Originally posted by Grantham Ok, what our government does outside our borders may be part of our culture, but it´s not a part of our overall culture. Americans aren´t all the same. The people who elected Bush were Republicans.... ....For one, it is not part of my culture what is happening in Iraq. I am totally against it. You can blame the conservative southern Republicans for this. But this is not a part of all of America´s culture. On this issue, you can clearly divide America into two parts: liberal and conservative. But you can´t blame all Americans for this. The Democrats had no part in this, and I´m a democrat.

I'm with Grantham, sort of.  But you need to understand, when images are broadcast on television, around the world, of American forces invading other nations, of buildings exploding, and women and children being killed by these explosions (their deaths labeled by the sanitary term "collateral damage"), of atrocities committed at places like Abu Ghraib, etc, etc, there are no closed captions on the tv screen indicating who's Red and who's Blue, who voted for Bush, who didn't.  True, not ALL Americans embrace, much less support the war, nonetheless, the war continues.  Why???

You have a rude awakening coming to you my friend.  The democracy you think you might have a participatory role in has essentially morphed into a well-crafted illusion.  The powers-that-be learned from Vietnam, that the control of information, especially images, which have a much greater impact than words, is essential to keeping the public from rising up in effectual protest.  Why do you think it was FORBIDDEN for the media to broadcast or publish photos of caskets returning with soldiers killed in Iraq?!?  Images of "the enemy" being slaughtered are fine, it appeals to a base (ugly) human trait, but they dare not show your neighbor's son being shipped home in pine box.  Moral indignation just might get up off the sofa, and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT...!

I'd like to recommend for you to read On Civil Disobedience  by Henry David Thoreau.

Now to change the subject.  How do you like your new school?  What classes are you taking this semester?



Edited by Gringo.Floripa - 24 January 2011 at 16:30

Originally posted by DUNGA Ranting about American foreign policy is a political exercise popular all over the world, and in the US as well, as great numbers of people there do not support it. But on this forum about life in Brazil it just sounds like so much self-indulgence and auto-stimulation.

You're absolutely correct Dunga!  Yet name me one forum topic on this site that does not get off track, sometimes, off on several diverse tangents at once.

The recent comments about "Why the low self-esteem" have nothing to do with the subject.  Yet since the original poster of this thread (Grantham) has headed in this direction, well....

But briefly back to the "auto-stimulation".... aiii, que gostoso!  
This time around, with the Internet (youtube, twitter, FB, blogs, etc) as a player in addition to the mainstream media, the boundaries between "pop culture" and foreign policy are VERY blurred.  Personally, I consider Sarah Palin a (clownish) figure of pop culture.  Yet she has some significant weight in politics.  And God help us all if she one day has the position to decide foreign policy!

Whether we like it or not, whether we are prepared for it, or not, it's a new world, or as some would like to coax us to, a new world order... (of?)
Is it Pop or Politics?  The distinction is often no longer able to be discerned.

EDIT: Obama's pop-ularity was precisely because he tapped into pop culture.

EDIT: Is this pop culture, or foreign policy?
"The story of an Arabic extremist who is used as a pawn by the Russian ultra-nationalists and the Marines and SAS that try to save the world from nuclear annihilation"
Modern Warfare

So back to Brasil Dunga, do YOU think Brasilians suffer from low self-esteem?  If so, why?  If not, why?



Edited by Gringo.Floripa - 24 January 2011 at 21:43

You might be quite right Esprit.  In Jardims, or the Zona Sul, they're the top dog, the biggest fish in their sea.  But when they arrive in say NYC, London, Paris, they realize there are not only lots of other big fish just like them, but fish MUCH BIGGER!

Let’s not get carried away and concentrate on the top 1%, yet even if we do, I strongly suspect that this group have their moments of toe curling embarrassment when forced into a discussion about the severe contrast in Brazilian demographics, education, infrastructure and law & order. Imagine the embarrassment of a beautiful red rose growing out of a cow pat.

Originally posted by Dom Pedro My country doesn´t even exist anymore. So what?

It had children and is now a family of countries