actually, i can't wait to move away and get a taste of the rest of the world also..
and all fellow americans should respect my right to do so and not spam useless things in response.. unless of course you want to play the immature game of "well it's my right to spam" ...
"There is an indifference to such things (Interest in Philosophy(History)), for relativism has estinguished the real motive of education, the search for a good life. Young Americans have less and less knowledge of and interest in foreign places. In the past there were many students who actually knew something about and loved Engalnd, France, Germany, or Italy, for they dreamed of living there or thought their lives would be made more interesting by assimilating their languages and literatures. Such students have almost disappeared, replaced at most by students who are interested in the political problems of Third World countries and in helping them to modernize, with due respect to their own cultures, of course. This is not learning from others but condescension and a disguised form of a new imperialism. It is the Peace Corps mentality, which is not a spur to learning but a secularized version of doing good works." --Allan Bloom, _The Closing of the American Mind_
I'm actually planning to go to Europe, and just travel around, hitch-hiking because I'm cheap. I can't really imagine spending my whole life in the US. *shudder* I'll probably not move out, unless I find somewhere that I'm certain I can live. I'd also like to visit some parts of Asia, especially India. I'm still trying to get out of the mid-west, though... it's like a black hole!
sadly, i'm just a common geek of a japanophile... but i'm going off to college soon and will be taking japanese, so why not spend a year abroad? who knows? i might get enough japanese to learn to like living there more than in the USA... the USA doesn't recognize dual citizenship, but i know there is a way to be a citizen of both nations (i just can't remember at the moment) ...
dr. fine rolo, the quote is amazing -- perhaps i can use it to help convince my dad it's ok for me to be taking japanese instead of an "easier foreign language" (he thinks japanese will affect my major and is unrelated and therefore useless)
america needs a wakeup call as far as i'm concerned, 911 was bull shit -- we didn't learn a thing... i'm not saying the terrorists were right, i think they are wrong and any kind of fundamentalist also 'wrong' in a sense to believe extreme views in the first place... but seriously, all 911 did was serve to strengthen the culture of fear our country is enthralled with and increase some bizarre patriotic blindness that isn't even love for the USA, but love of ourselves...
and yeah, i'm a teenager, use whatever cop-out you want to discredit what i say, but you know deep down that i'm right and you've just accepted complacency if you don't agree with (most) of what i say or at least the gyst..
Japanese has been a very easy language for me to learn. German was MUCH harder. Japanese grammar and syntax is incredibly simple. Learning the Kanji is no more difficult than learning to spell. Get James Heisig's book, Remembering the Kanji, it is absolutely the BEST way to learn them. Remembering the Kana is a little surpufluous, and you've probably already learned both syllaberies through your studies in highschool.
In my consideration, the I only see America needing two 'wakeup calls': a resurgence of popular interest in government--an end to gerrymandering and would go a long way to this end by enabling representative government to begin to function again, and to help break incumbancies; and a reinvention of Liberal culture and education. (Not Democrats, Liberals, like 18th century.) Gun ownership, personal responsibily, absolute Good. Not this relativistic stuff that's been taught in our school for 30 years. It ranges all the way from considering our culture 'equal to' all others to creating outrageous accusations (eg, http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/500325CD-FDBE-4C76-8ABB-0410229523DA.htm ). Western culture is unique in that our scientific/liberal backing does not blind us to the possibility that our culture and methods may not be the best. However, schools rarely teach that. Instead they teach that every culture is just as good as any other. Open Mindedness (Classical Western Thought) vs Empty-Headedness (Modern US education) as one of my Philosophy teachers put it.
I came away with the argument that just because it's difficult to come prove something is True doesn't mean it isn't. That is, it's easier to prove something like, Theft, Adultery, or Murder is always a bad thing for a society to do. On the other hand, it's more difficult to prove what cultural conditions are actually most desirable. Instead of allowing argument over what conditions are best, schools have encouraged students to accept all ideas as being equally valid, except the idea that some ideas are worse than others. (Their argument is already illogical, awesome!)
comment #12551 Yeah, you can't really say "maid" without thinking "flag" too. I mean, they are both four-letter words and, uh, I guess they have a vowel in common. And they're both nouns! Come on, the connection is obvious.
For all you lefty faggots wondering: "gosh, when can I get out of this terrible country that I take for granted, Durr Durr". Come to my place and I will gladly send you to whatever EuroTrash/Weeboo-land shithole you'd like, for free! And in a fucking bodybag! You liberal pussies are what's ruining this fucking country. FUCK YOU!
For all you lefty faggots wondering: "gosh, when can I get out of this terrible country that I take for granted, Durr Durr". Come to my place and I will gladly send you to whatever EuroTrash/Weeboo-land shithole you'd like, for free! And in a fucking bodybag! You liberal pussies are what's ruining this fucking country. FUCK YOU!
We sure as fuck don't take this country for granted... hell, this past Saturday a brave young woman died standing up to sick fucks like you. The sacrifices of the brave few, on foreign soil and our own, who stood up to hatred, discrimination, and oppression, will not be forgotten.