Thanks to those I visited in the US and Canada

[Kevin Solway]

Thanks to all those I visited in the US and Canada.

Elizabeth Isabelle in Florida, Shardrol in New York, Matt Gregory in Detroit, Greg Shantz in Waterloo, William Miller in Indiana, Irena in Vancouver, and Joel Thornton in Seattle.

It'll take me some time to digest everything that has happened in the last three months.

You can find some pictures here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ksolway001

[1ntel]

Nice pictures, was this like a pilgrimage?

[Dan Rowden]

I don't think pilgrimage is the word I'd use.

[Dan Rowden]

Actually, to be honest, this entire thread is a ridiculous piece of egotism on Kevin's part.

[Kevin Solway]

Nice pictures, was this like a pilgrimage?

I've wanted to spend time in the US for many years now - mainly because I've long had a degree of emotional aversion to Americans. Even the sound of an American accent could make me cringe.

So I knew I had a problem, and that living in the US for a few months should help cure me of that. And I'm happy to say that I think it succeeded.

I still particularly despise American religion, egotism, and materialism, but I am now able to see it as far more human than I was previously able to.

I also find myself being a lot more sympathetic or understanding of the situation or the struggle Americans find themselves in. And I think I'm now more aware of the suffering of Americans, and know their pain.

[Dan Rowden]

What struggle? What pain?

[Kevin Solway]

What struggle? What pain?

I'm not ready to put it into words yet, but just like all insanity is a response to an unbearable pain, so is American culture.

Ultimately all pain arises from disconnection to reality. And that's what Americans have, and have to contend with.

[Matt Gregory]

You'll have to outline the differences you perceive between here and Australia, too. That might be interesting.

[Dan Rowden]

The money spent on this bullshit escapade could have printed "Poison". I'm a bit sick of people who have money and give a flying fuck about wisdom.

[Matt Gregory]

What struggle? What pain?

We Americans suffer more than any other country!

[Dan Rowden]

That's because you deserve it.

[Kevin Solway]

The money spent on this bullshit escapade could have printed "Poison". I'm a bit sick of people who have money and give a flying fuck about wisdom.

You'll have to take that up with the people who paid for most of my trip.

Certainly the money I spent out of my own pocket would not have come close to being enough to do a printing of "Poison".

Anyway, having me go around America spreading the word of wisdom is not all that different to doing a print of "Poison".

And I also feel strengthened by the experience.

[ChochemV2]

As an American I'd be interested in hearing your insights too. It would probably be a more honest assessment of America and Americans than I've ever read since what one normally sees is severely jaded by stereotyping from a distance or extreme love/distaste for America at the outset.

[Matt Gregory]

But the reason we deserve it in the first place is because we suffered and had to do something about it, like Kevin was saying :)

[DHodges]

That's because you deserve it.

True enough. This is the Belly of the Beast, the Great Satan.



--
http://www.bethehammer.net/

[Trevor Salyzyn]

Dan,

What struggle? What pain?

Ahem. Let's see if I, a member of the 52nd state, can summarize this quickly.

Through the carefully-plotted interests of private companies, American politics is divided into two and only two political parties, and neither party represents the Americans that vote for them. However, Americans are tutored from birth to believe that 2+2=5 -- that they live in what is called "a representative democracy", which is called "the best type of government system on Earth".

They are trained to believe that the world hates them out of envy, and to continue precisely as they always have, despite all evidence to the contrary. Unfortunately, there is no evidence to the contrary. Anyone who suggests even the slightest amount of dissent, even in jest, is immediately censored. Most people, particularly those who cause censorship, do not believe that it exists in America, and that their voice is protected by a magical thing called The First Amendment. This falsehood does nothing more than make stupid morons speak louder -- since their voice can be heard, they might as well make sure it can be heard by everyone!

Although racist sentiments used to be used to censor speech, now anti-racist sentiments perform the same task. If someone is a racist, well, he should not have a voice. He is corrupting children. This is not considered a denial of free speech, but a safeguard against potential violence. Racism was used to remove Dave Chappelle, a comedian and firm believer in dismantling the status quo, from all TV networks. There are other heavily-American (read: "humanitarian") justifications for censorship, but this is the one that sticks out right now.

Lastly, and this is the cause of all of the above, political propaganda in America has rocketted in the last 50 years, ever since the writings of Leo Strauss. He believed -- and put into writing -- that the mob should never be told the truth. Only the leadership should ever be informed. This gives the American political powers the philosophic justification necessary to make terrible decisions with the implied consent of a flabbergasted populace, and the legal right to reveal its true motives 30 or more years after this knowledge is useful to anyone. An intelligent American, by and large, is one who understands this dynamic and is able to describe it, but none of these is able to keep the populace interested since, for one thing, the true state of affairs is so radically different from the claims of media and education that it is nonsense to most Americans, and for another, those who understand the dynamic are just as incapable as the common man of accessing specific evidence of contemporary government corruption. Nothing is ever voluntarily revealed; only through the treason of a high-ranking bureaucrat (in some states, a crime punishable by the death penalty) can a person have access to the current state of politics.

Only when a scandal reaches the top (ie. Watergate) is anyone ever willing to put their life on the line and tell the truth.

If not materially, the Americans suffer from a government that constantly lies to them -- and justifies this lying as for their own benefit.

[Shardrol]

That's a good analysis, & eloquently stated.

[Trevor Salyzyn]

Thanks. After writing it, I'm now starting to suspect that the excessive funding going to the war effort is actually being used to keep schools open in the states -- but a wasteful war is less depressing than a failing education system.

As to Dave Chappelle, a couple of his well-known skits:
Blind White Supremacist
Mad Real World

I would have liked to provide a link to his single best skit (and probably the one responsible for him getting kicked off the air): "Slavery Reparations"

However, due to "copyright violations", the Reparations skit (unlike every other one of his skits) is not on YouTube. As well, disregard that it is consistently given a very low ranking. Only his trite filler (his Rick James and R. Kelly skits, for example) tend to rank highly.

[Imadrongo]

Trevor,
You seem to be implying that all this tyranny in the US is a bad thing. Do you feel like you are being repressed?

[Trevor Salyzyn]

Yes, Neil, and I live in Canada. My own government is incapable of acting against the wishes of the American government, which leads me to call Canada "the 52nd State". We are the diplomatic wing of America.

[Cory Duchesne]

At first, I got a little chuckle from Kevin's original post, as his trip to Las Vegas and his desire to show pictures seemed akin to the desires of a bewildered yuppy, appearing quite silly in contrast to my notions of him as a sage.

However, I suspected he would have an interesting response that would inspire respect. And this was the case.

Matt:We Americans suffer more than any other country!

Dan:That's because you deserve it.

This whole 'people get what they deserve' mentality is born of arrogance and laziness. People are determined to be what they are, some being morally and intellectually weaker than others. I don't see how pouring scorn and disdain upon them is going to help. And to simply say they deserve it is meaningless - Does a dog deserve to get rabies? Does a caterpillar deserve to transform into a butterfly? Does a glacier deserve to melt? Etc, etc.

[Dan Rowden]

The money spent on this bullshit escapade could have printed "Poison". I'm a bit sick of people who have money and give a flying fuck about wisdom.

You'll have to take that up with the people who paid for most of my trip.

Well, that's an argument I wasn't expecting :)

Certainly the money I spent out of my own pocket would not have come close to being enough to do a printing of "Poison".

Fair enough. I think you should look into the print on demand system.

Anyway, having me go around America spreading the word of wisdom is not all that different to doing a print of "Poison".

I'm speechless.

And I also feel strengthened by the experience.

In what sense?

I apologise for the severity of my statements, but you sort of made it necessary by posting this thread. I'm trying to see the positives in the whole thing but only negatives are leaping out at me so far. I thought for a second I might actually be jealous, but it's not that as I've never had any desire to travel.

By the way, Denver looks horrible.

[Dan Rowden]

At first, I got a little chuckle from Kevin's original post, as his trip to Las Vegas and his desire to show pictures seemed akin to the desires of a bewildered yuppy, appearing quite silly in contrast to my notions of him as a sage.

However, I suspected he would have an interesting response that would inspire respect. And this was the case.

Can you explain how you got from the first perception (which is my own more or less) to the second? I'm struggling to make the transition and it's disturbing me that I can't.

[Dan Rowden]

Cory,

Telling people they deserve it is entirely appropriate. What's the alternative? Let them blame everyone else for their own mentality? People have to take stock of themselves at some point.

[Matt Gregory]

At first, I got a little chuckle from Kevin's original post, as his trip to Las Vegas and his desire to show pictures seemed akin to the desires of a bewildered yuppy, appearing quite silly in contrast to my notions of him as a sage.

However, I suspected he would have an interesting response that would inspire respect. And this was the case.

Matt:We Americans suffer more than any other country!

Dan:That's because you deserve it.

I was just joking around, although I suppose a serious point could be made there if I thought it hadn't been made fifty billion times already to people who fundamentally don't give a shit anyway.