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[personal profile] den
re this article linked to by [livejournal.com profile] bearblue

I'm really disappointed in the casual dismissal of the deaths of 15,000 people, most of whom were old or very young. It had NOTHING with them being French, or the Government being on holiday, or "the sun being out a little longer than usual," and EVERYTHING to do with a protracted, unseasonal spell of above-average temperatures that European architecture was never designed to repel.

I hate casual dismissals like that. How would people feel about "200 dead in Detroit due to a blizzard, because it got a little colder than usual and Government did nothing, but it's all right because they were AMERICANS." That attitude is wriong, wrong, wrong, and has no place in an article if the writer wants to be taken seriously.

"The World" doesn't hate Americans and the US. They DON'T like "Who gives a fuck." Other countries are not America. We usually do things and think differently from you. But who gives a fuck?

Well, WE do.

The Australian way of doing things has become buried in Americana. Oh, little bits show through in places but it has mostly become US culture. We're a little more relaxed about things, and we talk funny and drive on the wrong side of the road and we certainly don't call the Opposition party "traitors," but it's mostly the same.

And we don't like that much, but we Aussies are a bunch of surrender monkeys and won't complain about that. Much.

Because who gives a fuck?

Date: 23 May 2004 17:41 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] level-head.livejournal.com
So the French that agree with him are Nationalists? That sounds bad. ];-)

And the Europeans that express the same attitude toward the US are Nationalists?

What about Americans who express the opinion that Americans are weak and their government incompetent? I've heard that quite a bit recently, but "Nationalists" seems inappropriate for that sort of thing.

===|==============/ Level Head

Date: 23 May 2004 22:55 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/crossfire_/
Nationalism as a philosophy means exalting one's nation, and promoting its culture or interests above all others.

Bearing that definition in mind, your first and third questions are clearly absurd (which is why I defined Nationalism; those questions indicated to me that you don't know what it meant).

The answer to your second question is "maybe." It would depend on the context.

Date: 24 May 2004 00:31 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dewhitton.livejournal.com
Hi Guys. This is your Moderator speaking. Just thought I'd pop in to say "Hi" and "Keep playing nice."

den

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