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Checking out of 'Hotel America'

news.bbc.co.uk

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Re: Checking out of 'Hotel America'

#11

Post by edw519 »

...there must be something creating the drive, and part of that something is the poverty of the alternative, the discomfort of the ordinary lives that most Americans endure and the freedom that Americans have to go to hell if that is the decision they take.

Both of my grandfathers sacrificed everything to come here so that I could have a better life. They knew 100 years ago what many, sadly, still don't understand. The "poverty of alternative" transcends time as well as space.

They created the drive. It's my job to make sure it continues.

Re: Checking out of 'Hotel America'

#12

Post by ShabbyDoo »

georgekv wrote: post #9
abstractbill wrote: post #7

This sums up pretty much exactly how I feel about America having lived here for 6 years. I both love it and hate it here. This bit was particularly good: A nation which will one day mass produce a cure for type one diabetes, could not, would not, save little Kara Neumann from the bovine idiocy of her religious parents.

"A society that gets rid of all its troublemakers goes downhill." - Robert Heinlein

I suspect that that statement was not meant to include murderers.

Re: Checking out of 'Hotel America'

#13

Post by ShabbyDoo »

Why is it that so few Europeans believe that diabetes can be cured via prayer? Is it that state-run religions aren't as market-savvy as the "free-market" churches in the US? Are Europeans better educated? I presume the author probably is also referring to an embrace of creationism as well. What is it that went right in Europe (or just didn't go awry)?

Re: Checking out of 'Hotel America'

#14

Post by Dauntless »

TweedHeads wrote: post #5

"You can checkout any time you like, But you can never leave"

Actually, I've been to USA for quite a lot of times (in which I stayed for several months) and came back with no problem… America is a place of extremes, be those good or bad. So getting back home is very easy if you consider the bad stuff, like the high criminality in some places (looking at CSI just doesn’t feel the same as when I lived in Europe), the religious towns where Jesus is some kind of money making superstar, the wasteful mentality, the obscene hospitalization prices etc. But of course for all the bad stuff there is an equally extremely good side, like the openness of people, the energy and get things done attitude, be it having a block party on top of an apartment building in NY queens in 5 minutes to starting an NGO or a firm, the by and large hardworking people, the creativity of the place is quite high also etc.

Re: Checking out of 'Hotel America'

#15

Post by wglb »

ShabbyDoo wrote: post #12
georgekv wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"A society that gets rid of all its troublemakers goes downhill." - Robert Heinlein

I suspect that that statement was not meant to include murderers.

In one or more of his stories, a proprietor of a small business was lauded by the community for killing a would-be burgler and putting his head on a spike outside the restaurant. (e.g., Time Enough For Love, the married identical twins and proprieters of a restaurant).

So, yes, I think it was.

Re: Checking out of 'Hotel America'

#17

Post by nebula »

georgekv wrote: post #9
abstractbill wrote: post #7

This sums up pretty much exactly how I feel about America having lived here for 6 years. I both love it and hate it here. This bit was particularly good: A nation which will one day mass produce a cure for type one diabetes, could not, would not, save little Kara Neumann from the bovine idiocy of her religious parents.

"A society that gets rid of all its troublemakers goes downhill." - Robert Heinlein

Are you kidding? or do you have a stone for your heart?

An innocent eleven year old kid died because her parents are morons, and you respond to that with a wisecrack taken out of context.

The night before she died - and she would have been in intense discomfort - her parents called the founder of a religious website and prayed with him on the telephone. But they did not call a doctor.

If Kara had been taken to hospital, even at that late stage, insulin could have saved her. She could have been home in a few days and chirpy by the end of the week, as my son was.

Re: Checking out of 'Hotel America'

#18

Post by abstractbill »

ShabbyDoo wrote: post #13

Why is it that so few Europeans believe that diabetes can be cured via prayer? Is it that state-run religions aren't as market-savvy as the "free-market" churches in the US? Are Europeans better educated? I presume the author probably is also referring to an embrace of creationism as well. What is it that went right in Europe (or just didn't go awry)?

I would love to know the real answer to this. I suspect it has something to do with how easy it is to form a church here and get it tax-exempt status (I have no experience in this area of course, but from what I've heard it's much easier in the US than it is in Europe).

Re: Checking out of 'Hotel America'

#20

Post by kragen »

Dauntless wrote: post #14
TweedHeads wrote: post #5

"You can checkout any time you like, But you can never leave"

Actually, I've been to USA for quite a lot of times (in which I stayed for several months) and came back with no problem… America is a place of extremes, be those good or bad. So getting back home is very easy if you consider the bad stuff, like the high criminality in some places (looking at CSI just doesn’t feel the same as when I lived in Europe), the religious towns where Jesus is some kind of money making supers…

So getting back home is very easy...

Unless you're Maher Arar or one of an unknown number of other people who shared his fate but couldn't fire off a text first to inform their family.

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