I think it must be lovely to be American.
Americans are so patriotic, and have documented such a thorough and rich history for themselves... every little corner of the US seems to have its own claim to fame, celebrating one or another seemingly obscure event or person without whose contribution, America would not be what it is today. I'm sure that if a war hero of the American Revolution had suffered from dandruff, there would have been volumes written about it over the years so that no American schoolchild would ever forget about the scourge of dry scalp.
And Americans are so confident! They are adamant in their beliefs, and they will send their precious children to fight for the things they believe in. I don't know what it's like to have so much faith in any given stance I may take, or a stance taken by my country, to be able to treat it as if the solution were as clear as the difference between night and day. All while the rest of the developed world wrestles with uncertainty, weighing and considering possible actions with their eyes on ethics and diplomacy (and their share of world power, of course), and trying to appear as though they are retaining a modicum of originality and independence from the lead taken by the seemingly fearless US. In Canada, we worry. Worry about everything! It's the Canadian way, I think.
To question, or not to question... THAT is the question! My impression is that they don't waste too much time asking questions in the great US of A... not the really messy questions, anyway... those can bog you down. They make decisions, accept them, internalize them, and they act. In other parts of the world, I think maybe we are pre-occupied with questioning, almost to the point of paralysis. Questioning is valuable, in my opinion, but the wheels of uncertainty turn slowly and in the end, makes us look like we might just be riding on the coattails of our bigger, carefree, brother.
It must be so comforting to wrap yourself in a big, self-assured American quilt.
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