Author Topic: ~An Ode to America~  (Read 1172 times)

Dos Equis

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~An Ode to America~
« on: December 04, 2007, 10:35:50 PM »
Received this by e-mail today.  Nice. 

Read this excerpt from a Romanian Newspaper. The article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title "C"ntarea Americii, meaning "Ode To America") in the Romanian newspaper Evenimentulzilei "The Daily Event" or "News of the Day" 

~An Ode to America~
Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs.

Still, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart.
Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the Army, or the Secret Service that they are only a bunch of losers.
Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts.
Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about.
Instead the Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand.

After the first moments of panic, they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing. On every occasion, they started singing:"God Bless America!"

I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people.

How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with ev ery phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put into a collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy.

What on earth can unite the Americans in such a way?
Their land? Their history? Their economic Power? Money?
I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding commonplace, I thought things over, I reached but only one conclusion... Only freedom can work such miracles.

Cornel Nistorescu


Decker

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Re: ~An Ode to America~
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2007, 07:48:36 AM »
Sweet terrible freedom.

Dos Equis

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Re: ~An Ode to America~
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2007, 07:47:15 PM »
Sweet terrible freedom.

What do you mean?

Decker

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Re: ~An Ode to America~
« Reply #3 on: December 06, 2007, 07:05:50 AM »
What do you mean?
Freedom is great b/c you can do as you please.  Freedom is terrible b/c you can do as you please.  What does one do when faced with an open field of freedom?  The choices can paralyze a person.

It's not just the view that we are free from something but that we are free to do something with all the related complexities of responsibility, morality, ethics etc.

Dos Equis

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Re: ~An Ode to America~
« Reply #4 on: December 08, 2007, 01:41:47 AM »
Freedom is great b/c you can do as you please.  Freedom is terrible b/c you can do as you please.  What does one do when faced with an open field of freedom?  The choices can paralyze a person.

It's not just the view that we are free from something but that we are free to do something with all the related complexities of responsibility, morality, ethics etc.

There is some truth to this, but we have many (probably too many) rules, laws, regulations, etc. that contain our freedom.  Overall, it's a good balance. 

Slapper

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Re: ~An Ode to America~
« Reply #5 on: December 09, 2007, 09:27:40 AM »
Funny thing is that the article is wrong, not in saying that we have freedom (arguable), but in saying that we band together when faced with great tragedy. Same discourse was being published right before the WWII. Terrible times they must be having in Romania.