Quote:
Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward
Nekokami,
Are we talking about the same New England that pitched the tea in the Boston harbor in 1773 and took part in the first shooting of the Revolutionary War?
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This ethos, along with "Manifest Destiny" drove the US until the American Civil War, which totally changed the dynamic. Now the US government was dominant , and the seeds of modern power politics were sown (but it took until FDR to become actualized).
To me, to deny this history and it's formativeness on the American culture, is the same as saying the French Revolution and Napolean, had no effect on French culture or the Magna Carta and the beheading of Charles I had no effect on forming British culture, no matter how far Amreican cultrue has drifted from it's formative state.
It's just not politically correct to say so nowadays...
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Yes, same New England... today, not 200 years ago. Have you ever lived here? I'm not saying the past didn't happen or didn't affect the present, I'm saying that
regardless of the past, people who live in this corner of the country
today are generally more comfortable with the idea of government than what you are portraying as a particularly "American" attitude.
I am not offering any particular theories as to why, nor am I saying this is better or worse than the mindset you have been describing. I am simply observing that there is considerable cultural diversity in the US, noted not just by me, but by many other observers as well.
I'm beginning to feel that you have a particular axe to grind with this theory, and that this is getting in the way of any real conversation on this topic between the two of us, at least. I'm very well aware that you, personally, don't like or trust the idea of government (or perhaps any other form of group decision making), and that apparently a great many people you know feel similarly. Fine so far. I'm not doubting your observations in the slightest. It's just when it seems that you want to generalize your opinion to a whole group that includes me and the community I live in that I feel I must object, because I don't think that's accurate.
Am I mistaken? Is this generalization not your intent?