Anti-America?
We have D-Day almost upon us and I find that I despair at the anti-American demos and rallies which seem to take place somewhere in the world on an almost daily basis. Whilst I may have problems with American politicians and the political system as a whole, I don’t have any such problem with the American nation and what it represents to my country and Europe in general.
When I watch these demos I see that most of the participants are a lot younger than me, and even at my age I am not old enough to have experienced in any way the horrors of World War II so their experience is even further removed. I was, of course, raised through the 50s and 60s so I have experienced in part my country’s slow rise from the economic plight caused by the War. Because of the coincidence of the day of my birth I have always taken an interest in the events of D-Day and World War II in general however what I know I have, for the most part, had to find out for myself.
History teaching in school did not encompass the War and indeed hardly touched the twentieth century at all. History teaching in school was mainly concerned with kings and queens from the Dark Ages up to Elizabeth 1st. This has very little to do with the state of the world today, and history teaching in school today is the same as it was when I was there. If you were to ask some of these demonstrators about the Cold War or the Berlin Wall they would probably look at you blankly. History in school should be totally twentieth century based. It is what got us where we are. If people want to learn about earlier history they can take that option when they get to university but current generations and future ones should learn about what has brought them to now before anything else. Only if this is done will people realise that freedom and liberty is expensive and that, if we forget that, we will lose it.
I consider my country to be the bravest fighting force on the planet. Problem is we are a small country. Even conscripting men in their 40s into the army during World War II did not give us a large enough fighting force to take on the Nazis. Even with the Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, Polish and others our forces were not big enough. D-Day was only possible because of the massive force of America. Without D-Day the continent of Europe and most likely Britain too would, even now, be under Nazi domination.
The younger generations know nothing of this and they demonstrate against America through total ignorance. It is time this situation was changed by teaching kids about what is important. Maybe if they understood why they are alive today, why they can eat what they like and live in freedom they might not be so keen to take part in pointless demonstrations, and they might realise that the very freedom to demonstrate at all is due, in no small part, to the existence of the free American nation.
Comments ( 33 )
Anyway, you touched upon a great concern that most people share about young people who engage in demonstration, albeit each from different perspectives, nonetheless, this is a common criticism. However, I would like to add a defense to one of your thoughts regarding the relevance of the young demonstrators who engage in protest of events that occurred long ago, and current affairs of today. So I'll only focus on the last paragraph of your BLOG entry:
As you may or may not know, I have returned to University, where I decided to further my academic standings with the current degrees I have now. I'm slightly younger then you therefore I believe I can relate to what you are saying. Now, siting in classes with students who are half my age, you begin to feel and see the changes in the atmosphere from when I was last a student. When I sat in a Political Science class back in 1988, the mode was totally Left. Today, I'm shocked as most students are almost Right in their thinking. What has changed?
I believe a number of things have changed: whether your ideology is Left, Centre or Right. Mass media is available with the push of a button. So the influence of Media of what the younger generation sees is a huge factor. You now have access from your own home, the 500 channel universe, the InterNet and schools that are more advanced then ever before.
The young have a greater handle at their age then we did in proportion to what world events are currently taking place. By this I mean, we never had reality TV and Up to the millisecond coverage of War, Disasters and Politics. So current affairs would shape your mindset on a verity of topics both past and present.
Now, do kids really understand what is going on in the world around them? My answer is that as a Kid, (age 18 or younger) they may not understand the dialectic fundamentals of history and the reasons of their existents with common everyday events, but they have us to remind them of that – both parents and media.
The very reason D-Day, the 60th anniversary is so important in this case, is that this will probably be the last time that any of the living survivors will attend the ceremonies. So media will be there and the opportunity of knowing that the world will be watching, you now have the perfect recipe of capturing the greatest amount of viewers to your cause on one stage. An Anti-War demonstration at a War memorial event: why not?
I love my country. As a whole, I believe it is a great nation. I am grateful I was born here with the priviledges I often take for granted (but shouldn't). So although I understand the general criticism, I do get weary of anti-American sentiment and the 'typical American' stereotypes. I do believe we have the power (and therefore the responsibility) to do better for the world than we're currently doing, however. :wall:
All you need now are the ones that have the "qutation marks" with the left and right hand doing the Nixon pose.:liar::drool:
I didn't get an IM from you on Yahoo although I did get a notice to accept one when I got online to check for it. Never came through though - weird. I used to have an ICQ number (or two or three) ages ago, but the digits & password are in another dimension where all the stored information in my brain seems to go (I think it's the same dimension that socks disappear to). I always forget to turn on whatever IM program I'm running - it's a mystery why I install them at all.
:liar::help::hand::drool::pray:
If you had these from before, I never saw them.... Sorry from going off topic like that.
So, I gotta ask: what changed from the old to the 1.2 mingus?
Maybe you should give me your Email so I don't kill the topic flow of today's entry in your BLOG. :idea:
And we know a thing or two about electing unsuitable leaders ourselves. But I do wish that when their tourists went abroad that they would not wear those wierd checked trousers :boohoo:
happy belated birthday!
i used to like icq so much and then it got so big...and my *friends* started using MSN...grrr...and y! did some weird things sometimes....
i hate msn...you can't send offline messages...why is it a hit??
*sigh*
aim too
*sigh*
and i never actually reached the study of the wars in my history classes...did do it in french a levels tho, i think
@Lily - I thank you. You only missed it by 78 minutes and technically it was still my birthday over there.
“These are all matters that the second superpower, world public opinion, should make every effort to understand it is hopes to escape the containment to which it is subjected and to take seriously the ideas of justices and freedom that come easily to the lips but are harder to defend and advance” (Chomsky: 2003 p.10).
Here Chomsky is arguing that the White House and public opinion have always being at odds. Now the statement regarding public opinion is not just “world” but that of the “American” public opinion also. Many authors in the United States have written entire books on this very concept: more so then that of Micheal Moore who, in his last book presented the same generalization. For Moore, it is Bush against the people.
However, don't even think that Moore is on the same level as Chomsky, because Moore presents a almost conspiracy approach while Chomsky paint a picture that draws a line from the 1700s to the present using history in his model.
and you have to grant me my confusion because remember i was a bit lost for a long while about what the 6th was (aside from d-day)...:-P
i want the stats plugin
@ Jess on the checks. I believe you. I am sure you wouldn't wear them. Or maybe you could as a kind of double ironic fashion statement. Who knows? But someone needed to lighten this thread a little bit. :)