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Originally Posted by Taltarzac
Except it seems many of the ideas the United States has been built on-- like those in the US Constitution-- come from Great Britain in the philosophical ideas of John Locke. Our primary language comes from Great Britain even if the English spoken over there is quite different from that spoken here. And much of the English language comes from words from Latin, old Greek, German, French, Spanish, Italian, modern Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, Swedish, Norwegian, etc.
Let us also not forget that the US was peopled by millions of native people most of whom were gradually wiped out by Manifest Destiny. Then there's the moral dilemma of slavery....
And many of our celebrities are from Great Britain, Spain, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Germany, Sweden, etc. Just looks at the winners from the February 24, 2008 Academy Awards? The majority of these seemed to be from overseas.
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Americans do not own the market on good ideas, especially regarding political philosophy. However, where others talked about such ideals, Americans put them to practice. Had Great Britain considered the social philosophies of others, the Union Jack would still be flying 'from sea to shining sea" here. Simply put, they blew it.
The Native American issue, as others, show that mistakes occur. The question now is really whether effective mitigation of the effects of the mistake(s) has(ve) taken place. I'm not one for apologizing for sociological mistakes that I personally have not made (offspring not being responsible for the sins of the father!), but am more concerned that wrongs have been made as right as possible, so that day-to-day life in this country affirms the Second Paragraph of the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the Constitution.
Will there be other mistakes? No doubt about it, as we are not infallible creatures. The test is whether we recognize the mistakes and rectify them ASAP. As in the Trace Atkins song, 'American Man,'
"He's gonna make mistakes like anyone. But he's gonna make it right 'fore the day is done" Not bad words to live by.....
'Celebrities' are creations of the Fourth Estate and very sharp publicists. They seem to consist almost universally of entertainers - jokesters, actors, athletes, musicians and various categories of artists. Personally, I rate them all the same and would not go out of my way to see or be with any of them. My money pays for their performance - and that's the limit of it.
"Renowned persons" are radically different from 'celebrities,' and the renowned to me include persons who have placed themselved in position to exercise moral principles of life by education and action - and we need to have the good judgment to recognize one from another.
It's a big world out there, and we don't have it all cornered. But the last time I looked, even for the 'celebrities' of the world, they still consider one place - by where they congregate, generally work from, and seek their real rewards - as their center of the universe, and that place just happens to be between the Atlantic & Pacific Oceans.