Dilemma
We got some interesting news last night.
Dad is planning a surprise trip to Florida for my Mum, and part of the surprise is that we will all be there (me, the Baron, the Boy, my sister and her boyfriend). He is even willing to pay for us all to fly out, and the villa that we will stay in, leaving us just food, car hire and entertainment to pay for.
Which is great. Apart from one small itty bitty thing.
It is America, and both the Baron and I vowed we would not be returning. Whilst I like pretty much every American I have ever met, and I have always had a nice time when I have been over, I loathe what the country stands for, and what it has done in recent history. I do not want to go to a country that acts in a manner so diametrically opposed to my beliefs.
There are so many things about America that piss me off (and the fact that the UK follows so blindly against the will of the majority also really pisses me off too). It isn't the people per se, although the mindless millions who blindly support Bush as he works on destroying the world whilst eroding their personal freedoms also piss me off. People too stupid to see what is happening deserve all they get, it's just that the rest of the world is being swept along too.
The introduction of fingerprinting new arrivals, the backing out of the Kyoto treaty, the steel tariffs, Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanemo Bay, Homeland Security, cat declawing, the incredible legal drinking age, corporate greed, the gun laws, and of course Bush himself are just the first in a long long list of things I detest about the States that comes to mind.
How can we possibly go? It would make hypocrites of us both, after all we have said. How can I, a cat lover, visit a nation that legally allows the amputation of a cat's toes for no damn reason? I didn't know of such barbaric customs when I last went, or I wouldn't have gone then either. Scratching the furniture is no fucking reason. Teach the child not to annoy the cat - too much fucking work so mutilate the cat instead. Can't have the cat scratch the child now, can we? Arm the population to its teeth, but deprive an innocent cat of its natural defence - where is the logic there?
Interestingly, studies point frequently to the fact that serial killers started their careers by mutilating animals. But mutilation is allowed by US law so what does that say about Americans? Coupled with the vast personal arsenals tucked away in the homes of millions of citizens, and the support for attacking pretty much defenceless countries, I have to wonder.
How can I, as a reasonably decent person, visit a country that holds people accused of a made up charge in such horrific conditions (whilst condemning China's human rights record), and spend my time there having fun going to parks?
How can I visit a country that pays no respect to the rest of the world - pollutes it, bombs the crap out of it, ignores it when it doesn’t heed to America's whims, taxes it, and then actually pay for the privilege of going there?
Do I really want my fingerprints on record just for a holiday?
My Mum would be over the moon if we went, but it feels so completely wrong to even sit and contemplate it. Of course, the pressure is already being put on us both to accept, and it is churlish to refuse such a gift, and the opportunity to give my Mum the surprise of her life. Pants.
How is it that I get two invitations abroad in one year and I really don’t want to accept either! What are the odds of that?
posted by DMouse007 @ 1/22/2004 08:57:00 PM
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