Ok.. yes, I admit having lived both in Russian and Ukraine (even though I was in Ukraine in the spring/summer months) I have been colder than I am now, but not far off. While I was in England I realized why Colorado winters are so wonderful - no humidity. Its fabulous. Oh sure, we have snow but is the dry powdery stuff that with a few minutes of sun melts quickly. In England and now Ireland I'm confronted again with the cold and wet weather that seeps insidiously into your skin. No - not even into your skin... into your bones. Making any thoughts of warmness to come seem like crazy imaginings of a fantasy land that doesn't really exist. Where am I that I'm so cold I've decided to blog about it? In my class' private little attic office. It has all the modern conveniences - computer, printer, kettle, phone, even (as I so proudly informed my Sri Lankan classmate) - Lights! And yes, there is a heater as well. Wait, let me turn it on now. DOH! The dial is broken!! Of course, we can have high speed internet but no old-school water heater thingy. Ah... technology. Perhaps I'll just watch a youtube video of a roaring flame and psycho-semantically warm myself.
But its not all so bad, don't think I've been freezing this entire time. In actuality I love the weather here. (Yes, I'm a freak, we should have established this already.) I like the cloudy grey days and the drizzly rain. Although I'm not a fan of being caught in the heavy rainfall in a pair of jeans and a fleece that both get so soaked through I feel like I just went on one of those theme park log rides. But again, I do enjoy living in Europe and all its eccentricities. For instance, this morning I woke up to my radio alarm, set to the only station I can usually hear clearly, that is the classical music station, to hear that today is the 450th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth I's ascension to the throne. Huh. Fascinating. They threw it out there in between the weather report (you guessed it - more rain!) and the name of the next Baroque era song, in honor of good old Lizzy. And that so far has been all the learning I've done today, so I should stop playing around on the internet and get back to reading for classes.
Strangely, now I've bitched about it, I'm finding I've warmed up a bit. Nice.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Monday, November 03, 2008
What does it mean to be an American? – revisited
After graduating from Arvada West high school and the Humanities program I thought I’d never again revisit those awful seminars we endured for three years. But lately I find myself unable to stop from thinking about one in particular we did at the end of our sophomore year – What does it mean to be American?
I don’t know if tonight I have more answers than I did then, all those years ago now, but I do have a lot of thoughts I’d like to share. So in the true Humanities seminar style I will first give my brief statement followed by various quotations to back me up. It’s not going to be a full 20-pager here, I’m out of practice on that.
As I slowly wind down watching the final presidential debate* I’m left wondering about the state of America. Not its economy. Nor its health care or education. Mostly about its soul. Being now in Northern Ireland and speaking constantly of the deep-seated divisions here I think to myself – “well, we don’t have that problem back home!” Then I watch the final debate and I begin to see (possibly for the first time clearly) just how divided we are. I’m not just talking about the candidates or their parties… federalist or big government, here or there. I’m talking about the ideas they embody as they reach out to citizens around the world – not just the country there, don’t forget about us folk abroad! – and try to gain the support of like-minded voters. Before I launch into my opinions on the debate itself (which are many) I’d first like to discuss the idea of America.
Although I choose to live abroad for extended periods of time that does not mean I do not love my country. Like every place on this planet there are things I don’t like about the US but there are also things that I admire. One of the major issues I have is the rule of exceptionalism. I have no problem believe that we have uniqueness. My problem comes when that sense of uniqueness drives us to seeing all others as inferior. Or believing that we have all the answers and it is our sacred duty to push those answers on others (even and especially when they don’t want them). I have no problem in believing that we are a great country. I have a problem in believing that we have no faults. We may be great in principle but we have certainly been terrible in practice. And yes, there has always been exceptionalism in America starting from the very ideals upon which it was built. I’ve heard all to tales of how scores of people came to our shores for new life of their own choosing (that is unless they were black or native); also how you can make of yourself whatever you can (unless you are poor or a woman); and that we as a nation come together in times of crisis (unless you are Japanese in 1941 or Arab/Arab-looking in 2001).
Yet through all this mixed bag of history there is a redeeming quality. It is the one thing Pandora captured back in the box, which the founding fathers opened up again when they realized they could take their fate into their own hands with a declaration. It pushed suffragettes to continue fighting through insurmountable social conditions; it kept Martin Luther King, Jr. going through the constant and seemingly fruitless struggles for equality. That quality is Hope. Hope is the one thing that cannot be defeated even in the most horrendous circumstances. And now it is making a comeback in American life. After years of being afraid of what will happen next, we will revisit our tradition of looking forward rather than back and taking our future back in our hands. [Warning: Approaching Cheesy-ville via Dogma Lane, get off now if you wish to stop at Cynical Alley.]
This is not to say that we should never look back (we know what happens when we forget) and it’s not to say we shouldn’t take our lessons from the past. But just as we forged ahead with a new kind of country two centuries ago, we should forge ahead again and continue to perfect that union. We may never reach our goal but we should never stop trying to be better than ourselves, to reach out beyond our limitations and discover what can be grasped there. It must be said that Hope is not an exclusively American quality; every person on this earth has hope inside them. Our special claim holds Hope as one of the founding principles of the nation and so engrained in the minds and spirits of Americans that it can even be called an Audacious Hope.
Looking back it seems I’ve gotten away from the debate and have digressed (or perhaps progressed) along to more philosophical themes. Whatever I’ve said or left unsaid I know at least this much to be true. For me, to be an American, whether I’m in Derry or Denver, is to be hopeful. To believe that I, as one tiny part in this larger universe can make a difference in the world around me. And for perhaps the first time, I feel hopeful now for my country. I believe that we can learn from our mistakes and start to show our exceptionalism in a good light, not by excluding others from our little club, but by engaging all around to join in. It’s a good feeling and one that I’ve seen spring up from all over. Not just within the US. People from around the world are looking to America again not with fear in their eyes, but with Hope that now we’ll see our potential and live up to all the expectations of greatness. That we can once again reach out to help those in need; without preconditions or arrogance. Tomorrow that hope will be fulfilled or not. But the great thing about Hope is that it can’t be beaten for long. Sooner or later it’ll rise again and it will keep rising.
For now though, this hopeful one must rest in order to rise again. So I will leave you with some quotes to further pound my point into you as well as some new additions to the seminar repertoire – videos!
“We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.” Thomas Jefferson
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.” Thomas Jefferson
“America is therefore the land of the future, where, in the ages that lie before us, the burden of the World's History shall reveal itself.” Georg W. Hegel
“What's right about America is that although we have a mess of problems, we have great capacity - intellect and resources - to do something about them.” Henry Ford II
"When life itself is lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender ones dreams--this may be madness. To seek treasure where there is only trash. Too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be." Man of La Mancha
“America lives in the heart of every man everywhere who wishes to find a region where he will be free to work out his destiny as he chooses.” Woodrow Wilson
“The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.” Alexis de Tocqueville
“The American Indian Movement is then, the Warriors Class of this century, who are bound to the bond of the Drum, who vote with their bodies instead of their mouths ... THEIR BUSINESS IS HOPE.” AIM website
"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
"They have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.” Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail
“Hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.” Shawshank Redemption
*Note: this blog was begun after the 2nd debate; it took me a full day to watch it all due to computer issues as well as distractions such as classes and eating.
**Note: first few quotes are in regards more to my thoughts on the debate than on this entry.
I don’t know if tonight I have more answers than I did then, all those years ago now, but I do have a lot of thoughts I’d like to share. So in the true Humanities seminar style I will first give my brief statement followed by various quotations to back me up. It’s not going to be a full 20-pager here, I’m out of practice on that.
Responsibility vs. Big Government vs. On Your Own vs. Doing It Yourself
As I slowly wind down watching the final presidential debate* I’m left wondering about the state of America. Not its economy. Nor its health care or education. Mostly about its soul. Being now in Northern Ireland and speaking constantly of the deep-seated divisions here I think to myself – “well, we don’t have that problem back home!” Then I watch the final debate and I begin to see (possibly for the first time clearly) just how divided we are. I’m not just talking about the candidates or their parties… federalist or big government, here or there. I’m talking about the ideas they embody as they reach out to citizens around the world – not just the country there, don’t forget about us folk abroad! – and try to gain the support of like-minded voters. Before I launch into my opinions on the debate itself (which are many) I’d first like to discuss the idea of America.
Although I choose to live abroad for extended periods of time that does not mean I do not love my country. Like every place on this planet there are things I don’t like about the US but there are also things that I admire. One of the major issues I have is the rule of exceptionalism. I have no problem believe that we have uniqueness. My problem comes when that sense of uniqueness drives us to seeing all others as inferior. Or believing that we have all the answers and it is our sacred duty to push those answers on others (even and especially when they don’t want them). I have no problem in believing that we are a great country. I have a problem in believing that we have no faults. We may be great in principle but we have certainly been terrible in practice. And yes, there has always been exceptionalism in America starting from the very ideals upon which it was built. I’ve heard all to tales of how scores of people came to our shores for new life of their own choosing (that is unless they were black or native); also how you can make of yourself whatever you can (unless you are poor or a woman); and that we as a nation come together in times of crisis (unless you are Japanese in 1941 or Arab/Arab-looking in 2001).
Yet through all this mixed bag of history there is a redeeming quality. It is the one thing Pandora captured back in the box, which the founding fathers opened up again when they realized they could take their fate into their own hands with a declaration. It pushed suffragettes to continue fighting through insurmountable social conditions; it kept Martin Luther King, Jr. going through the constant and seemingly fruitless struggles for equality. That quality is Hope. Hope is the one thing that cannot be defeated even in the most horrendous circumstances. And now it is making a comeback in American life. After years of being afraid of what will happen next, we will revisit our tradition of looking forward rather than back and taking our future back in our hands. [Warning: Approaching Cheesy-ville via Dogma Lane, get off now if you wish to stop at Cynical Alley.]
This is not to say that we should never look back (we know what happens when we forget) and it’s not to say we shouldn’t take our lessons from the past. But just as we forged ahead with a new kind of country two centuries ago, we should forge ahead again and continue to perfect that union. We may never reach our goal but we should never stop trying to be better than ourselves, to reach out beyond our limitations and discover what can be grasped there. It must be said that Hope is not an exclusively American quality; every person on this earth has hope inside them. Our special claim holds Hope as one of the founding principles of the nation and so engrained in the minds and spirits of Americans that it can even be called an Audacious Hope.
Looking back it seems I’ve gotten away from the debate and have digressed (or perhaps progressed) along to more philosophical themes. Whatever I’ve said or left unsaid I know at least this much to be true. For me, to be an American, whether I’m in Derry or Denver, is to be hopeful. To believe that I, as one tiny part in this larger universe can make a difference in the world around me. And for perhaps the first time, I feel hopeful now for my country. I believe that we can learn from our mistakes and start to show our exceptionalism in a good light, not by excluding others from our little club, but by engaging all around to join in. It’s a good feeling and one that I’ve seen spring up from all over. Not just within the US. People from around the world are looking to America again not with fear in their eyes, but with Hope that now we’ll see our potential and live up to all the expectations of greatness. That we can once again reach out to help those in need; without preconditions or arrogance. Tomorrow that hope will be fulfilled or not. But the great thing about Hope is that it can’t be beaten for long. Sooner or later it’ll rise again and it will keep rising.
For now though, this hopeful one must rest in order to rise again. So I will leave you with some quotes to further pound my point into you as well as some new additions to the seminar repertoire – videos!
“We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.” Thomas Jefferson
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.” Thomas Jefferson
“America is therefore the land of the future, where, in the ages that lie before us, the burden of the World's History shall reveal itself.” Georg W. Hegel
“What's right about America is that although we have a mess of problems, we have great capacity - intellect and resources - to do something about them.” Henry Ford II
"When life itself is lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender ones dreams--this may be madness. To seek treasure where there is only trash. Too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be." Man of La Mancha
“America lives in the heart of every man everywhere who wishes to find a region where he will be free to work out his destiny as he chooses.” Woodrow Wilson
“The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.” Alexis de Tocqueville
“The American Indian Movement is then, the Warriors Class of this century, who are bound to the bond of the Drum, who vote with their bodies instead of their mouths ... THEIR BUSINESS IS HOPE.” AIM website
"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
"They have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.” Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail
“Hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.” Shawshank Redemption
*Note: this blog was begun after the 2nd debate; it took me a full day to watch it all due to computer issues as well as distractions such as classes and eating.
**Note: first few quotes are in regards more to my thoughts on the debate than on this entry.
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