Actually, the best Prime Minister since Churchill was Margaret Thatcher, I think, but Tony Blair is certainly impressing more in this crisis. Britain has a tradition, forged in the last century, of close alliance with us, and it shows in their attitudes and behavior in distinction from continental powers. With Canada, the United States and Britain form a transatlantic partnership that helps to keep NATO on track. I do not, though, think we have shown a lack of gratitude. On the contrary, our British cousins are frequently treated more favorably than others.
Bin Laden is fairly attractive, but there is something hysterical about his looks which is off- putting.
As long as countries have a national culture, they are likely enough to have a national character. I think France is not as unreliable as you think, though. It just chafes at being a second rate power. The Swiss, I am not so sure. After all, they have a tradition of neutrality which has left it "above it all".
I think you are wrong about the Middle East. We are well on our way to dealing with the problem, and downgrading it, at least.
It is pretty much true that the Arabs were fortunate to sit on oil, and have not shown as much political maturity or economic gumption to plan for the future as one might wish.
Some Arab countries, like Morocco, are far more stable and show that development is possible in the Arab world. It may be that most of the difference is that North Africa was, for a long time, under French rule, while most of the Arabs lived under Ottoman domination. Also, in Asia Minor, a lot of Arabs were still tribesmen, engaged in sheep- herding and petty feuding, and far from knowledge of modern science, technology, or social organization. Even now, there is a big gap between the city and the countryside.
I can't say much about sports, except that a free market pertains there too, and these people are getting roughly what they are worth. Considering the threat of injury and their short careers, why shouldn't they seek economic freedom?
Women are relatively less violent than men, but they still have aggressive instincts of their own, as well as a primitive attraction to masculinity. Just as most men like large- bosomed women, most women like men with bulging biceps. Sexuality primarily keys into the exaggeration of secondary sexual characteristics, or the elaboration of masculine and feminine "styles". Additionally, some number of women have a hypertrophied sense of sympathy, and if a criminal is otherwise attractive, tend to imagine that he is a damaged psyche needing love to thrive. Some men are sucker for screwed up women, too.
Pass on Condit.
The only problem with Islam itself is that it has not grown beyond the stage where religion and politics are difficult to separate. Couple this with questions about how Allah could have let the glory of the Caliphate be eclipsed and overtaken by Christendom, and you have a lot of guys who are sure that the only way to restore ancient glory is by the strict application of shari'ah. However, modernizing regimes resist this, and tend to be supported by the United States. Thus, the more fanatical resort to violence.
We do need to take some care to allow a national culture to flourish, and to resist balkanization. To do that, though, we must be somewhat more inclusive, so that all feel themselves to be American. It is true that the majority should not feel as if it cannot express itself, but it is also true that reasonable accommodations have to be made for minorities. Disallowing the flag is hard to defend, and, I would say, so is disallowing all caroling, although an effort should be made to give some exposure to music from other religions and cultures.
I figured since others were being dismissive, I should respond with some seriousness........ |
