"If you don't like it, leave"

[hetron]

I'm sorry, but when I hear this comment it just makes my blood boil. I'm sick and tired of hearing "conservatives" (or whatever the term imbeciles use for themselves for these days) tell "liberals" (the term they use for anyone who doesn't fall lockstep behind the leadership of our Bozo in Chief) to "leave the country" if they don't like it."

This is an absurdity that is almost uniquely American. I have been to Europe many times, and I don't recall ever hearing a Frenchman tell another Frenchman to leave France if he doesn't like a particular policy of the French government. I seriously doubt a Japanese person would ever be told to leave Japan if they didn't like the policies of the Japanese government.

The funny thing is these chumps think of themselves as "real Americans", a term they use to separate themselves from the "foreigners", "college professors" or "welfare mothers", people who either "don't live in the real world" or are "a waste of my tax dollars". I have yet to find out what a "real American is", but I assume these folks think it is directly proportional to how many "Don't mess with the US" bumper stickers they put on their cars.

Normal people and "conservatives" alike need to realize that open dicourse is essential to democracy. If someone is criticizing the government and its policies, chances are that they would like to somehow IMPROVE what the nation is doing, not because they want to see its demise or destruction.

[brad]

the proper response , and theh one i alwayhs use,

is

'ok ok. youre right. lets build the death camps. can we kill more than jews this time? i hate <insert race here> too.'

[adios]

[ QUOTE ]
"Normal people and "conservatives" alike need to realize that open dicourse is essential to democracy."

[/ QUOTE ]

This statement .... nah forget it. I for one would prefer it if you made stuff like this rhyme at least. Maybe a limmerick would work:


I was confronted by a right winger

And I decided to linger

The right winger did harass

Then called me an ass

It felt like a painful stinger


Happy holidays [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img].

[dsm]

"I have yet to find out what a "Real American is,"...



"Cuz we'll put a boot in your ass.
It's the American way."

Toby Keith...Real American

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

This is an absurdity that is almost uniquely American.

While I hate the "love it or leave" mentality, this statement is ludicrous. Hyper-nationalism exists everywhere. You mentioned France. There is a huge right-wing nationalist movement in France, but they don't want people to leave who disagree with policy, they want people to leave who aren't ethnically French.

Nationalist movements are rampant in Europe, where the recent influx of immigrants have changed the social nature of the various countries. As for Japan, there may not exist in this world a culture more xenophobic and resistant to outsiders.

Hate to break it to you, but there are a$$holes all over the world.

[hetron]

[ QUOTE ]
This is an absurdity that is almost uniquely American.

While I hate the "love it or leave" mentality, this statement is ludicrous. Hyper-nationalism exists everywhere. You mentioned France. There is a huge right-wing nationalist movement in France, but they don't want people to leave who disagree with policy, they want people to leave who aren't ethnically French.

Nationalist movements are rampant in Europe, where the recent influx of immigrants have changed the social nature of the various countries. As for Japan, there may not exist in this world a culture more xenophobic and resistant to outsiders.

Hate to break it to you, but there are a$$holes all over the world.

[/ QUOTE ]

While I agree with you that xenophobia is rampant worldwide, all the examples you gave dealt with immigration. I am talking ideology. People who espouse the "if you don't like it, you can leave" mantra don't point it just at newly arrived ethnic minorities, they point at "liberals", "activists", and "lefties", whether there families have been in america for 1 year or 400 years.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

True, but that more reflects the the US is a nation based on a governmental concept as opposed to an ethnicity.

In other words, since the US is a nation of immigrants, our shared national identity is more one of a governmental concept, rather than an ethnic one. The people are accusing others of not being true to what they define as our core being.

You also have to understand that there is a much wider spectrum of political debate in europe than here in the US. Even from my perspective, the Democrats and Republicans look more like different wings of the same political party than two distinct entities.


Also, in WWII and WWI, dissent was treated much more harshly than now. In WWI, people who protested the war were deported, and in WWII, they were regularly jailed.

[Dr Wogga]

.....stop crying, I'm warming you a bottle as I write this. If you spend so much time in france and like it, why don't you stay there. You could tell all the french america-haters you're with them - and other than getting spit on from time to time, you'd probably like it there a lot better. Waaaaaa, waaaaaa

[hetron]

[ QUOTE ]
.....stop crying, I'm warming you a bottle as I write this. If you spend so much time in france and like it, why don't you stay there. You could tell all the french america-haters you're with them - and other than getting spit on from time to time, you'd probably like it there a lot better. Waaaaaa, waaaaaa

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, I'm not interested in living in France. I was thinking I could ship your ass there so that you might be able to get a different perspective on things. You can get schooled on different political views, find out why they feel the way they do. Who knows? You might actually come back less ignorant.

Actually that sounds like a great idea. Why not just ship Wogga, Limbaugh, and Hannity over to France (or any other foreign country for that matter) and let them see different countries, different political and social systems, different aspects of life in general. Who knows, they might actually come back less ignorant.

[hetron]

Brad,

As usual, you are either thinking three steps ahead of me, or three steps behind me. I just can't figure out which.