I have been immensely enjoying Bob Harris' travel journals, as you know if you've been with me for a while here. His latest is from New Zealand, and is wonderful, as usual.
But this part reminds me of why I may not get out of here. It's something that keeps niggling it's way into my ruminations every time I feel a desperate need to find a new home. I always find arguments, though.
Third, while I've been tempted lately to emigrate to safer and saner places -- one of which I'm writing about below -- one thing this trip has taught me is the profound extent to which America's actions and culture truly do permeate the world -- and the degree to which the rest of this world (or at least the fraction I've seen on four continents) is distressed at the prospect, especially given the deceitful lunatics currently hijacking, endangering, and looting the country at will.
Fortunately, America, this strapping problem child among nations, is still a country I know well, where I can still (for now) vote and speak my mind and do what I can to stop this madness. And so I think, then, that my place is back in the States, working and writing and screaming until my lungs fall out.
...A recent study published in the Sunday Star-Times asked Australians and New Zealanders which country they would like to visit, but would not, because they consider it too dangerous. Here are the results:
1. United States (14%)
2. Iraq (13%)
3. Indonesia (11%)
4. Israel (7%)
...But the poll also asked which countries Kiwis wanted to visit, safety aside. The whole civilized world shows up at the top of that list -- the UK, Canada, Italy, France, etc. The U.S. is the only industrialized country on the entire considered-too-dangerous list.
...Also, seven percent of those polled in both countries wouldn't visit the US simply on ethical and political grounds, and another seven percent would not visit the US because they believed there was too much corruption.
That's what we look like here, folks.
Here's the link to all of Bob's journaling on this trip to date.
Friday, January 16, 2004
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are moderated. There may be some delay before your comment is published. It all depends on how much time M has in the day. But please comment!