bitbitch@magnesium.net wrote:>>>Wishful thinking. People are just bigger dickheads now. Culture is changing
>>>and it is becoming acceptable to get in peoples face and shout them down
>>>when you disagree with them.  The people that do this are NOT
>>>disenfranchised. They
>>>get their rocks off on being disagreeable assholes. The act of protesting is
>>>more important than the actual issue being protested for most of these
>>>people.
>>> 
>>>
>>>      
>>>
>OB> In my experience, this is classic "American" behaviour, and I don't 
>OB> think its on the increase outside of the US of A.
>OB> I am willing to accept the premise that Americans are bigger dickheads 
>OB> then they used to be.
>
>*sighs*
>
>Right.  Because Americans are the only people capable of being
>assholes.  Shit.  History keeps fucking up when they keep mentioning
>all the historical examples of dickhead-ness that have proceeded the
>US.
>
>After all, we're the only country who gets unruly when it comes to
>issues.   Thats why its always just the Americans at those crazy WTO
>meetings...  Right, Owen?
>
>
>
>  
>
A flippant remark that I will probably regret  - sure there's assholes 
everywhere. I just remember a lunch in Spain with
a semi-famous American - I think we had about 10 nationalities at the 
table, and he managed to insult each of them within
15 minutes. A historical perspective makes me think that empires - 
Roman, British, Russian, American, whatever - produce
 a larger proportion of assholes than subject nations (and are more 
likely to have them in positions of authority).
Owen