[Vision2020] This Isn't Hate Speech, Either
debismith at moscow.com
debismith at moscow.com
Sun Jul 9 17:22:10 PDT 2006
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt">Thanks for posting this, Chas. While
I am still a big fan of the US, our cConstitution (on which
others have been modeled), and all the *goodies* we have in the US, I am aware we are not the
end-all-be-all in the world. Having traveled to other countries (apologizing all the while for
George Bush), I am astounded that US citizens are so damn dense about the rest of the world.
Yes, folks, there is a *rest of the World*, and some of it is better than us in some ways, some
of it is worse in some ways, and all of it is different in many ways. </span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt">Our current government seems to assume
not only are we the best, but the only. They make
assumptions based on US mores and behavior patterns, and insist the rest of the world just
isn't as *civilized* as we are. The facts (based on real data, not emotional patriotic ferver) show
us to be sadly lacking in many of the things we proclaim are superior here. If we don't
recognize and address these things, we will regret it sooner rather than later. We say we are a
bastion of Liberty and Justice for All---the facts show we are not. We say we have the best
human rights in the worls---the facts show we still disenfranchise whole groups of citizens. We
say we are proponents of peace and human rights and that we help others around the world---
well, that's just a damn lie to salve our conscience. The truth and the facts (again, based on
real numbers) show that the US is iconoclastic, insular, complaisant, dumbed down, and
losing monetary value around the world. </span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt">When I went to Australia (just after
the September 11 terror attacks) with a large group of US
citizens for a World Council of the YWCA, we were told as a group not to display overt
*America* regalia. For those who just didn't get it, it was spelled out in capital letters:</span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt">*America is a continent, just like
Africa is a continent. It has lots of Nations on the Continent.
The US is NOT America. It is the United States of America. There are other Nations on the
Continent, so do not say you are American. Do not wear the US flag as a display--lots of folks
do not like the US, and you might get spat upon, punched out, or shot. You will, at the very
least, be confronted. Be polite. Do not tell everyone you meet that your country is better than
their country. Do not compare your possessions to their possessions. Do not tell them how to
improve their country. Do not refuse to eat the food unless it looks like something you ate last
week in your homwtown in the US. Do not tell people the food looks weird, tastes weird, or is
better in the US. Ask questions, learn about the local people, try something new, and become
a citizen of the world*.</span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt">In spite of all that, we still had
a woman from Texas, with big hair and a white cowboy hat,
wearing a rhinestone US flag the size of a telephon book, telling everyone from everywhere how
to do everything. I was in an antique store, talking with the owner, when she came in. Her
initial comments were about how stupid it was to have the prices not in US dollars. Her next
comments were about how her greatgrandsomethingorother fought at the Alamo and she had
the antiques to prove it so who did this guy think he was displaying junk from Abbos and
calling it Antique. From my earlier conversations with him, he knew I was there for the YWCA.
He asked me if I knew the nasty woman from the US. I cheesed out and told him I was from
Canada and had never seen her before in my life. IIIICKKKK</span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt">The point is:</span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt">I am a delegate to the YWCA World
Council in Kenya in 2007. I want to focus on building
international bridges for women, human rights, and global understanding towards peace. </span></font><font
face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b> I
don't want to lie and say I'm from Canada. </b></span></font><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt">I
want to proudly proclaim the United States of
America as my homeland. I do not want to apologize for the foreign policies of my government-
--I want to applaud them and and have the rest of the world join in the applause. I want us to
BE what our internal mythos claims we are. I love my country, fear my government, and
criticize what needs to change. </span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt">We are an amazing and wonderful country,
full of good people who believe in our country and
our ideals. Unfortunately, this country has been hijacked by those who want us to stay stupid,
unquestioning, relying on reaction rather than proactive relationships, insular, frightened of the
world, and thus, able to ignorantly poclaim our superiority. I'm not willing to accept the
Administration's *prevention* policies as a valid way of conducting International Affairs.</span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"> I am not complying to the formula.
The World is too big for George Bush and his handlers to
wrap their pointy heads around. The World is too big for one Religion to suffice. The World is
too big for that woman from Texas to Control. </span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt">Most importantly, the World is too
big for citizens of the US to ignore. We go on thinking our
Wal-Marts, MacDonalds, Disney Worlds, Brittney Spears, and George Bush will see us
through any problems. This is just a SHIT SANDWICH. Indeed, the World notices the Shit
Sandwich. They are smart enough in other places around the World to recognize it as shit,
enjoy it or discard it or vilify the US with the shit as they see applicable. We are the only
people on the planet who swallow the shit sandwich whole AND PROCLAIM IT GOOD. Those
in the US who aren't willing to eat the Shit Sandwich are called unpatriotic and (gasp) liberals.
If we look at the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the Shit Sandwich Eaters are the true
enemies of the Country. Those of us who say *NO* are truly citizens of the World, Patriots of
the US, and the ones who will move forward rather than retain a go-nowhere-status-quo.</span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt">Debi R-S</span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>Date sent:        Sun, 9 Jul 2006 12:20:33 -0700</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>From:                        </b></span></font><font
face="Arial" color="#000080"><span style="font-size:10pt">Chasuk <chasuk at gmail.com></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>To:                            </b></span></font><font
face="Arial" color="#000080"><span style="font-size:10pt">Vision2020 <vision2020 at moscow.com></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>Subject:                    </b></span></font><font face="Arial" color="#000080"><span
style="font-size:10pt"><b>[Vision2020] This Isn't Hate Speech, Either</b></span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><u>[ Double-click this line for list
subscription options ]</u><b> </b></span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>Below is a slightly expurgated,
admittedly controversial (yet still</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>interesting) excerpt from Craigslist:</b></span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>********************************************************************************</b></span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>MYTH. The US doesn't need improvement
compared to other countries; it</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>is the greatest country in the
world.</b></span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>TRUTH:</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>Wrong again. I'll only cite the
statistics here.</b></span></font></div>
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</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>USA Ranking on Adult Literacy Scale:
#9</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>(#1 Sweden and #2 Norway)- OECD</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br/>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>USA Ranking on Healthcare Quality
Index: #37</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>(#1 France and #2 Italy)- World
Health Organization 2003</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br/>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>USA Ranking of Student Reading
Ability: #12</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>(#1 Finland and #2 South Korea)-
OECD PISA 2003</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br/>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>USA Ranking of Student Problem
Solving Ability: #26</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>(#1 South Korea and #2 Finland)-
OECD PISA 2003</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br/>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>USA Ranking on Student Mathematics
Ability: # 24</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>(#1 Hong Kong and #2 Finland)-
OECD PISA 2003</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br/>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>USA Ranking of Student Science
Ability: #19</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>(#1 Finland and #2 Japan)- OECD
PISA 2003</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br/>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>USA Ranking on Women's Rights Scale:
#17</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>(#1 Sweden and #2 Norway)- World
Economic Forum Report</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br/>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>USA Position on Timeline of Gay
Rights Progress: # 6 (1997)</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>(#1 Sweden 1987 and #2 Norway 1993)-
Vexen</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br/>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>USA Ranking on Life Expectancy:
#29</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>(#1 Japan and #2 Hong Kong)- UN
Human Development Report 2005</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br/>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>USA Ranking on Journalistic Press
Freedom Index: #32</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>(#1 Finland, Iceland, Norway and
the Netherlands tied)- Reporters</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>Without Borders 2005</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br/>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>USA Ranking on Political Corruption
Index: #17</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>(#1 Iceland and #2 Finland)- Transparency
International 2005</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br/>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>USA Ranking on Quality of Life
Survey: #13</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>(#1 Ireland and #2 Switzerland)-
The Economist Magazine ...Wikipedia</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>"Celtic Tiger" if you
still have your doubts.</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br/>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>USA Ranking on Environmental Sustainability
Index: #45</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>(#1 Finland and #2 Norway)- Yale
University ESI 2005</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br/>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>USA Ranking on Overall Currency
Strength: #3 (US Dollar)</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>(#1 UK pound sterling and #2 European
Union euro)- FTSE 2006....the</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>dollar is now a liability, so many
banks worldwide have planned to</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>switch to euro</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br/>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>USA Ranking on Infant Mortality
Rate: #32</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>(#1 Sweden and #2 Finland)- Save
the Children Report 2006</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br/>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>USA Ranking on Human Development
Index (GDP, education, etc.): #10</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>(#1 Norway and #2 Iceland)- UN
Human Development Report 2005</b></span></font></div>
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</div>
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</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>So much for those "socialist"
Europeans and those "backward" Asians, hm?</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>We can do better than this.</b></span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>Miscellany:</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>*Only 18% of Americans own passports
and bother to travel outside of the US.</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>* 85% of US soldiers in Iraq believe
that they are there to get</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>revenge for 9/11.</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>* New international student enrollment
in US grad schools has</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>decreased by 6%, because of xenophobic
post-9/11 US visa restrictions,</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>jacked-up tuition fees and better
educational opportunities in the EU</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>and Asia. So no, not everyone wants
to come here anymore, because it's</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>become a land of incredibly limited
opportunity, and we've lowered our</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>educational standards.</b></span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><br/>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>MYTH: The US government loves to
help other countries.</b></span></font></div>
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</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>TRUTH:</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>This is a myth. The US government
tends to be motivated by interests,</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>not humanitarian principles.</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><br/>
</div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>Denmark gives the most amount of
its GDP (1.01%) to developing</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>countries; Norway gives 0.91%;
the Netherlands give 0.79% and so on</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>until the end of list, where the
USA sits. Yes, America ranks DEAD</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>LAST in foreign aid at a pathetic
0.1% of its GDP, compared to the</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>other 21 nations listed as developed
nations. The idea that the US</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>government is a heroic bunch that
runs around the world helping the</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>poor and the disempowered is not
backed up by the evidence. We have</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>one of the stingiest governments
on earth.</b></span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>Most Americans believe the US spends
24% of its budget on aid to poor</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>countries; the actual amount is
well under a quarter of 1%. Our</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>country also ranks #5 on asylum-seeker
acceptance rates (#1 is Denmark</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>and #2 is Canada).</b></span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>********************************************************************************</b></span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>-- </b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>http://emmagoldman.wordpress.com/</b></span></font></div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>"Aren't people absurd! They
never use the freedoms they do have, but</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>demand those they don't have; they
have freedom of thought, they</b></span></font></div>
<div align="left"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10pt"><b>demand freedom of speech."
-- Søren Kierkegaard</b></span></font></div>
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