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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Re: Bob's post, what to call US, and systemic feedback

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  • From: Fiona Campbell <pacedge@magna.com.au>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Re: Bob's post, what to call US, and systemic feedback
  • Date: Fri, 6 Jun 2003 10:54:16 +1000


On Friday, June 6, 2003, at 09:59 AM, Toby Hemenway wrote:
BTW, I plead guilty to the charge of living in a self-centered nation. Much of what goes on outside the US has no effect that the average American can feel, and is not reported in our news (the average person's source of info). We're also about the only major power that's a couple thousand miles from any other, so international events reach us only with great muffling. (That's why Europeans are so damn savvy, all those jostling countries!) And the near-constant warring in much of Europe from 1870-1945 only encouraged our isolation--the majority of Americans wanted no part of it, and still don't..

I think you might be referring to my earlier email Toby. It was not intended to be insulting to Americans, nor was it my comment originally, I simply used it to make a point I was writing about.

As for living in a self-centered nation, well, Australia could certainly be described that way too. What you say about US residents being unaffected by outside events likewise could apply to Australia as we have been geographically isolated, even from our Asian/Pacific neighbours, until the arrival of mass air travel. Our isolation from the world ended in the Second World War when the Japanese bombed Darwin, our northernmost capital, and was reinforced just recently with the bombings of Australians and others in Bali, Indonesia.

Our isolationism is also a testimony to how stable the US is. Most citizens feel safe enough to ignore everything, even domestic politics, that doesn't bump them in the nose. Foolish, but understandable

Similarly here, though Australia has become more world-aware these past 20 years thanks to people having enough affluence to travel overseas and to the country's need for trade to bolster its economy.

...Russ Grayson
Sydney, Australia





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