PaperDog wrote:
For example: Child labor ... It is vastly unacceptable in America to put children to hard labor.
discussion of child labor laws didn't really come in to play here until the early 1900's. so we have more history WITHOUT them than with.
Many efforts were made to pass a national child labor law. The U.S. Congress passed two laws, in 1918 and 1922, but the Supreme Court declared both unconstitutional. In 1924, Congress proposed a constitutional amendment prohibiting child labor, but the states did not ratify it. Then, in 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act. It fixed minimum ages of 16 for work during school hours, 14 for certain jobs after school, and 18 for dangerous work.it's horrible that china (and other countries) exploit children but viewing "child labor laws" as an "american" thing any more than a "canadian" thing, or a "german" thing is just nationalistic false pride.
So, Who decided this for America? Most likely, a Chinese person and at least one none Chinese person. Thus, experienced folk, who, despite the diversity, could agree on a common value. , shown to benefit American society at large.
but check it out... even an issue (child labor laws) that you'd think SHOULD BE agreed upon couldn't be passed as a law until 1938?????
why? 'cos americans were greedy and put profits over children's welfare and well being???? yeah, you CAN view it that way...but another way (the way i choose to view it) of seeing it is that choosing profits first is sadly a HUMAN thing.....not just an american thing. that's what HUMANS (some...not all) do.
When you have a large collection of values, (regardless of origin) you can essentially define a culture by them. Its the same as saying , you can tell a tree by its fruit.
but that's just it, americans DO have a large collection of values. good and bad. all over the road. as you'll find in any other country. that's HUMAN traits...not merely american traits.
....When you see a young woman leave a note in an act of responsibility, you'd be hard pressed to let that go without feeling a little inspiration and pride.
pride? myself in glenny's shoes...if that happened to me here in MO, i'd feel very good and slightly hopeful for the human race. i'd place zero weight on the fact that it occurred in tebbetts.....that it happened in MO...or that it happened in the usa.
i'd feel that "wow...there ARE still decent folks around. there IS hope for humanity". i don't view her (or anyone's) act of doing the right thing as an "american thing".....because like every country, there are people here who stand up and do the right thing and those who don't.
If Glenny was a [insert a foreign national here> visitor, and received that note, he would likely say " These Americans aren't as bad as I thought."
then i would say he's awfully foolish, and naive at best to make a sweeping generalization about ALL americans based on the good deed of one person.
A human in his/her own homeland, is always on the vigil to confirm and verify any positive evidence of present culture. Upon discovering the positive evidence, one is inclined to cite his/her allegiance, love and ownership of that culture. And that's what Glenny did...
well, i too make judgements when i see folks do good, and when i see them do bad. i just don't attribute someone carrying groceries for their elderly neighbor or some d-bag raping an elderly lady as being "american" deeds. those same things happen all over the globe.
others will see it differently. but as americans.....uh, i mean HUMANS that's how we do.
