Sunday, October 19, 2008

The View From Down Under...

With my great love affair with Australia, I had to share an interesting and thought-provoking article on Joe Bageant's blog. It was a letter submitted by an Aussie retiree with quite strong views following the Washington bailout and the effects of US debt on the rest of the world. Here's an excerpt:

"...finally the USA has run out friends.... ...the USA has betrayed not only itself but also those who believed in it. The USA crapped all over us after we trusted it.... ...your nation is now reviled as it never has been before. You were our saviours in two world wars. We, the rest of the world, worshipped the ground on which you, America, walked. We now wish that America wasn't around anymore. We'll be glad when you've stopped embarrassing yourself and us and have left the room.

America is the old guy at the street party... who's become incontinent, talks rubbish about past glory days and bores the crap out of us with monotonous tales of how good he used to be... ...the USA was the best... ...but now, just go home, old friend. Just go home and die. This is sad, very sad. So, Joe, say "goodbye" to an old mate. I loved him dearly when he was a young man. It's a great pity that he passed away the way he did. He deserved a far better send-off.

...I really believe that the USA will become a very dangerous place to live within the next few years. Meanwhile, we here Australia will be learning Chinese as a second language.
"

I'll admit I had a good chuckle over this. I might have laughed more if I didn't think he had a good point...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

If we in America cannot rise above our growing national dementia, ADD, and minority-hating madness, we will indeed end up as the pants-wetting, obnoxiously arrogant & deluded, derelict old man who totters about with foul breath while everybody else in the world wishes fervently he would retire to the nearest nursing facility. And the sad thing is, that vast portion of this country who have steadfastly clung to rightwing, vainglorious illusions of theocratic sovereignty have brought us to this sorry pass...