American self-absorbtion
Reader comment on item: Mysterious America

Submitted by Peter Herz (United States), Aug 17, 2006 at 21:37

Something tells me that if we all lived in China towards the later years of the Tang dynasty--maybe around 870 AD, before the revolt of Huang Chao wrecked too much--we'd probably also be the self-absorbed navel gazers who baffled the Koreans, Viets, Tibetans, and Turks (then resident in what's now Mongolia). We would have absorbed a wave of Western immigration with little regard for what we got; except maybe some crotchety Confucian purists miffed at Buddhist empresses honoring the bone of a barbarian (face it: the Buddha was from India).

This self-absorbtion is, I fear, a disease of those who are just a bit too secure.

Then again, I suspect that the Canadians actually do understand our mysterious country. If they didn't, their side of the border would be better armed than it is. Even when they're viscerally anti-US, they know that in our heart of hearts, we've settled for a peaceable and relatively reliable neighbor rather than harp on an unfinished revolution.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.