Re: CHAT Which world? Which culture?
From: | Thomas R. Wier <trwier@...> |
Date: | Wednesday, July 16, 2003, 20:13 |
Quoting Joe <joe@...>:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "John Cowan" <cowan@...>
> > Roger Mills scripsit:
> >
> > > Can anyone think of a culture here on Earth that is characterized by
> > > resentment and regret for lost glories? (lost, I might add, by their
> > > own foolish action...)
> >
> > Any culture that's ever lost a war, I'd say, has spent time in this
> > state. Germany between the wars, much of the Islamic world much of the
> > time, Quebec after the British takeover are examples that come to mind.
>
> And the British, of course, who still, for some reason, think they matter.
I think this is a bit unfair. It's true that Britain no longer
has most of her former empire, but she is still one of the richest
nations on the planet -- indeed, her GDP is larger than California's,
which is saying something! The British military is almost without
peer -- only France and the US really have anything of that quality,
though China, India and Russia all have plenty of brute force. Britain
still matters, just not as much as she used to.
=========================================================================
Thomas Wier "I find it useful to meet my subjects personally,
Dept. of Linguistics because our secret police don't get it right
University of Chicago half the time." -- octogenarian Sheikh Zayed of
1010 E. 59th Street Abu Dhabi, to a French reporter.
Chicago, IL 60637