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Up to the minute notes on the current state of free thinking and free living: Kentucky moonshine - original analysis and reporting from MoreThings, and all round pop culture museum of sight and sound - photo galleries, mp3 and video downloads.
Al Barger and MoreThings - getting people's goats since 1998.
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October 11, 2005
These Colors Do In Fact Run The World
Naturally, a lot of patriotic slogans have sprung up in the post 9-11 era. One particularly popular bumpersticker theme features a flag and notes that "These colors don't run."
I saw one such sticker on a bumper in traffic yesterday on the back of a car plastered full of them. Only, drawing closer I saw that it was a bunch of pinko lefty stuff, and the central one said, "These colors don't run... the world."
This sparks a couple of thoughts. For one thing, hate to bust your bubble, but that's simply factually incorrect. The US does, in fact, to a significant extent run the world. In terms of commerce, military, art and language, the US dominates the world. Sorry to disappoint the lefties in their spite, but it's the truth.
But why do such people resent our dominance? Besides the fact that the USA is our home team, we're also in fact the good guys. Rand knows that I'm not one to say "My country, right or wrong" or such foolishness. If this were Germany 1940, I hopefully wouldn't be rooting for the home team. But we are in fact largely a force for good in the world.
Rather than US running the world, who would you like to be the dominant power instead? Would leftists think we were better off if Castro was calling the shots? Would the world be better off with China in charge?
This puts me in mind of something that caught my attention on television a few weeks ago. I didn't see the whole thing, but there was a scene from "All in the Family" with Mike and Gloria talking at their kitchen table. It was not about politics at all, but some kind of baby beauty contest being sponsored by a local supermarket. Michael was cracking on Gloria for her enthusiasm about entering their little baby Joey in this contest. See, she just wants to walk the aisles of the store and have all the other mothers know that her baby was the best.
What's wrong with that? Again, at least this part of the show was absolutely not about politics, but it struck me because this seemed like a reflection of some deep-seated thing in some kinds of liberal psyches. It's as if any sense of pride or competitiveness was bad.
I understand that there are dangers in running away with the rah-rah stuff, but they're running against basic human nature the other direction. Competitiveness and pride in you and yours are a significant part of the motivation and ambition that drives our survival and progress. Ego is the fountainhead of human progress, as a wise philosopher said.
posted by Al at 10/11/2005 02:48:00 PM
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