the first mr. summerfield, an american, was a strategist during the korean war. my uncles and cousins fought in vietnam and then years later in afghanistan and the middle east, all on the american side. and today, all those efforts to defend democracy almost went for naught. i was angry. very angry.
in college, i used to join protests against what my friends termed the american imperialism. i'm not political and i would admit that then, i didn't really understand what it was i was protesting about. although, i grew up with a father who was himself fatherless but raised by an aunt who was married to an american soldier and later businessman who ruled his family, including the relatives, like he was a gift from the gods. i grew up hearing, mr. H said this, mr. H taught me this, mr. H was wonderful. and i wondered why this old american man who i barely remembered ruled our lives even after he died. his eldest son became the replacement, and my father kowtowed to him. and i didn't like it.
that's probably why i had a disdain for the americans as i grew up. maybe because even as a young child, i had a mind of my own, i understood what was going on and i was the only niece who stood up to this uncle, who was haughty and a know-it-all, and he was only half american! to me he was the perfect example of the ugly american.
when i met the first mr. summerfield, fell in love and married him, i was sure it was the gods' punishment for my dislike of the americans. but he showed me that not all americans are haughty, disdainful, arrogant, thoughtless and ignorant. but still, i fought so hard not to live in the states, even when he gave me an ultimatum. i told him that i took seriously those years in school when every morning i had to stand and put my hand on my chest as i recited the pledge of allegiance and sang our national anthem.
but as the political climate in the old country became dangerous, i understood the underlying cause of that danger. i had first hand experience of the corrupt and rotten government officials, because my first job was with a government agency and when i left public service, my work was such that i had to deal with one of the most corrupt arm of the government -- the customs agency. then i had the chance to work abroad then live in canada, albeit reluctantly. here, the idea of democracy was real and that made me like the choice i made of switching my allegiance.
only in the last several years, from where i am comfortably ensconced here, i have seen, heard, watched the real ugly americans. and it threatens me. and that threat almost became reality today. i pray that they do not cross our borders; we have enough problems as it is.
Just unbelievable what happened... Happy I'm not in the USA now and Nadya who arrived early this morning is also be happy to be out for a little while (she plans to return mid Feb). Your image is very fitting with the dark clouds, but I can also see some light (in your picture and for the future)...
Its shameful that a small number of folks bring attention to the belief that all Americans are like the folks that ransacked the nation's capitol building. It reflects the difficulty of countering lies and conspiracy theories by elected officials, social media and basically close knit communities that don't socialize outside of their circles. One of the USA's political parties has succumbed to being overrun by these folks and it may take some time for this to work its way out. I'm hoping sanity will prevail and somehow common sense takes hold. Sad situation in any case.
Unfortunatley Rent-A-Mob will come out to support whatever violence looks like will happen. These people are not indicative of all the citizens
but are representative of unthinking, violent, anarchic yobs who ar spoiling for a fight. Don't despair Vikki, they are a minority and hopfully the majjority will prevail- or God help democracy!!
Your commentary is interesting. I try to judge all individually. Don't want to be judged as being American, but as being human. We all have that in common, but can be sidetracked by generalizations and by those who attempt to represent us. Our president, representing us, has done us much harm.
but are representative of unthinking, violent, anarchic yobs who ar spoiling for a fight. Don't despair Vikki, they are a minority and hopfully the majjority will prevail- or God help democracy!!