Quote Originally Posted by Graham
No wonder the rest of the world says "it could only happen in America"


How terrible it is that such a wonderful country as the USA is seen by the rest of the world in the light of the worst excesses of behaviour of a tiny minority of the inhabitants -- made possible of expression, of course, by the very freedoms that make the US a great country.

There are many countries in which the citizens don't enjoy an American-style personal liberty, and for such people, it is quite difficult to understand the difference between 'freedom' and 'licence' -- licence, in the sense of licentiousness, being an abuse of freedom which must nevertheless sometimes be tolerated so that true freedom of personal expression can exist.

American culture today, especially in its most often exported (and exploited) forms -- TV and films -- in many cases caters to to lowest common denominator of taste in entertainment, which results in a lack of due restraint. This is the fault of the producers, and is caused by their greed. Sex and violence sells! But it doesn't reflect the behaviour of most Americans. The majority of Americans are decent, honest, hard-working, caring people. Anyone who has travelled extensively in the US will tell you that people here are, for the most part, friendly, courteous, helpful, and kind to strangers. The 'Ugly American' is really a myth.

The hatred and wholesale murder advocated by Osama bin Laden and his adherents is a great deal more 'obscene' than anything one will find in American pop culture. Yet, it's not difficult to understand the (misguided) motive behind it. There is much to object to in the image of America portrayed in the mass media. We live in an age in which the normal controls of social censure have been suppressed by the domination of humanistic, 'politically correct' thinking, which has spread from acadæmia to the larger society through the power of the liberal media and legislation influenced by such an agenda. And Europe and the rest of the industrialised world are really just as bad and sometimes worse... Russia, France, Canada, and the UK have 'Naked News' presenters on TV, for example.

Well, I have to dismount this hobbyhorse. Sorry for being such a bore. I'm angry both at America's detractors and at the small but economically powerful elements of American society that have perverted liberty and turned it to libertinism, a showcase of immorality. That's not what America and Americans are about, not at all, but how is anyone to know that when all they see is the garbage on TV and in so many films?

Having said all that, I'm a great proponent of freedom of speech and expression. I may deplore the forms it sometimes takes, and fear the effects such excesses may have on the culture and the American image abroad, but still I wouldn't choose to restrict free expression. We need better controls of how some expression is disseminated, perhaps -- higher standards of decency imposed by the entertainment industry and other media, from within, for example -- but these freedoms are the cornerstone of personal liberty and are essential to a free society.

Nevertheless, we should heed the warnings from thinkers of the past:

When liberty becomes license, dictatorship is near. -- Will Durant.

License they mean when they cry Liberty; for who loves that, must first be wise and good. For, None can love freedom but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license, which never hath more scope than under tyrants. -- John Milton

The difference between Liberty and liberties is as great as God and gods. -- Ludwig Boerne

Freedom is born of self-discipline. No individual, no nation, can achieve or maintain liberty without self-control. The undisciplined man (or woman) is a slave to his own weaknesses. -- Alan Valentine

Liberty exists in proportion to wholesome restraint. -- Daniel Webster

:::descending pulpit:::