Worth the read, not simply for the very kind sentiments of a Brit, but for the comments below. In particular, I noted a number of people who pointed out what I've noticed more often than not, about my fellow Americans -- that we'd rather not involve ourselves in other's lives, but when we have to, we will -- and even when we don't have to, we come when somebody honestly asks for our help. It is a source of great pride for our nation (possibly not such a good thing, that pride, but then, we all have to have something upon which to hang our esteem).
One commenter, Sacha, put it very well:
"I was traveling in Europe a few years back, and some Euroleftie began blathering in my presence about America's desire to rule the world. “Nonsense,” I told him. “You've misunderstood the American character. We're instinctive isolationists at bottom. We don't want to rule the world — we want to be able to _ignore_ it."
And, Andrew Gimson is right, that we are not really trying to be sophisticated, that we are old-fashioned and, to a great degree, proud of that. In Liberty, we have found something successful, and it is something we view to be of great value. We are disinclined to toss it aside for the latest flavor of pop culture politics. As a nation, as a system, we are an oddly idealistic bunch for being middle-aged fuddy-duddies, though. Says Gimson:
But when the Americans speak of freedom, we should not imagine, in our cynical and worldly-wise way, that they are merely using that word as a cloak for realpolitik. They are not above realpolitik, but they also mean what they say.
Unfortunately, among the many other comments, there is a tendency to become a bit defensive. No need to point out the flaws of or just plain insulting other nations' peoples, guys. Mr. Gimson has done a very nice job of standing up for his neighbor/cousin across the pond. All that is necessary is for us to offer him our heartfelt thanks (a trite description of the thanks, but accurate) for his generous words and hope we can continue to live up to them.
Thank you, Mr. Gimson. I will do my best.
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