Let's bury the Statue of Liberty
Wednesday, March 19th, 2003 12:05 amIt's nice that in these dark days, the impending war can still provide a few laughs. I still can't work out if this site is a troll or for real. It argues that the French are being beastly to the poor Americans by trying to stop them from "defending themselves" (that's one of the things that made me think it was a troll at first, then gave me pause for thought - probably a large number of Americans really do think they are about to kill several hundred thousand people in self-defence). Consequently, America should return the Statue of Liberty to France.
Actually, this is not such a bad idea. As the site itself states:
"When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty."
-Thomas Jefferson
The American government is obviously not afraid of its people, and an increasing number of Americans are afraid of their government. France is currently ruled by a corrupt, unprincipled megalomaniac, who nevertheless seems terrified of the people he precariously governs. The French, having had revolutions in 1789, 1830, 1848 and 1871 (plus a near-revolution in 1968) are always happy to contemplate another one. Obviously they deserve the Statue of Liberty more.
Or as e.e.cummings put it:
"so rah rah rah democracy
let's all be thankful as hell
and bury the statue of liberty
because it begins to smell."
Actually, this is not such a bad idea. As the site itself states:
"When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty."
-Thomas Jefferson
The American government is obviously not afraid of its people, and an increasing number of Americans are afraid of their government. France is currently ruled by a corrupt, unprincipled megalomaniac, who nevertheless seems terrified of the people he precariously governs. The French, having had revolutions in 1789, 1830, 1848 and 1871 (plus a near-revolution in 1968) are always happy to contemplate another one. Obviously they deserve the Statue of Liberty more.
Or as e.e.cummings put it:
"so rah rah rah democracy
let's all be thankful as hell
and bury the statue of liberty
because it begins to smell."
no subject
Date: 2003-03-18 03:39 pm (UTC)Do you know why the french are so enthusiastic about having revolutions? (I'm wondering how they differ from the apathetic americans.)