<<Because you have a deep love for your family, does that mean you think less of the
neighbors across the street?>>
Michael, I am not sure we are on firm logical ground here, in comparing my neighbors and me to the relations between America and the rest of the world, but I will attempt an answer, anyway.
I have a deep love for my family, and that does not make me think less of the neighbors across the street. On the other hand, just because I love my family more than I do the guys across the street, I do not accept that we are better than they are, and have more right to pollute the earth. I accept that you do not think of yourself as superior to others because you are American, but there is a mentality in America where we are the big cheese internationally, and can do exactly what we want, while urging other countries to behave differently. From everything I read, that causes a lot of resentment internationally, and keeps the "ugly American" stuff alive, even though we are respected for our energy, our technology, and our prosperity.
For example, there is a news story in the paper today about how Americans would be able to keep the costs of conforming to the environmental standards of the Kyoto treaty fairly reasonable. But the underlying assumption is that we will continue to pollute a lot, and buy pollution credits from other countries that do not. Why should we have this inherent right? And we have been quite hypocritical on other current issues as well, for example the international court for war criminals and land mines. We think these are good ideas for other countries, but do not want to compromise our own sovereignty or options in any way. Here's an article about buying pollution credits:
search.washingtonpost.com
I don't specifically remember Greenpeace being involved in the dolphin debate. The documentary I saw about them interviewed animal rights' activists, mostly. I'm really sorry Greenpeace activists tried to kill you. What exactly happened there? I know they have protests, but I have not heard of any murders, except when the French Navy assassinated a Greenpeace activist and tried to sink their boat off New Zealand. I am sure they do not hate you personally, though--they are against nuclear stuff, not Michael Cummings. It does help me understand why you are so negative on them, but at the same time they see their role as saving the world from a nuclear or environmental disaster, including you and your family. They are not acting in any way to deliberately harm you. |
