Got this on Facebook in response to my comment "so sad - one of the many reasons I will never move to the US" about the above image posted by a US friend.
xxx wrote: "We are also the first country to win 2 world wars, liberating millions of people from the Nazi's, land on the moon, provide the very last vestage of hope for people who come here from 3rd world countries run by dictators, allow people to practice freedom of religion, earn as much money as their talents will allow, be able to speak out against our government freely without fear of being executed or thrown in a gilag, invent and develop electricity, the light buld, the telephone, the personal computer, the transistor, the assembly line, and on and on... please don't move here Amanda, at least until you get a clue!"Soooo ... where do I start?
- Won two world wars - all on your own? and which wars have you won since then?
- Liberating from the Nazi's what? your use of the apostrophe here is incorrect unless you missed a word out. In this context the apostrophe denotes possession, as in the dog's bollocks i.e., the bollocks belonging to the dog. To denote plural just leave out the pesky apostrophe - one Nazi, many Nazis; one moron, many morons - simple!
- Land on the moon - OK, you did (or maybe you didn't)
- the last vestage of hope - so glad you're providing clothing for immigrants
- ... 3rd world countries run by dictators - ah, you mean Mexico, the Philippines, India and China (the majority of whom arrive as family reconciliations)
- freedom of religion - but same-sex marriage is a bit iffy?
- earn as much money as their talents will allow - and talent varies according to ethnicity?
- free speech? - against the government yes, but generally not if it involves science?
- thrown in a gilag - do you mean gulag perhaps? or gilet?
- invent and develop electricity - various; Michael Faraday (British) and Charles Parson (British) spring to mind, but you did give Nikola Tesla (Serbian) his big break
- the light buld - damn iphone autocorrect? (Thomas Edison, US, did invent an incandescent light bulb however)
- telephone - er, Alexander Graham Bell was a scot
- the personal computer - you cannot just brush off the contribution of Sir Clive Sinclair (English) here! and don't forget the father of modern computing (English)
- the transistor, the assembly line, and on and on - the former with input from Canada, Germany and France; the latter from a theory proposed by Adam Smith (Scottish) but yes, I admit that the rest of the world hasn't really invented anything of substance at all.
America has indeed produced an explosion of innovation into the world but no, I won't be moving there.
Sir - as I fling down my ballpoint pen (Hungarian) onto the sheet of paper (Ancient Egyptian) in front of me and gaze blankly out of my window (Ancient Egypt again) in defeat, I remain curiously untouched by your boasted wealth of innovations, freedoms, riches and materialistic endeavour.
Coming from a country where socialised healthcare, though imperfect in design and execution, does not bankrupt its citizens, I do consider myself to have a clue.
Sir - as I fling down my ballpoint pen (Hungarian) onto the sheet of paper (Ancient Egyptian) in front of me and gaze blankly out of my window (Ancient Egypt again) in defeat, I remain curiously untouched by your boasted wealth of innovations, freedoms, riches and materialistic endeavour.
Coming from a country where socialised healthcare, though imperfect in design and execution, does not bankrupt its citizens, I do consider myself to have a clue.
Stay healthy!
PS: this comment was posted after xxx commented (and withdrew his comment - ha ha, the email notification does not get withdrawn, btw). Gasp! - maybe even your compatriots don't have a clue?
yyy wrote: "***y goes to school with a young woman from Iraq. She was horrified when he explained to her that we don't have government-sponsored medical insurance for everyone. I found it pretty poignant considering where she's from."
