Posted on 02/05/2005 5:37:04 PM PST by NMC EXP
Yes.
I started picking out books from my father's bookshelves when I was in grade school---I started with Leon Uris and I became interested in WWII and Israel---so I usually focus in on novels or non-fiction on those subjects first---
Now I can expand my reading universe, thanks to you and this thread!
by the way, that "yes" comes from someone descended from a person taken away from the battle of Dunbar in chains and sent off to the new world as a slave.
European civilization is less advanced than American. That doesn't mean that Europeans cannot be as advanced, merely that the dominant culture is less advanced.
Think of how London has treated Scots. 'Nuff said.
Another obscure writer you might like is Donn Byrne, since you've read Uris . . . he is a North of Ireland writer, his best book is probably Destiny Bay - which I am astonished to find is back in print.
He lived in America for awhile then went back to Ireland, he died quite young in an auto accident, probably why his work isn't very well known.
First, who, exactly, were the "first Americans?"
Second, those who ignore or fight the progress of human culture are less civilized than those who push it forward, regardless of where they are. America, as we know it today, has drawn the best and brightest from all other cultures on Earth. That's why we are the most advanced, the most successful, the most "civilized" country around today. It's not the place, it's the culture. McDonalds and all, we are more forward looking than any other place on the planet. We got that way not by being insular and racist but by embracing and, frankly, stealing the best from all the other cultures there are.
Is American perfect? Not a chance. There are no perfect humans, therfore no perfect cultures. Are we better off, culturally, than any other group of people on the planet? Without question. Anyone who questions that is ignorant or in denial.
Thanks again for the recommendation--I will definitely look for Destiny Bay!
I am having to become quite the "multi-tasker"--I have a novel and a non-fiction book I'm in the middle of, while perusing FR off and on all day, plus I have Fox News on--cooking and laundry, too---
Reading good books is my gift to myself---and now you have helped--thanx
For their time? Yes. Not as civilized as some, in some ways. England moved against slavery within their own borders earler (but not by much, historically), even though they hypocritically tolerated it in their colonies and allowed their merchants to profit from it outside their borders.
But those first independent Americans were definitely at the forefront of the progress of human civilization.
I believe the phrase your striving for is "twit," and you clearly are one.
I claim Shakespeare and Lister and all the other trappings of civilization that you cite as my birthright. not because I am an American, but because I am a civilized human being.
America is mearly where the advancement of human civilization is primarilycentered now. Were China to suddenly become a free society it might easily take the lead in human advancement.
Right now the US, with all its faults, is the most free culture there is and is therefore at the forefront of human progress. It's the freedom, not the place, that makes us better.
well, there's that little matter of being unable to defend your home and family from predators . . .
The right to speak freely without being subjected to "hate crimes" laws as well as my right to defend myself, to name two very fundamental things.
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