I am proud to be an American and I should be. My grandmother was American all her life and she was a wonderful woman. Don't say anything against my grandmother!
My grandmother believed in freedom and so did her whole family. Her brother gave his life or was wounded or something, fighting for freedom and the American way. All us Americans know about freedom and its joys and preciousness. You just have to pity the untold millions, billions really, of humans on this planet who don't know about freedom. They are just living life on the wrong path. It is sad, isn't it?
I have been listening to Prof. Charles Mathewes discuss various aspects of thought about evil. He draws attention to the moral dilemma of Huck Finn and the matter of Jim, the escaped slave of mature years who accompanies the boy on a raft down the Mississippi. Huck has grown up trying to be a good person even though he doesn't always succeed. He realizes that he has a big part in depriving Jim's owner of her property, and that after she has been real nice to him. He realizes that depriving people of their property is a genuine sin, one which will wind him up in Hell. In a short while, though, Huck develops affection and respect for Jim and does not want to turn him in as an escaped slave. He mulls over what he should do - turn Jim in - and what he wants to do - keep traveling with Jim and not turn him in. He comes to the decision that regardless of what is right, he will not turn Jim in. He will just go to Hell, that's all.
I have been reading and listening to Prof. Sheena Iyengar discuss the meaning of choice and the way we to live. Between her (linked) videos and the movie "Sabah", I have learned that many of the people now living on Earth do not view life, duty and choice that way I do. Americans know about, and believe, in a type of individual freedom, where it is the individual who chooses who to marry, how to behave and what dish to order in a restaurant. However, there are other ways to live. Many, quite possibly most, of the marriages on Earth occur between two people who did not choose to marry each other but rather had their parents and other elders choose their mate. Iyengar quotes eastern Europeans who dislike having too many choices of, say, carbonated soft drinks. They sometimes tell her that the differences between one kind and another are trivial, that they don't NEED so many choices.
Iyengar asks if you must choose, what sort of freedom is that? She also reports Chinese and other oriental workers who are peeved when asked by the boss what they think should happen at work. The workers
feel it is not their job to decide such things. Is the boss trying to get them to do his job for him?
I can't believe that there are many people around the world who are so confused, so ignorant. Clearly, we Americans have a big job of explanation and training to do. We don't need to listen to or understand how those in the dark feel about life, or think about the best way to live. We know the right path, and we are willing to share our truths.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
