A tiny spider has constructed her exquisite fly trap on a triangulating string from the ceiling to two points on our diningroom table. Photo is retouched -- mainly Photoshop's "sharpen" feature to bump up her web against the green wall background (blackish blobs are out-of-focus stenciled gold stars -- you can't have everything). She lies in wait at the center of her web, with kitty fur trapped lower right. Why do the flies hate her?
"Before the United States brushes away Europe as hopelessly anti-American, Americans should therefore remember that not all Europeans dislike them," writes Anne Applebaum in a nuanced [That word, but unlike Kerry's plodding "arguments," Applebaum's observations stimulate further thought. --ed] look at who does and doesn't like America. We've had our fill of the foreign folk who reflexively hate us, not to mention their fellow travelers amongst our own fellow citizens who keep asking WHY they hate us. Now it's time for a fresh and refreshing look:
There has never been a more popular time to be anti-American. From Beijing to Berlin, from Sydney to São Paulo, America’s detractors have become legion. But not everyone has chosen to get on the anti-American bandwagon. Where --and among whom -- is America still admired, and why? Meet the pro-Americans.
Before Americans brush off the opinion of 'foreigners' as unworthy of cultivation either, they should remember that whole chunks of the world have a natural affinity for them and, if they are diligent, always will.
Two "chunks" that suggest the range of Applebaum's survey include over-60 Brits who love us 'cause of their WWII memories and 30-44-year-old Poles who love us 'cause they remember American support for the Polish underground movement:
Younger Poles, by contrast, show significantly less support: In the 15-29-year-old group, only 45.3 percent say they feel the United States has a “mainly positive” influence in the world -- a drop of more than 13 percent. But perhaps that is not surprising either. This generation has only narrow memories of communism, and no recollection of Reagan’s support for Solidarity. The United States, to them, is best known as a country for which it is difficult to get visas -- and younger Poles have a very high refusal rate. Now that Poland is a member of the European Union, by contrast, they have greater opportunities to travel and study in Europe, where they no longer need visas at all. In their growing skepticism of the United States, young Poles may also be starting to follow the more general European pattern.
How fascinating. Lots more worth reading and cogitating over in Applebaum's article. For example, did you know that South Africans by and large think we're swell? We're especially interested in the visa thing re the best and brightest of the younger generation from all over -- 'just read something the other day to the effect that the difficulty of getting visas post 9/11 is turning excellent foreign students away in droves to Canada and other countries that look the other way. "Shirley" something could be done about it?
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