America, the country from where its mission control in Houston, Texas, sent citizens to the moon and back
has a problem all right.
It’s the superiority/exceptional
belief that may have just come about due to the consequences of being the
society that pulled off the achievements in the paragraph above.
Problem is, no
matter what a particular group of Americans believes, it is, by definition,
superior to what a second or a third of a fourth … group of Americans believes
is exceptional.
So, yeah, Houston,
New York, LA, Pittsburgh … we have a problem.
I got to thinking
about this following a recent trip to my native land, Canada. I’m close to
having lived longer in the USA than I have in Canada; now 31 years to 32 years.
So I come to this argument with an arguably informed point of view.
As a lifelong newspaperman
I pay attention to the press in both countries.
In Canada this
past weekend (July 13-15), I read three papers: the Owen Sound Sun Times, the
Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail (Toronto).
I was struck by a
quality of clear-eyed curiosity and careful, thoughtful reporting, so much so
that I had a devil of a time detecting an agenda.
Not superior, for
sure. In fact, almost apologetic. As in, here are the facts, the objective
intelligence gleaned from the questions asked about the following topics … A,
B, C, D, … etc.
Ontario voters
elected a populist, Trump-like premier in the past election, but the reports I
read seemed respectful of the results to give the impression that those working
to inform others were not adopting a superior attitude, looking to build consensus
for a correct point of view.
Interesting, eh?
Next: Running for Your Life: Bay Ridge Redux
