home today's Asian Business Strategy Ezine Columns Pearl of the Orient Seas The Wild West and the American Psyche The Wild West and the American Psyche Clarence Henderson, 20th April 2003 As an American living and working in Asia, I have watched recent events in the Middle East, and for that matter around the world, with a sense of anxiety, feelings shared by many if not most American ex-pats of my acquaintance. Such anxieties, not surprisingly, have been apparent in recent Pearls (see Fear and Loathing in Manila and Never Ask Questions, God's on Our Side ). I have received feedback of decidedly mixed content and tone, ranging from long, philosophical pieces from Nam 'vets to esoteric commentary on Dylan's 1963 lyrics to obscene tirades from red, white, and blue patriots questioning my masculinity and calling me ugly names. All are welcome, even the latter. At least it provides hard evidence that somebody reads these damn things. As for the critiques and flames, no problem other than the characteristic lack of civility, venomous tone, and tendency to demonize anything not supporting a very narrow worldview. Seems like some folks have forgotten that we Americans still have free speech, at least last time I checked. Nevertheless, I've decided to avoid generating punditry on the Bush administration or current American foreign policy from now on for reasons best left to the reader's imagination. Besides, there are so many people writing about such things with more contextual knowledge and inside poop than I do that I'm not sure I could contribute much to the debate. | |
|