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| Grumpy Patriot! |
I read part of an article on Yahoo! where someone in the State Department was lecturing the soon-to-be-ousted Egyptian president on democracy and how it involves "listening to the people." I enjoyed a good derisive snort at the irony of America lecturing Egypt on listening to the people.
Because really this was just a few days removed from when an angry mob in Texas has to pretty much storm the legislature and shout down their own "representatives" who were trying to railroad an anti-abortion bill through. This is the same country where despite polls showing most of the public was in favor of some kind of gun control after Sandy Hook, nothing could get done thanks to the NRA and its minions. It's the same country that recently doubled interest rates on student loans to make college all but an impossibility for many. And it's the same country where the poor were forced to pay to bail out rich bankers who fucked up the economy by gambling on derivatives and such. It's also the country where it's legal to blow someone up with a drone pretty much whenever you feel like it.
And it's the country where thanks to the idiotic Supreme Court decision tearing apart the Voting Rights Act, states like North Carolina are bringing back voter restriction laws, essentially reviving Jim Crow.
All that's just the tip of the iceberg. I mean this is a country where 1% control 95% of the wealth, or whatever horrible percentage the numbers are. It's a country where women still earn 30% less than men for the same job. It's the same country where in most states gay couples are still viewed as being lesser than straight couples.
So really, who the fuck are we to lecture Egypt or anyone else about the virtues of democracy? Until we clean up our own house, we should just STFU. But then maybe they meant "listening to the people" as listening to their phone conversations and reading their emails? Cuz we're great at that, right Ed Snowden?
Anyway, Happy Fourth of July! America's a great country!*
*unless you're poor, a minority, a woman, gay, or some combination thereof. Then you're screwed.
8 comments:
I think that guy meant "listening to the rich people."
You know, I think you have it all wrong. This country is great and free if you're rich. Because people with money get to do whatever they want. However, I think that's actually true anywhere in the world. So, um... Yea for money! And the freedom money buys! And we do it better here than anywhere else in the world!
Good points all, but I still doubt too many if any poor, female, gay, or "people of color" would willingly pack up and move to Egypt.
S
You make some great points, but I'd still rather live here than anyplace else, and I've been to a lot of places. But I still wouldn't miss the opportunity to wish you a Happy Fourth of July.
P.S. Love the Patriot Bulldog!
Happy 4th! I have spent this day bowing to the capitalist establishment. My wife has sent me shopping!
Freedom is just another word for "nothing left to lose," so sayeth Janis Joplin.
You said it brilliantly. I missed this two days ago, but I couldn't agree more. I love living in America, too, but saying "Hey, we're not as bad as everywhere else" isn't quite the same as saying "We're a great country."
America caters to two things: beauty and wealth. If you have neither of these things, they say "fuck you" and try to make you into a slave.
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