James, I very much enjoy your perspective. I too, at a young age spent about a year (over the course of 18 months) "living" in Mexico while doing research for my degree in soil science. My later career gave me opportunities for extended stays in several nations, including a year in New Zealand and four months in Australia. Over the course of my life I've had significant professional and personal contact with folks overseas in a variety of capacities. America is the most myopic national culture in the world, IMHO. The two words most commonly heard from non-Americans (even those who support our "role" in the world) about American... and to some extent "America" are "naive" and "arrogant" a close third place is "uninformed" in terms of what is happening in the rest of the world.... i.e. the 7.5 or so Billion people and couple hundred nations that ar NOT America. One of the hardest messaging tasks in my life has been conveying these three critiques palatably to listeners... who by and large shrug off the insights (thereby somewhat validating the "arrogant" critique almost instantaneously). Keep writing I'll be in touch with one of your personal friends with some further comment that you might be interested in. Best regards, and keep up the good work. Bob Sojka-- in Idaho
James, I very much enjoy your perspective. I too, at a young age spent about a year (over the course of 18 months) "living" in Mexico while doing research for my degree in soil science. My later career gave me opportunities for extended stays in several nations, including a year in New Zealand and four months in Australia. Over the course of my life I've had significant professional and personal contact with folks overseas in a variety of capacities. America is the most myopic national culture in the world, IMHO. The two words most commonly heard from non-Americans (even those who support our "role" in the world) about American... and to some extent "America" are "naive" and "arrogant" a close third place is "uninformed" in terms of what is happening in the rest of the world.... i.e. the 7.5 or so Billion people and couple hundred nations that ar NOT America. One of the hardest messaging tasks in my life has been conveying these three critiques palatably to listeners... who by and large shrug off the insights (thereby somewhat validating the "arrogant" critique almost instantaneously). Keep writing I'll be in touch with one of your personal friends with some further comment that you might be interested in. Best regards, and keep up the good work. Bob Sojka-- in Idaho