I firmly believe that every male should have the crap kicked out of him at some point... we (males) tend to grow up thinking that we are made of plastic and, as you so correctly pointed out, that we are impervious to damage, just like the guys we love to watch on TV. My "epiphany" occurred in the 4th grade, when I, the bully, larger than everyone else in my class, got his butt kicked by a classmate's big sister, publicly, in the school playground. That took the wind out of my little bully sails. After that, I saw things much differently.
I did... bought the XP version and installed BackTrack3.
I am a professional SW Engineer, and most of my career has been spent using C, C++, and C# on Windows boxen. All of my home machines were Windows, too, until last January. I found myself with two dead HDs in both of my computers at home -- I lost everything (I know, I know... backup everything... I do now). Anyhow, on New Year's Day, I had nothing, so I went to Best Buy to get an HD for my laptop. My Windows disks (legal copies that I bought) were in storage, and I couldn't get to them right away, so I looked at their prices for Windows... XP was several hundred dollars!
I refused to spend so much for something that I had already paid for, but I desperately needed a machine. Then I saw the bookstore across the street. I went in, found a $20 Ubuntu book (with CD!), and viola! That night, I was up and online with Ubuntu FF. I had a little trouble with the WIFI driver (Broadcom), but I managed to get it going.
After that, I started looking at Linux in a different way. Then I discovered BT3, which I put on my EEE. It took me a few tries, but I got it going, and now I love it. Then I built a new machine to use as a dedicated file server (64-bit Ubuntu HH server, 1.9TB RAID5, with tape backup of critical directories)
I think I will always keep at least one Windows box around (I work at home, and I have learned to appreciate Visual Studio for certain things), but I have discovered a whole, new world. I even got my wife (an almost complete technophobe) to use Linux! To someone with her lack of tech-ability, Windows and Linux (Ubuntu via a GUI) are identical!
So, IMHO, if you are limiting yourself to Windows, as I did, you are missing out on a fun, new experience. OTOH, Linux was just not up to the task until quite recently. I think the main reason for this is that some Linux folks decided to stop hating Windows and make it easier for Windows users to try Linux. It's working, as far as I can tell.
From the article: There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise.
From a slightly different angle: I once applited for a job in NYC. They wanted to do a telephone interview, so two of their Senior Engineers called me one evening. Suffice to say, I crashed and burned... badly. In my own defense, I was already a solid C++ developer, but they were doing some cutting edge stuff that I had, honestly, bever even heard of (Template Meta Programming, or TMP, if you have to know). Even so, it was embarassing. Even worse was the fact that these two guys were super nice, easy to talk to, and they seemed to be very knowledgeable.
So, while they were wrapping it up (and telling me not to hold my breath), I decided to turn things around. I let them know that I had no illusions of getting the job, but that I really wanted to improve myself and make myself more marketable. That began several months worth of e-mail correspondence and mentoring. They pointed me in the right direction, and I followed their advice.
Since that happened, some five years ago, I have been able to double my salary. I have made three jumps since then (one company got sold, and one company, a startup, went bankrupt), and I have literally been able to negotiate myself to double what I was making at that point. I also learned to love TMP. Alexandrescu is one of my heros!
Anyhow, my point is not how wonderful I am (I'm not... I'm just smart enough to realize that I know very little), but that, IMHO, to be successful in this industry, you should seek out the gurus and listen and learn. They might be Professors, Managers, or Engineers, and they might be dedicated C, or C++, or even Java coders, and (gasp) they might even use Windows! Read books and blogs, and practice at home.
It's like martial arts: you have to practice until you die.
Also, finding the right industry helps. I've worked in the Defense Contracting, Medical Imaging, and, now, Financial Industries. FWIW, here is my take on these:
Defense: Lots of diversity in skillsets. I was on a team with people who coded in Ada, C, Fortran, C++, and Perl. I did C++ on Solaris. The industry usually pays pretty well, but it's not terribly stable, especially if you support contracts from foreign countries. My team did so, and, from time to time, governments changed, contracts were cancelled, and people were laid off. Even so, it was way cool doing things like going to Taiwan and watching them dance with the Chinese military via a $15 million miltary radar system. Mmm... lots of fun toys in Defense contracting.
Medical Imaging: Not as programming-language diverse, but more lower-level people (lots of embedded work, for example, which is often done in C using VxWorks, etc), as well as C++, which I did (mostly windows, some Linux). Not as much money, but I enjoyed going to clinics and learning how to X-Ray people. Making something that can save lives is also rewarding. Can be pretty stable.
Finance: Lots of money! Also long hours, in many cases. Even though the industry is going through tough times, the developer positions are still pretty secure. The layoffs you read about are mostly sales/marketing/trading jobs. The companies still need their technology. We use a lot of C# and Java on Windows, although some companies prefer 'nix. Lots of SQL and data structures stuff. IMHO, this is the best industry to be in, from a compensation point of view. Hard to get your foot in the door, though. The best thing to do is to find a good recruiter who knows the companies and can steer you to the right jobs.
Sorry for the long-winded post, but this thread seems to be all about sharing experiences and giving advice.
I have. It really opened my eyes to the freedoms we enjoy versus the freedoms they enjoy.
I have family in Shanghai (huge city), Xi'an (pretty big city), BaoJi City (Medium-sized city), and a small villiage nearby. I have travelled to all of these places and stayed wih my relatives. As a native-born American, I was thoroughly impressed with the freedom that they enjoy.
Many Chinese never even come in contact with a Policeman. Judges and government officials (my cousin is a Provincial (read: State) Supreme Court Judge, and her husband is a high-ranking government official, BTW) live like common "folk," and people do and say almost anything they want. My nephews all play Counterstrike on-line against their classmates, and they all surf the internet. You have to understand that Chinese people are just not into Pr0n and such things like we (Americans) are. So, for them, not having access to Pr0n just isn't a big deal.
But hey, don't take my word for it. Go see for yourself.
Oh, and the one baby thing is only enforced in the big cities. Again, don't take my word for it. Most of my family in the smaller areas have several children.
Ban food and other harmful substances!!!
on
Coffee is Addictive
·
· Score: 1
If I go too long without food, I get jittery and irritable. After a while, my system shuts down. Some people have commited criminal acts to "score" some food, and some people have died from "overdosing" on it. This food stuff is dangerous, I tell you. It should be studied and, eventually, banned!
Now let's imagine the same small firm. As you said, they are genuinely predjudiced. As you also point out, given the right circumstances, some or all of these "white guys" might overcome their predjudices (or, it is, at the very least, a possibility).
Now, One of them tries to send a child to college, only to have that child get passed over in favor of another candidate with the same or lesser qualifications but who belongs to (pick a minority). Hmmm... now you have created a pissed-off group of predjudiced white guys.
As well, you have dashed the hopes and dreams of an innocent person (the would-be student) who might just have worked hard for this opportunity. You have also possibly taught this young person that effort is not as important as race, that they should hate (insert your favorite minority). Likewise, the (insert your favorite minority) might also learn that the race card is more powerful than hard work. Finally, you run the risk of creating a "victim" mentality in (insert your favorite minority). As many members of (insert your favorite minority) will tell you, they want to know that they have achieved their successes in life on their own.
In a way, it's terribly demeaning to tell a member of (insert your favorite minority) that they are getting a hand up (extra promotion points, etc.) because other members of (insert your favorite minority) couldn't cut it. How degrading! Why not let everyone compete on an even playing field? If you do, then everyone can hold their head up high and be proud of their success. Those who choose not to work so hard have only themselves to blame.
I could also make a similar agument in the case of one of these white guys getting passed over in a job interview at another company.
If a company such as you suggest does exist, then they run a serious risk of failing or being less competitive by excluding a lot of potentially creative and productive members of society. As well, don't forget that we, as happy capitalists, have the option of not patronizing such a company!!!
I have BS degrees in both CompSci and Math, an MS in CompEE and am finishing an MS in Math. I work as a SW Dev doing image processing. For me, Linear Algebra and a little bit of probability are very useful, sometimes on a daily basis.
Of course, someone doing Financial stuff, for instance, would probably really need some DiffyQ and more calculus. Since all of these are mentioned in the article, I'd have to agree with the author.
Oh, and knowing more math than my boss is terribly handy for getting out of those long, boring hallway conversations. After a certain point, I just start bringing up quaternions and rotaion matrices, and voila! Meeting's over!
...would operate above the jet stream and above severe weather in a geostationary position to serve as a telecommunications relay, a weather observer, or a peacekeeper from its over-the-horizon perch.
From the letter: Society is better off when consumers have choices and when products compete with one another on the basis of functionality and price...
Start a company... make and sell products... products become popular for some reason... some people don't like the products... Get sued...
If you don't like the company/product... don't use it... why feed the lawyers, waste time and taxpayer money, and slam a company for selling products? This whole thing is ridiculous. MS has never been a monopoly. If you can't figure out how to use something other than MS products, you certainly don't belong here (on/.).
There have always been other choices. To the best of my knowledge, no one ever held a gun up to anyone's head and said "use IE or die!"
If a company makes a web site that can't work with anything but IE, then send them an E-Mail with your complaint, and then go to another site. If they lose enough business because of this decision, then they will change. It's called capitalism.
"...but I don't recall hearing any Americans bitching about the French or the British while the Nazis were attacking them. I believe the sentiment was one of empathy and support."
I stand by my comments... considering the great distances and the great expenses involved, it's no wonder that most Americans were not quick to jump in. Even so, the empathy and support, albeit initially more moral than physical, was there the entire time.
My point is that so many other people want to sit back, bitch about the US and even hate us. If the US had been doing this, how much of the world would be speaking German right now? Would there still be a Kuwait, etc.? Yes, we have issues here, but we are no better and no worse than anyone else. At least we are trying to help, even if it doesn't always turn out the way we'd like.
Americans and "non-Americans" DO think alike. I couldn't agree more with this post. Yes, Bush is an idiot. Yes, the Taliban was a scourge that needed to be ousted. Yes, the UN is useless.
I speak German because I chose to learn it, and thanks to the tremendous sacrifices of many millions of Americans in my grandparent's generation, you get to make that choice as well.
You can not believe me if you like, but it is absolutely the case that most Americans just want to help others. That's why we did what we did in WWII, and that's why we are sacrificing 87 BILLION to rebuild Iraq. And, before you say that we destroyed Iraq, so we should rebuild Iraq, note that a lot of the reconstruction money is for things that we didn't break. Before we attacked Saddam's troops, Iraq was in terrible shape, infrastructure-wise. We (Americans) intend and are trying to put their country back in a much better condition than it was when Saddam ruled. So don't tell me that we owe them. If they'd stop blowing up pipelines and electric towers, they would get rid of the US even quicker.
It's so easy to slam the US from free Europe, but the fact of the matter is, many people who hate us don't really know why. I lived in and traveled through Europe for five years, and I met countless people who despised me at first sight. In 99% of these interactions, once we spent some time talking and getting to know each other, we BOTH realized that the other wasn't really so bad.
Here's a challenge: I went to Europe, and I did my best to get to know the people there and to understand them and their views. I have a lot of warm feelings for Europe as a whole and a lot of respect and adminration for Euporeans. Now it's your turn. Come to the US... spend some time with us "evil Americans." If you can spend a few years here with an open mind, and at the end of your visit you still hate us, then so be it. My experience, however, is that most open-minded, intelligent people who spend a decent amount of time here in the US leave with good memories and life-long friends. Instead of whining, take the challenge!
Yawn... Here we go again. Ok, let's do this one more time:
Yes, some (of us) Americans need to learn a lot of things. Unlike those who would sit back and proclaim their personal and/or national perfection by pointng out every fault of the United States and its citizens, most Americans are content to accept that no, we are not perfect, but yes, we are not any worse than anyone else.
One thing we have NEVER needed to learn, however, is to help other people (and yes, that means YOU Europe) even when they screw up ("Gee... our Prime Minister says this Hitler guy is prety cool..."). INH (I'm No Historian), but I don't recall hearing any Americans bitching about the French or the British while the Nazis were attacking them. I believe the sentiment was one of empathy and support.
The reality is that a lot of Americans died for Europe and even more Americans sacrificed greatly in terms of standard of living. Now American kids are being slaughtered daily, and we (Americans) are shelling out 87 billion to help Iraq and Afghanistan. Still, I don't see or hear Americans criticizing (or hating, for that matter) these people. Americans might be mad at the US government for a) getting us into this mess, and b) spending so much money (in a lousy economic time, to boot), but people aren't blaming the Iraqi and Afghani people.
Even more to the point, I still don't hear Americans recommending that we kill these people. As far as conquering Iraq or Afghanistan, I don't know what people say where you're from, but I have yet to meet a single American who thinks that we should stay in either of these lands. From what I am seeing and hearing, most Americans want their sons and daughters home, and they want them home NOW. At the same time, if we simply leave right now, what sort of situation would develop in these countries in the power vacuum that would result?
If you really think Americans are so bad, come on over and meet us. I know a lot of foreign born people who came to the US with some of the same sentiments. After having spent some time here, the majority of the people that I know have deduced that Americans are just like other people... some are good, and some are bad. Invariably, the governments (US, too) are to blame for filling their citizen's heads with a load of crap about the rest of the world. People, however, are people, no matter where they come from. If you disagree with that, then it can only be because you've never met many people from outside of your little part of the world.
Case in point: I grew up during the cold war (against the USSR, for the most part). Now that I have had the chance to meet people from literally dozens of other countries, I am of the opinion that the Russian people are the ones who most closely resemble us Americans as far as personalities go.
Excpet tfor that Vodka thing... blech.. what is that? Don't they have Mezcal in Siberia?
Yawn... I thought we were going to talk about LOTR.
Slashdot Mirror
I firmly believe that every male should have the crap kicked out of him at some point... we (males) tend to grow up thinking that we are made of plastic and, as you so correctly pointed out, that we are impervious to damage, just like the guys we love to watch on TV.
My "epiphany" occurred in the 4th grade, when I, the bully, larger than everyone else in my class, got his butt kicked by a classmate's big sister, publicly, in the school playground.
That took the wind out of my little bully sails. After that, I saw things much differently.
I did... bought the XP version and installed BackTrack3.
I am a professional SW Engineer, and most of my career has been spent using C, C++, and C# on Windows boxen. All of my home machines were Windows, too, until last January. I found myself with two dead HDs in both of my computers at home -- I lost everything (I know, I know... backup everything... I do now). Anyhow, on New Year's Day, I had nothing, so I went to Best Buy to get an HD for my laptop. My Windows disks (legal copies that I bought) were in storage, and I couldn't get to them right away, so I looked at their prices for Windows... XP was several hundred dollars!
I refused to spend so much for something that I had already paid for, but I desperately needed a machine. Then I saw the bookstore across the street. I went in, found a $20 Ubuntu book (with CD!), and viola! That night, I was up and online with Ubuntu FF. I had a little trouble with the WIFI driver (Broadcom), but I managed to get it going.
After that, I started looking at Linux in a different way. Then I discovered BT3, which I put on my EEE. It took me a few tries, but I got it going, and now I love it. Then I built a new machine to use as a dedicated file server (64-bit Ubuntu HH server, 1.9TB RAID5, with tape backup of critical directories)
I think I will always keep at least one Windows box around (I work at home, and I have learned to appreciate Visual Studio for certain things), but I have discovered a whole, new world. I even got my wife (an almost complete technophobe) to use Linux! To someone with her lack of tech-ability, Windows and Linux (Ubuntu via a GUI) are identical!
So, IMHO, if you are limiting yourself to Windows, as I did, you are missing out on a fun, new experience. OTOH, Linux was just not up to the task until quite recently. I think the main reason for this is that some Linux folks decided to stop hating Windows and make it easier for Windows users to try Linux. It's working, as far as I can tell.
Is there anything it can't do?
I think you should re-read your own link.
From the article:
There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise.
Oops.
Good advice!
From a slightly different angle: I once applited for a job in NYC. They wanted to do a telephone interview, so two of their Senior Engineers called me one evening. Suffice to say, I crashed and burned... badly. In my own defense, I was already a solid C++ developer, but they were doing some cutting edge stuff that I had, honestly, bever even heard of (Template Meta Programming, or TMP, if you have to know). Even so, it was embarassing. Even worse was the fact that these two guys were super nice, easy to talk to, and they seemed to be very knowledgeable.
So, while they were wrapping it up (and telling me not to hold my breath), I decided to turn things around. I let them know that I had no illusions of getting the job, but that I really wanted to improve myself and make myself more marketable. That began several months worth of e-mail correspondence and mentoring. They pointed me in the right direction, and I followed their advice.
Since that happened, some five years ago, I have been able to double my salary. I have made three jumps since then (one company got sold, and one company, a startup, went bankrupt), and I have literally been able to negotiate myself to double what I was making at that point. I also learned to love TMP. Alexandrescu is one of my heros!
Anyhow, my point is not how wonderful I am (I'm not... I'm just smart enough to realize that I know very little), but that, IMHO, to be successful in this industry, you should seek out the gurus and listen and learn. They might be Professors, Managers, or Engineers, and they might be dedicated C, or C++, or even Java coders, and (gasp) they might even use Windows! Read books and blogs, and practice at home.
It's like martial arts: you have to practice until you die.
Also, finding the right industry helps. I've worked in the Defense Contracting, Medical Imaging, and, now, Financial Industries. FWIW, here is my take on these:
Defense: Lots of diversity in skillsets. I was on a team with people who coded in Ada, C, Fortran, C++, and Perl. I did C++ on Solaris. The industry usually pays pretty well, but it's not terribly stable, especially if you support contracts from foreign countries. My team did so, and, from time to time, governments changed, contracts were cancelled, and people were laid off. Even so, it was way cool doing things like going to Taiwan and watching them dance with the Chinese military via a $15 million miltary radar system. Mmm... lots of fun toys in Defense contracting.
Medical Imaging: Not as programming-language diverse, but more lower-level people (lots of embedded work, for example, which is often done in C using VxWorks, etc), as well as C++, which I did (mostly windows, some Linux). Not as much money, but I enjoyed going to clinics and learning how to X-Ray people. Making something that can save lives is also rewarding. Can be pretty stable.
Finance: Lots of money! Also long hours, in many cases. Even though the industry is going through tough times, the developer positions are still pretty secure. The layoffs you read about are mostly sales/marketing/trading jobs. The companies still need their technology. We use a lot of C# and Java on Windows, although some companies prefer 'nix. Lots of SQL and data structures stuff. IMHO, this is the best industry to be in, from a compensation point of view. Hard to get your foot in the door, though. The best thing to do is to find a good recruiter who knows the companies and can steer you to the right jobs.
Sorry for the long-winded post, but this thread seems to be all about sharing experiences and giving advice.
I have exactly the same version, and I failed the test. Now what?
You know... more electrolytes.
I have. It really opened my eyes to the freedoms we enjoy versus the freedoms they enjoy.
I have family in Shanghai (huge city), Xi'an (pretty big city), BaoJi City (Medium-sized city), and a small villiage nearby. I have travelled to all of these places and stayed wih my relatives. As a native-born American, I was thoroughly impressed with the freedom that they enjoy.
Many Chinese never even come in contact with a Policeman. Judges and government officials (my cousin is a Provincial (read: State) Supreme Court Judge, and her husband is a high-ranking government official, BTW) live like common "folk," and people do and say almost anything they want. My nephews all play Counterstrike on-line against their classmates, and they all surf the internet. You have to understand that Chinese people are just not into Pr0n and such things like we (Americans) are. So, for them, not having access to Pr0n just isn't a big deal.
But hey, don't take my word for it. Go see for yourself.
Oh, and the one baby thing is only enforced in the big cities. Again, don't take my word for it. Most of my family in the smaller areas have several children.
If I go too long without food, I get jittery and irritable. After a while, my system shuts down. Some people have commited criminal acts to "score" some food, and some people have died from "overdosing" on it. This food stuff is dangerous, I tell you. It should be studied and, eventually, banned!
Nothing beats a Claymore!!
Ok, I'll play along.
Now let's imagine the same small firm. As you said, they are genuinely predjudiced. As you also point out, given the right circumstances, some or all of these "white guys" might overcome their predjudices (or, it is, at the very least, a possibility).
Now, One of them tries to send a child to college, only to have that child get passed over in favor of another candidate with the same or lesser qualifications but who belongs to (pick a minority). Hmmm... now you have created a pissed-off group of predjudiced white guys.
As well, you have dashed the hopes and dreams of an innocent person (the would-be student) who might just have worked hard for this opportunity. You have also possibly taught this young person that effort is not as important as race, that they should hate (insert your favorite minority). Likewise, the (insert your favorite minority) might also learn that the race card is more powerful than hard work. Finally, you run the risk of creating a "victim" mentality in (insert your favorite minority). As many members of (insert your favorite minority) will tell you, they want to know that they have achieved their successes in life on their own.
In a way, it's terribly demeaning to tell a member of (insert your favorite minority) that they are getting a hand up (extra promotion points, etc.) because other members of (insert your favorite minority) couldn't cut it. How degrading! Why not let everyone compete on an even playing field? If you do, then everyone can hold their head up high and be proud of their success. Those who choose not to work so hard have only themselves to blame.
I could also make a similar agument in the case of one of these white guys getting passed over in a job interview at another company.
If a company such as you suggest does exist, then they run a serious risk of failing or being less competitive by excluding a lot of potentially creative and productive members of society. As well, don't forget that we, as happy capitalists, have the option of not patronizing such a company!!!
I am just presenting this as food for thought.
Silly me! I read that as "my father was still able to obtain fuel for the fireplace."
I have BS degrees in both CompSci and Math, an MS in CompEE and am finishing an MS in Math. I work as a SW Dev doing image processing. For me, Linear Algebra and a little bit of probability are very useful, sometimes on a daily basis.
Of course, someone doing Financial stuff, for instance, would probably really need some DiffyQ and more calculus. Since all of these are mentioned in the article, I'd have to agree with the author.
Oh, and knowing more math than my boss is terribly handy for getting out of those long, boring hallway conversations. After a certain point, I just start bringing up quaternions and rotaion matrices, and voila! Meeting's over!
...would operate above the jet stream and above severe weather in a geostationary position to serve as a telecommunications relay, a weather observer, or a peacekeeper from its over-the-horizon perch.
Does "Peacekeeper" mean "Weapons Platform?"
Or am I just being paranoid?
Does Al Gore know about this?
Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these things!
There... someone had to say it.
From the letter:
Society is better off when consumers have choices and when products compete with one another on the basis of functionality and price...
Unless it's Microsoft, because we hate them.
Cryptonomicon was awesome... Df was, well, to put in terms that even Dan Brown would understand:
Digital Fortress == Less grid To Fail (er, uh, I mean "Less grid To Fail T")
Tot Fail Gridless?
Ok, you get the idea!
Actually, Tankado is Japanese for "He on sidewalk non live."
Really.. I read that on some stereo instructions once.
Er, unless you don't listen to Snoop...
Sha-zizzle!
You (Canadians) send me prescription drugs, and I (American) send you wireless gear. Everyone saves money!
So let me get this straight:
/.).
Start a company...
make and sell products...
products become popular for some reason...
some people don't like the products...
Get sued...
If you don't like the company/product... don't use it... why feed the lawyers, waste time and taxpayer money, and slam a company for selling products? This whole thing is ridiculous. MS has never been a monopoly. If you can't figure out how to use something other than MS products, you certainly don't belong here (on
There have always been other choices. To the best of my knowledge, no one ever held a gun up to anyone's head and said "use IE or die!"
If a company makes a web site that can't work with anything but IE, then send them an E-Mail with your complaint, and then go to another site. If they lose enough business because of this decision, then they will change. It's called capitalism.
"...but I don't recall hearing any Americans bitching about the French or the British while the Nazis were attacking them. I believe the sentiment was one of empathy and support."
I stand by my comments... considering the great distances and the great expenses involved, it's no wonder that most Americans were not quick to jump in. Even so, the empathy and support, albeit initially more moral than physical, was there the entire time.
My point is that so many other people want to sit back, bitch about the US and even hate us. If the US had been doing this, how much of the world would be speaking German right now? Would there still be a Kuwait, etc.? Yes, we have issues here, but we are no better and no worse than anyone else. At least we are trying to help, even if it doesn't always turn out the way we'd like.
See!!!
Americans and "non-Americans" DO think alike. I couldn't agree more with this post. Yes, Bush is an idiot. Yes, the Taliban was a scourge that needed to be ousted. Yes, the UN is useless.
I speak German because I chose to learn it, and thanks to the tremendous sacrifices of many millions of Americans in my grandparent's generation, you get to make that choice as well.
You can not believe me if you like, but it is absolutely the case that most Americans just want to help others. That's why we did what we did in WWII, and that's why we are sacrificing 87 BILLION to rebuild Iraq. And, before you say that we destroyed Iraq, so we should rebuild Iraq, note that a lot of the reconstruction money is for things that we didn't break. Before we attacked Saddam's troops, Iraq was in terrible shape, infrastructure-wise. We (Americans) intend and are trying to put their country back in a much better condition than it was when Saddam ruled. So don't tell me that we owe them. If they'd stop blowing up pipelines and electric towers, they would get rid of the US even quicker.
It's so easy to slam the US from free Europe, but the fact of the matter is, many people who hate us don't really know why. I lived in and traveled through Europe for five years, and I met countless people who despised me at first sight. In 99% of these interactions, once we spent some time talking and getting to know each other, we BOTH realized that the other wasn't really so bad.
Here's a challenge: I went to Europe, and I did my best to get to know the people there and to understand them and their views. I have a lot of warm feelings for Europe as a whole and a lot of respect and adminration for Euporeans. Now it's your turn. Come to the US... spend some time with us "evil Americans." If you can spend a few years here with an open mind, and at the end of your visit you still hate us, then so be it. My experience, however, is that most open-minded, intelligent people who spend a decent amount of time here in the US leave with good memories and life-long friends. Instead of whining, take the challenge!
Yawn... Here we go again. Ok, let's do this one more time:
Yes, some (of us) Americans need to learn a lot of things. Unlike those who would sit back and proclaim their personal and/or national perfection by pointng out every fault of the United States and its citizens, most Americans are content to accept that no, we are not perfect, but yes, we are not any worse than anyone else.
One thing we have NEVER needed to learn, however, is to help other people (and yes, that means YOU Europe) even when they screw up ("Gee... our Prime Minister says this Hitler guy is prety cool..."). INH (I'm No Historian), but I don't recall hearing any Americans bitching about the French or the British while the Nazis were attacking them. I believe the sentiment was one of empathy and support.
The reality is that a lot of Americans died for Europe and even more Americans sacrificed greatly in terms of standard of living. Now American kids are being slaughtered daily, and we (Americans) are shelling out 87 billion to help Iraq and Afghanistan. Still, I don't see or hear Americans criticizing (or hating, for that matter) these people. Americans might be mad at the US government for a) getting us into this mess, and b) spending so much money (in a lousy economic time, to boot), but people aren't blaming the Iraqi and Afghani people.
Even more to the point, I still don't hear Americans recommending that we kill these people. As far as conquering Iraq or Afghanistan, I don't know what people say where you're from, but I have yet to meet a single American who thinks that we should stay in either of these lands. From what I am seeing and hearing, most Americans want their sons and daughters home, and they want them home NOW. At the same time, if we simply leave right now, what sort of situation would develop in these countries in the power vacuum that would result?
If you really think Americans are so bad, come on over and meet us. I know a lot of foreign born people who came to the US with some of the same sentiments. After having spent some time here, the majority of the people that I know have deduced that Americans are just like other people... some are good, and some are bad. Invariably, the governments (US, too) are to blame for filling their citizen's heads with a load of crap about the rest of the world. People, however, are people, no matter where they come from. If you disagree with that, then it can only be because you've never met many people from outside of your little part of the world.
Case in point: I grew up during the cold war (against the USSR, for the most part). Now that I have had the chance to meet people from literally dozens of other countries, I am of the opinion that the Russian people are the ones who most closely resemble us Americans as far as personalities go.
Excpet tfor that Vodka thing... blech.. what is that? Don't they have Mezcal in Siberia?
Yawn... I thought we were going to talk about LOTR.