[MD] Steele meets Pirsig on common ground

[Khaled Alkotob]

[Platt]
> So Khaled, there's nothing good about America, or white people? 
> 

Platt, there is a million and one thing that are great about this
country, and pointing out it's faults does not make you hate this country
or disrespect it.

This country would not have gotten to where it is if it was not for it's
greatness. No other country in the world has managed to put a man on the
moon. Such endeavors take hard work, money, cooperation, knowledge and so
on. 

Society can not survive by reminiscing on its glory days. You yourself
have stated many times that you are concerned about the future of this
country. Your concern is about decaying of morality and influence of the
progressive/liberal movement, and my concern is about the lack of
education, health care and the selling out to corporate greed.

You and I have been down this road before. No, welfare does not work, but
building a casino around each corner and calling it free market and free
will is not right either.

I live in a town where we have more check cashing/money advance places
than we have bank branches. No I do not want more government regulation
and interference but 500% yearly interest rate is a crime. You may
disagree and chose to call it free market, I look at it as lack of morals
and principles from corporate America.

Back to the issue of the article in the wall street journal. We kicked
the British off of our soil because it was considered colonialism. Every
fourth of July we celebrate such endeavor and we are proud of it.
To Cornwallis and the king, we were terrorists, outlaws and hooligans.

Well we have been trying to do to other countries what the British did to
us. And tose countries don't like it.
We complain when brutal dictators run countries, when they are overthrown
and the new leaders take better care of their citizen, we call them
comies and try to overthrow them.

The French are not trying to be righteous. They simply learned their
lesson.

Khaled