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Ive tried to stop myself from forming opinions of the residents of other countries by the actions and rhetoric of their political leaders, whether elected or ot

by dpeck 13y ago

Ive tried to stop myself from forming opinions of the residents of other countries by the actions and rhetoric of their political leaders, whether elected or otherwise. I would hope others do the same and don't believe the actions of DC to be anything more than an exaggerated and often inaccurate caricature of the American people.

chez17 13y ago
I've quickly changed my mind about this sort of thinking. It's a nice little "get out of jail free" card for everyone. We should be held responsible for our government's actions, at least to some degree (especially in a democracy). How many of us really sacrifice significant resources and time to causes that would make the country/world better? How many here spend more at the bar than they do in charity every month? How many spend hours consuming media but don't take the time to keep educated about politics? What's the turnout at major primaries? Ten percent? Twenty? It's easy to say, we shouldn't judge the people of the country because it feels good to us and, in reality, most people are rather decent. However, I think it should be the opposite, we should all be ashamed of ourselves for letting ourselves get bought off for a little convenience and comfort. We're all guilty to varying degrees. We should step up and accept that. The first step towards recovery is admitting you have a problem.
- dpeck 13y ago
  I can see your point, but at the same time I have to look at the situation most people are in. Sometimes people are truly in the minority, say for instance a gay man in Jamaica. He could essentially sacrifice his life to try to move the needle on his countries tolerance level, or he could be discrete and live his life. I'll be the first to cheer on the former, but I don't believe that its my place to judge the latter for inaction. I don't believe that its right to hold people responsible for their governments actions while much of the world lacks freedom of movement, and those in power have nearly all the tools at their disposal to hold onto that power.

by dpeck 13y ago

chez17 13y ago

I've quickly changed my mind about this sort of thinking. It's a nice little "get out of jail free" card for everyone. We should be held responsible for our government's actions, at least to some degree (especially in a democracy). How many of us really sacrifice significant resources and time to causes that would make the country/world better? How many here spend more at the bar than they do in charity every month? How many spend hours consuming media but don't take the time to keep educated about politics? What's the turnout at major primaries? Ten percent? Twenty? It's easy to say, we shouldn't judge the people of the country because it feels good to us and, in reality, most people are rather decent. However, I think it should be the opposite, we should all be ashamed of ourselves for letting ourselves get bought off for a little convenience and comfort. We're all guilty to varying degrees. We should step up and accept that. The first step towards recovery is admitting you have a problem.

dpeck 13y ago
I can see your point, but at the same time I have to look at the situation most people are in. Sometimes people are truly in the minority, say for instance a gay man in Jamaica. He could essentially sacrifice his life to try to move the needle on his countries tolerance level, or he could be discrete and live his life. I'll be the first to cheer on the former, but I don't believe that its my place to judge the latter for inaction. I don't believe that its right to hold people responsible for their governments actions while much of the world lacks freedom of movement, and those in power have nearly all the tools at their disposal to hold onto that power.