Thursday, January 27, 2011

Rethinking America's foreign policy

It seems to me that we (I include myself in this) Americans need to pause and reflect upon the individuality of our fellow humans. (A vague, ugly sentence, I know.) What I mean is this: We are a world of individuals, not, as is so often assumed, a bunch of nations filled with folks who have adopted that nation's persona, as depicted in the media and by our governers. Of course we Americans know that about ourselves. We know we're not all loud, assertive credit-hungry wastrels who worship movie stars and devour McDonalds twice a day. But we do tend to generalize about residents of other nations, don't we?

This facet of our culture (and it's likely not just an American trait) is called to mind by this brief article, quoting the Chinese woman who just won a tennis match to become that country's first finalist at the Australian Open. She doesn't sound very "Chinese" does she?

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