Small moment of Zen
Had a small moment of Zen while running errands on Saturday. I had just stopped by the dry-cleaning place, and was driving down Shepherd to grab a sandwich for lunch. Beautiful day in Houston. I was debating opening up the sunroof in the Infiniti, listening to the satellite radio play the one hit from that Russian girl band a few years ago. The firemen were out doing the "give to the boot" fundraiser for MS or whatever, and all things seemed right with the world for just a minute.
I'm a very multicultural person who loves most things international, and I recognize that there are many, many things that America does wrong. Some of which I'm on the receiving end of and take very personally. But this weekend I was suddenly stuck by how much the U.S. represents where the world should be in the 21st century. For the most part, people get along. When they disagree, they usually argue and shout instead of blowing each other up. People can dress how they want, drive what they want, pick any career they want, live in any city or state they want. Maybe not financially, but there's not a legal/governmental/societal block to any of them. Others are free to disagree with any choice (house painted purple, gas-guzzling H1, whatever).
There are many examples of attributes of other countries and societies that I wish existed, or existed more strongly, in the US. But in their native locations, there are always local gotcha's that balance things out. Countries with more of a safety net for the elderly and homeless always have huge tax burdens that ripple through the country. Many have older and I think more mature cultures than America, but that has as many problems as benefits (ask me about my trip to India in March!).
Not sure where I'm going with this, if anywhere, but I'm a little less angry at America after the weekend - a good thing. Now if we could just get ride of all politicans from both parties, get a rationale energy policy in place, and get the rest of the world to shoulder some of the burden for maintaining global stability we'd be in good shape. ;-)
I'm a very multicultural person who loves most things international, and I recognize that there are many, many things that America does wrong. Some of which I'm on the receiving end of and take very personally. But this weekend I was suddenly stuck by how much the U.S. represents where the world should be in the 21st century. For the most part, people get along. When they disagree, they usually argue and shout instead of blowing each other up. People can dress how they want, drive what they want, pick any career they want, live in any city or state they want. Maybe not financially, but there's not a legal/governmental/societal block to any of them. Others are free to disagree with any choice (house painted purple, gas-guzzling H1, whatever).
There are many examples of attributes of other countries and societies that I wish existed, or existed more strongly, in the US. But in their native locations, there are always local gotcha's that balance things out. Countries with more of a safety net for the elderly and homeless always have huge tax burdens that ripple through the country. Many have older and I think more mature cultures than America, but that has as many problems as benefits (ask me about my trip to India in March!).
Not sure where I'm going with this, if anywhere, but I'm a little less angry at America after the weekend - a good thing. Now if we could just get ride of all politicans from both parties, get a rationale energy policy in place, and get the rest of the world to shoulder some of the burden for maintaining global stability we'd be in good shape. ;-)
posted by pantherman at 8:38 PM
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