> Wait...we are discussing flags and suddenly we are discussing the
> correlation between car and penis size. Amazing list ;-)
It's a gift.
> I really do not think that helping other countries is why Americans are
> proud of the USA. Most Americans do not give a hoot about the outside world
> and think foreign aid is a waste. I think Ken's explanation is right on the
> money.
That is both true and false. What has happened here is the development
of a entitlement mentality. When your whole demeaner is based around
how much can you get from somebody else, that's a selfish greed
situation which benefits nobody. However, we have the rest of the
population which not only supports those people, but everybody else
around the world.
And it's not just giving through taxes (government) to other
countries. Charitable giving is very high among many people. In the
past three churches we've been at, the average giving per family to
charitable causes (this is above and beyond the tithe and other
designated giving) is over a thousand dollars per family. Around half
of this charitable giving goes outside our own country. Everything
from disaster relief, medical causes and other needs.
> On the other hand, the use of a
> flag by a car dealer, as is common in the USA (especially imported car
> dealers tend to have really huge flags :-)) would be considered vulgar and
> out of place in most European countries.
Some of us consider it a little bit vulgar too. But some of us
consider it vulgar for a politician to wrap himself up in a flag to
illustrate his "patriotism" too.
Not as vulgar (and entertaining) as the Top Gear episode where they
rode a USA flag adorned motorbike through Vietnam, though.
AG
--
Ken Norton
ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.zone-10.com
--
_________________________________________________________________
Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
|