to read later
bttt for later read.
Hmm, this was posted several weeks ago. An interesting read, though, deserving of another look.
Rec'd the below via email today:
~GOD BLESS AMERICA
We rarely get a chance to see another country's editorial about the USA.
Read this excerpt from a Romanian Newspaper. The article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title "C"ntarea Americii, meaning "Ode To America" on September 24, 2002, in the Romanian newspaper Evenimentulzilei ("The Daily Event" or "News of the Day").
~An Ode to America~
Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs. Still, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart.
Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the army, and the secret services that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about. The Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping
hand.
After the first moments of panic, they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing.
On every occasion, they started singing their traditional song: "God Bless America"! I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours, listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people.
How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put in a collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy.
What on earth can unite the Americans in such a way? Their land? Their galloping history? Their economic power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding commonplace.
I thought things over, but I reached only one conclusion...only freedom can work such miracles.
Cornel Nistorescu
This is long but a must-read.
Didn't get through all that - but I've also lived in Norway, and agree with much of what the author notes about the newspapers there. Self-censored lefty rags: Good for soccer scores, the TV schedule and nothing else.
ping
Great find. Must-read bump!
Well, but would it be possible to use large parts of West European secondary school curricula instead PC crap of our pablik edukashin?
Since West Europe has not yet collapsed, there must be at least something they are (or have been) doing [at least half]right. High school education where the graduates are multilingual and have solid grounding in basic sciences and Western Civ seems to be worth emulating here. Besides, to a large extent (excepting multiple foreign languages) it has existed in the US ca. 100 yrs ago. Thus a conservative impulse ought to be: back towards the future!
Thanks for posting this, I would have missed it otherwise. The author has gone through all the stages of an American overseas for an extended time and documented them well. He portrays the European attitudes as well as anyone. Isn't it great to be an American after all!
Your point?
Bump for a Friday night reading.
Thank you for posting this.
The Europeans love to focus their attention on how much they hate us instead of dealing with their own problems while they can still be handled. I have this creeping feeling that chaos is about to overtake Europe. I just hope they don't start crying for us to save their rear ends again.
I am having a rectocolic reflex and need to go the jon. I was going to print this article to read while I evacuated my colon, but I only had a ream of paper, so it will have to wait. I do want to read it though. Hell of an effort obviously went into its production.