[Reader-list] American Builds A Dream World -- And Moves Into It

[Are Flagan]

> i must say, for all the justifiable criticisms of the US i see on
> this list, a lot of it comes with thinking that's as fuzzy as i'd
> expect from americans talking about 'other' parts of the world.

The reader-list, in its defense, seems to engage in a similar, and similarly
justified, criticism of its own, if locality is at all applicable,
government. The "fuzzy" parallels of thinking in geographical circles, if we
question that loop, may of course be attributed to and actually broken by
the development that has governments across the world look to the US and
adopts its rhetoric and agendas as reasonable and desirable, under duress or
through incentives, or not. I am thinking particularly here of the posts
referring to the BJP platform that won in Gujarat and the influx of
"terrorism" in India. Throw in that report on the web site tehelka that
exposed widespread, high level corruption and was effectively closed down
through harassment and you have your two cents about money and power and the
media, a la the US, too. And so on. As for black and white and whatever
cohabitation; I contend that it's our governments and their "democracies"
and "freedoms" that we increasingly can't live with.

(Reparation can not make amends for history, as it often implies through
atonement and excuses that are as useless as senator Lott's apologetic
diarrhea, but it can prepare the future in a manner that balances the
injustices of the past, over time, and now. It is sometimes pursued and
presented as a retrograde paycheck, offered in one lump sum as final
settlement, while it should actually be considered a radical and ongoing
politics for progress, at least IMO. )

-af