Comments on: A More Perfect Union

By: PJ Frederick

PJ Frederick — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 01:32:36 +0000

I am computer challenged…left in the dust swirling around 21st century technology. Of the relatively few exchanges of postings on any given political subject that I have read over the years, this site offers the most civil conversation. I appreciate it.

James’ post is beautifully stated. “We…should aspire to being a part of something that is greater than ourselves” is sage advise. Sadly, the loudest voices that are screaming in our ears via the corporate main stream media are screeching out the messages of hate and fear of ‘the other’. The populace is inundated with the spurious idea that we are the greatest. We are infused with the misguided perception of being exceptional. We should remember that having the most money and the most guns does not make us greater than, or in charge of the rest of humankind. If one does not seek the truth one is successfully bamboozled into believing that America is incapable of doing wrong. We believe that we are the torch bearers of individual freedoms and democracy and that God should bestow His blessings upon us as we willfully and with impunity torture, degrade the earth and blow up innocents across the globe. In fact, we are seekers of empire at any price.

Let us humble ourselves and work tirelessly for peace and justice.

By: elspeth grant bobbs

elspeth grant bobbs — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 15:24:52 +0000

You and James put the case so well and I love it. “But me no buts”, living in New Mexico where so much has to be put in spanish I have to wonder what if all the spanish speaking countries got together? Fascinating speculations. A step up from tribalism at least and on the way to a unified planet? A long time coming.

By: Steve McNew

Steve McNew — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 20:19:14 +0000

In response to Boozy, on what isn’t taught anymore – Right you are; that’s one of the fruits of local democracy in education – History and our place in it have lost out of recent years, to what, I wonder? I suppose we’ve been dumbing down since those fellows left that Grove of Academe – Still, we could use some smartening up! Steve

By: Steve McNew

Steve McNew — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 20:13:16 +0000

Sounds good! Do you suppose they’d have us back?? And could we perhaps swing to a parliamentary legislature??

By: Dianne Young

Dianne Young — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 17:49:57 +0000

Here, here and huzzah!

By: Jill Salmon

Jill Salmon — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 16:57:04 +0000

Remember that the Queen is the head of the Commonwealth-so good luck selling that to a nation of ex-colonials!

By: George

George — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 15:10:53 +0000

Thank you, James. You stated my point better than I did. Please post again.

By: james

james — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 06:00:32 +0000

At the present time, we seem to hear voices calling louder and louder for a future that is focused inwards at the cost of a greater isolation than ever before.
So it is not unusual that, for some of us, the hope of joining the Commonwealth of Nations sounds more positive than many others.

It would not only be a positive hope for the United States, but also for each member of that Commonwealth.

We, each individually and together as a nation, should aspire to being a part of something that is greater than ourselves. For, whether or not we fully realize it in our own lives, it is a fact of our humanity.

By: George

George — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 05:30:04 +0000

Am I being parochial? I thought I was suggesting the opposite—a membership in an NGO type international federation of 54 sovereign nations. We go to meetings, share ideas? Bond with people who speak better English than we do? Acquire larger vocabularies in the future? I’m not sure that is being “parochial”. Thanks for posting.

By: Susan Wallace

Susan Wallace — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 05:21:32 +0000

“since 1776, we have lost receptivity to foreign ideas…” Oh really, the literate among us are not quite so parochial as all that. Please remember that our own anti-slavery and women’s suffrage movements originated in 19th century England, well before legitimization here. Today, take a look at the NY Review of Books, the New Republic, New Yorker, etc. and you’ll find a good sample of Anglophone ideas and authors familiar to our reading public. The canon of major English writers not only survives, but steadily grows on our shores.
From an Anglophile reader grateful to her ancestral heritage