Hey gang,
> Perhaps the US's excellence in almost every intellectual, technological,
> political and social realm just has "the rest of the world" envious. If
> so,
> it is natural that they build arguments of our inferiority based upon such
> decisive inadequacies as our reputation of being "low on the BEING meter."
>
> Ouch that hurts.
Obviously I was just baiting John for his token pot-shot at the US. I
certainly hope nobody is envious, and I personally believe there are many
exceptional nations. However, in my original post I baited John back that I
thought his "absence of higher value" criticism of the US was odd coming on a
forum that takes place on the technology of the US-built internet discussing
the intellectual ideas of American Pirsig, and especially considering John's
own avowed love of American intellectual/mystic Ken Wilber
SCOTT:
I disagree on including "intellectual" on your list. True, you qualified
it with "almost", but I think there is a glaring exception. One should
distinguish between intellectual activity that serves the Giant, where
the US does excel, and intellectual activity that serves the intellect,
ie, philosophy. In that, I think the US has always been behind Europe,
and in a different way, behind the Far East (I'm thinking of the Kyoto
School). It had a chance to achieve parity with the early pragmatism,
but lost it when it got sidetracked by analytic philosophy. (Pirsig
being a rare exception).
ROG:
So the peers to the US aren't nations, they are all of the countries of
Europe and the Far East? Seems a bit unfair, but OK. The US has one of the
strongest University systems of any continent. Most importantly, it has an
incredibly rich success record in science and mathematics. I believe the US
can hold its own with any nation in renowned scientific discoveries,
technological breakthroughs, medical advances, etc. As for philosophology,
which I view as lower grade intellect, I think that James, Dewey and Pirsig
alone hold up well to most countries. And there is always Pirsig's favorite
philosopher -- Abe Lincoln. [Personally, I think French and German
philosophers -- though plentiful -- have been complete wackos. Have you ever
seen the unsupported assumptions Kant, Hegel, Nietzshe ,Schopenhauer and the
French post moderns pull out of their backsides? I read that stuff and
laugh.]
The US also has a strong intellectual record in politics and economics. The
creation of the first modern version of Democracy was quite an achievement,
for example. Space exploration was another notable intellectual success.
ERIN:
what about aesthetic--I'm not looking forward to wal-to-wal mart country.
ROG:
We got Britney Spears!
JON:
What you've written above produced a thought. I would agree that the USA has
the most excellence in these categories, and has the most potential to do
good, that is to say, capacity for Quality, for the entire world. But if we
do in fact have this abundant overflowing potential, would it logically
follow that we also have the most *unused* (or, to use a harsher term:
wasted) potential as well?
ROG:
I think we have a lot more to offer.
Rog
PS -- There are a lot of good countries with exceptional achievements.
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