Friday, December 26, 2008

I Don't Love America-An Honest Liberal

Leave it to the Left Angeles Times to have a left-wing degenerate actually say what many-not all-but many believe about the United States.
Joel Stein, who seems to just love to irritate for the heck of it, admits that he does not share the same love of this great land as many conservatives.
Written like a true lefty with no appreciation for what makes the United States different from any other nation, Mr. Stein writes this:

Conservatives feel personally blessed to have been born in the only country worth living in. I, on the other hand, just feel lucky to have grown up in a wealthy democracy. If it had been Australia, Britain, Ireland, Canada, Italy, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan, Israel or one of those Scandinavian countries with more relaxed attitudes toward sex, that would have been fine with me too.

See, Mr. Stein just lumps us in with other democracies. And, for good measure he gets a dig in that the United States is not as "relaxed" in our attitudes towards sex.
To be fair, Mr. Stein does point out what makes the United States different from other nations, including our allied democracies. But, once again he digs into what he does not like about the United States:

But there are plenty of things I don't like about America: our foreign policy, our religious fundamentalism, our provincialism, our intellectual laziness, our acceptance of sweat suits in public.

Religious fundamentalism? Intellectual laziness?
What planet is this Joel Stein on? It clearly can not be earth and surely not the present day United States.
It must bother someone like Mr. Stein that an overwhelming number of Americans are practitioners of their faith. Not just Christians, which is his real bugaboo. But Jews, Islamics, and any given non-monotheistic religions. Too bad for the libertine, Mr. Stein.
Intellectual laziness is a euphemism for not accepting anything told by those of Mr. Stein's ilk. That would include such unproven and possible falsehoods as globaloney warming. In fact, conservatives are much more intellectually willing to discuss any given topic. But the liberal-left, well they just want to save us from ourselves and do not even want discussion. Some intellectual openness.
Later in this opus of disdain, Mr. Stein recalls a conversation he had with radio and television talker Glenn Beck. As Mr. Stein quotes Mr. Beck, it is Mr. Stein's creepy comment that shows how serious he is of his lack of love for this Great Land. Here is what Mr. Beck said:

"If I were born in Great Britain and read about Britain and America, I'd love the values and principles and the men who founded this country," he said. "I love that we crossed these mountains and didn't know what was on the other side. I love that the Pilgrims didn't want to come here, but they came here because they felt prompted to by God. There's always been a spirit of adventure and awe in this land. And I don't think any other country has that."

But, Mr. Stein has this rejoinder:

Beck, it seemed, loves America the same way little boys love camping.

First, I doubt that Mr. Stein has ever been camping. And, why does Mr. Stein have to denigrate someones heartfelt love of his nation? Because, Mr. Stein does not love this nation. He looks at it as an accident of birth. And, Mr. Stein claims that he would be perfectly happy if he were born and raised somewhere else. Especially any given, generic Scandinavian nation.
As I read this it goes to the heart of an issue that I often discuss with Mrs. rightviewfromtheleftcoast.
That liberals are, by nature, very unhappy people. Conservatives are generally happy people. Yes, I know some conservatives that are not very happy people, but this is a generalization. And, Mr. Stein plays right into it.
Thus, he can not have much love because that gets in the way of "intellectual curiosity". I will take bets now that his new marriage will not get to five years.
I want to make clear. I do not think that Mr. Stein represents the vast majority of liberals. Many that I do know love this nation. They want nothing but the best for all people of this great land. They mean well. But people like Mr. Stein are becoming the face of modern liberalism, which is increasingly socialistic in nature.
Thus, Mr. Stein represents a bad trend of liberalism. And, that is much more dangerous than anything a conservative can do. And at least Mr. Stein is honest about his disdain for his nation.

6 comments:

Rightwingsnarkle said...

Oy.

Your writing has descended into self-parody, which I'm sure is not what you intended.

friedmsw said...

Well, at least he IS being honest. Maybe, Mr. Stein should go to one of the other democracies "with the more relaxed attitude toward sex". This is a bleeding heart liberal?

betty said...

I have to agree with the other commenter who said Mr. Stein is being honest; and I also agree with her that he should perhaps relocate to a country he does like, if there truly is one that meets what he is looking for

betty

skeneogden said...

You notice that none of these America haters like Stein ever emigrate to a country more to their liking.

Too bad he wasn't born a female in tribal Pakistan or Afghanistan.

Joel Stein along with Robert Sheer and Rosa Brooks are the main reasons I stopped reading the LAT. Isn't it funny how "intellectuals" always seem to find ideas more important that people?

Anonymous said...

Well, ambivalence toward your country of origin is better than pure hatred, I guess, and there are plenty of examples of people who express nothing *but* hatred toward the US. Talk about your intellectual laziness!

Anonymous said...

For me, coming from the middle of Europe, Joel Stein's perspective on the matter seems perfectly reasonable (I don't know many Europeans with such a fierce love for their countries as many Americans have for theirs). Stein does say he *likes* America, but he doesn't think it's perfect - what on earth is wrong with that? He doesn't even say he'd *prefer* other countries...
I'm sure it's pretty cool in America, as well - but I find it quite hard to understand "your" kind of (blind, according to Stein)love for your country. If Stein's article had appeared in a European country about that European country, I guess it wouldn't get a much stronger reaction than "So what? What's special about this stance?"