[MD] Flying Spagetti Monsters

[ian glendinning]

Nice recovery Gav,

I'm lucky enough to have lived and worked in many countries and
cultures, and am currently 6 months into a period of residency in the
US, down south in Bama.

Like every culture I'd say there were big differences between those
with a more "intellectual" outlook, and those confortable with the
social order. It's full of good people, but it's certainly one of the
scariest cultures, though Oz wasn't far behind (more similar than
different, UK less so, as you said)

The scary bits are indeed the churchy patriotism, and the "certainty"
in which it all seems to be held, and the incredibly inward looking
popular / sporting culture, not just the euphemous "world series", but
all the local college and school teams. Surreal, if it weren't
actually real. Like, get a a sense of perspective, please. You've only
got to watch coverage of things like golf to see how deep it runs.
Like in depth gushing coverage of every Tiger Woods stroke, and
adverts (or replays of Woods strokes) every time a European lines up
for his shot. Very easy to cause offence if you don't take this stuff
seriously, so when in Rome ... Which is a large part of the US
problem, those that have travelled (and I mean beyond an army base or
battlefield, or a tour bus / resort) are pretty much like other
members of the wider human race. (Sylvia's working in a local
hospital, and she's met all sorts, could tell us a story or two.)

Spent a great night (and enforced delay stoppover) in Dallas with a
couple of young US service-men, barely 20, one on leave from servicing
choppers in Iraq, the other on his way to training at Pensecola.
Couldn't wish to share a beer and swap stoires with two nicer
"blokes".

That said I've lived in far more civilised and far scarier places.
Can't beat Scandinavia and New Zealand for civilised (a geographical
thing), but then Jordan and Thailand, even China, rank there too (if
you avoid their underbellies) and they're all far more patriotic than
your average Brit.

Scariest places were Egypt, Pakistan, Phillipines and Indonesia ...
since it was clear that order depended on authoritarian
(muscle-flexing) government ... that said I loved all the individuals
I came across in both Pakistan and Jordan. No-one can smile (or
chuckle with delight) like an Arab can, except maybe the Thai /
Laosian, even one without two pennies to rub together.

The main thing wrong with cultures are their "institutions" I find.
But then every dynamic MoQ'er knows that.

Sorry, I'm rambling.
Ian

On 9/22/06, MarshaV <marshalz at charter.net> wrote:
> At 12:07 PM 9/22/2006, you wrote:
> >my humble apologies
> >gav
>
> Hi Gav,
>
> This superpower has SUPER faults.  Hubris being a big one.  No
> apology necessary.
>
> Marsha
>
>
>
> moq_discuss mailing list
> Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc.
> http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org
> Archives:
> http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/
> http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
>