In my French class today, we were practicing our rudimentary skills by trying to form sentences about the stereotypes associated with different countries. Such as – did you know that Finland has one of the highest suicide rates? Of course, I didn’t know much about Finland to begin with. We ended by talking about the things associated with American culture, which were the prominence of SUVs, the abundance of guns, and our geniality. But then the conversation drifted to American stupidity (or rather, our disregard for knowledge). It ended with the Spanish woman and the French woman (the teacher) debating whether most Europeans think Americans are stupid. And I began to wonder if I could blame those that do.
The paucity of opposition to the war-hungry Republicans in politics and the media is frightening. I think that regardless of how you feel about the prospect of war, it needs to be debated thoroughly before we mount an attack. Although liberal publications are overflowing with skepticism, its almost ignored in the most accessible papers. And most Americans (or at least the ones who voted) have no problem with the idea of war with Iraq – or else the Democrats would have won more seats in Congress. I don’t claim to be an expert on military matters, but I don’t think we’ve thought long enough about the repercussions of a war with Iraq, if it were to happen. The South Atlantic Quarterly is publishing an issue dedicated to voicing the arguments opposed to the way the American government is dealing with terrorism and Iraq. It might be worth checking out.
12:33:45 AM 
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