the 80s. Money, weapons, and military training for their troops. Funny. Aren't we fighting them now...and we're suprised by how "fierce" the resistance is. We trained them didn't we? You don't think those people didn't train others and spread the knowledge?
Back to our story....
During the Clinton presidency, there was much more diplomacy...N Korea was talking about reunification of families, trading food for resources with S Korea, Iran was moderating politically. What were the big news stories of those eight years. Huh, it was *domestic issues*. The *ahem* Oral Office, OJ, and for eight years, it was almost entirely the bustling domestic economy and domestic issues. We were quietly working the with Koreas, Iran, and dealing with other issues in the world through diplomacy not warfare. For a short while, it even looked as if there might be major progress between the Palestians and the Israelis. Oh yeah, remember that budget *SURPLUS* the Federal Government had...well that's gone. Clinton was/is/will be overshadowed by his personal life. Yes, he was a rather "dull" presidency but much of what was happening was under the radar of most people in the public. (Take note of Korea, Iran, etc) Clinton could have saved Medicare but bungled it as he was too busy worried about his impending impeachment. Funny how we'll sanction violence, guns on the streets, but how dare you have sex...but that's a whole other diatribe.
Then...Bush the Second, eagar to live up to his father's images/wishes/something trashed all that...and used September 11th as a political tool to launch a war. The fact that he used Sept. 11th images and survivors and the families of victims sickened me...but yet you saw this upswell of "America the Great" amongst the less educated and it was a classic to build self...you need to have an "other". Bush had the tools and the other...and he whipped up nationalistic frenzy into a fever pitch. Did anyone look at the causes of why the US is so hated in the world? No. Do most Americans even know that we are strongly disliked/hated in most of the world? No. (and most Americans would say, "Why would someone in (insert random country here) matter to me?"...now you see the problem). There are so many reasons why we are hated. Cultural arrogance, broken promises to other countries, our disdain for the United Nations...
The "other" used to be Russia...now it's the Middle East...and I'll guess that within the next 10 years, it may very well be China. They are quickly developing a first world economy and industrial complex, they have 1/6 of the world population, and they are a regional superpower.
It's very common to have an us vs. them complex. How do you rally people? You have to give them something to be rallied for/against. Instead of trying to rally people to fight poverty/illiteracy/homelessness/suicide/etc at home and trying to raise the US out of the middle of the pack in education, life expectancy, number of deaths per 1000 births (can't remember the term for it), and things what would positively effect change here at home. Would I rather see a "war on illiteracy" or a "war to save education", absolutely. How much money are we spending daily in the "rebuilding" of Iraq? How many schools could we build at home with that money...how many teachers could be paid (and how many teachers could get paid a living salary)....
I've gone and ranted out a lot of my hostility towards my government and some of the people who live here. Am I an American? Yes. Do I love the principles that were the basis of the founding of this nation? Yes. Am I proud of many of the things this country has done? Yes. Are there many things that are dark black stains on our history? Yes. Am I proud to be an American right now? Honestly, no. We claim to be setting the bar for the rest of the world and we are the "best nation" ... blah blah blah. Most of Western Europe, Japan, Australia, and several other countries all have better educational systems than we do, have a longer life expectancy, and far less crime...I think we need to quite running around the world and meddling about and focus on ourselves.
I'm not calling for isolationist policies, rather that instead of worrying about every little problem in the world and and running off to deal with it...let's get our own house in order first...and help the world where it needs it...in genocides in Rwanda and East Timor...recovery from horrible natural disasters like earthquakes in Armenia, Iran, and Japan and the unimaginable destruction of the Indian Ocean tsunami. If we take care of our own people and yet we are helping other nations when they need a hand and ask for it. We are truly setting a much better example of being that "shining light" of hope and freedom.
This is where democracy comes into play...comment and discuss. Intelligent logical discussion is how we learn about the world and others rather than knee-jerk reactions.
6 comments:
What neighborhood do you live in? Cause I guess its really a matter of where you are. We are on the north side of Chicago, and in our building, we politely ignores what every one else is doing. Of course, the mexican family next to us is very interested in exactly how we live? But I think thats just cause the 5 or 6 kids are confused how a big man and a small man live in one apartment. its cute to see their curiousity. Their parents just ignore us, like we ignore them.
And thats the worse of it. In Evanston, It was Northwestern-town and even the conservatives were cool. Before that i grew up in NYC and the easy tolerance is wierd as it is filled with so much tension.
So, i'm just curious. Where do you live?
We're in Wheeling...almost Prospect Heights.
I think you're right, racism has been a very effective tool against the US' enimies. It's sad, but it's always been an effective tool in propaganda throughout history.
but it wouldn't work if the human race wasn't so predisposed to racism. Sure, there are a few of us who truly do not hate anyone based on color/creed/sexual orientation/whatever, but in general, we like the "us vs. them" ideas. "Look, they're different, so we're better than them!" That principle can be applied to lots of stuff...(i.e. "look, I have the new 2005 Ford 500, therefore I'm better than you").
It's one of our faults. We tear others down to build our selves up. it's one of those hurdles that the human race needs to get over in general. unfortunately, western culture is built on the individual, and as long as self-centric thinking prevails, there will always be racism/classism/elitism in general....
Is that in the city? I'm still a new yorker deep down inside so the sprawling nature of chicagoland is always a little confusing to me. My city chicago extends just so far, but it seems all these other folks live in Chicago when I'd say they live in some outlying suburb. :)
But I'm biased. I grew up in the inner city, and even now I live in the shadow of 40 story-tall buildings and work in a the loop. Suburbs, even ones as close as yours feel like the boondocks to me. Imagine my fright when in college I learned of people who lived in towns smaller than the enrollment of my high school.
No...we're barely in Cook County. We're just northwest of the Edens Spur/Tri-State Tollway Junction. I grew up in the corn fields of west-central Illinois. Elmwood was 2,019 people (counting the unborn *wink*) when I graduated High School in 1990...and my graduating class was 50. I knew every person in my class by name..and knew most of their parents too from working in the grocery store in town.
The Loop freaks me out. It's too big/urban/compact/peopled. I really dislike living where I do. I'd much rather be out in the sticks/fields again.
I always found that contrast interesting. My high school enrollment was about 5,000. In one building. 11 stories. There are people that i only know by face. I calculated that on the block i grew up on lived about 2,000 people. :)
So imagine my surpise when i visited places like Arlington Heights, or up in Wisconsin, or even just downstate IL...all that open space fascinates me, with just a little bit of unease to not have people nearby. Even small towns give me that wierd sense of curiousity and thrill. Which isn't fair cause small-town folk don't want me thinking their life is "wierd", but for me, its helluva different.
There are advantages to both. In small towns, you get to know everyone, but there is a lack of variety in those folks. They may be varied but they don't match up to the chinese neighborhood down the street, lesbian-ville a few blocks away, the middle-eastern taxi row on the corner, and the caribbean restaurant down the block.
its all about finding one's comfort zone. For me, It would be hard to live somewhere where i couldn't walk to the corner store with the asian food while using the skyscrapers to shade me from the sun.
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