The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki

There were always times of change… as much as I love my country and its culture dearly and am always annoyed when other misunderstand it, especially Europeans who have their own issues to deal with… well, America is like the Makioka Sisters.  

Willfully holding onto the past, refusing to believe in the realities of global warming, clinging to bizarre economic theories such as eradicating safety nets that have been proven disastrous time and time again around the world,  trying to dominate, resting on our laurels, well, you know, we can’t do that anymore.

And you know, I’m only criticizing because I love this place. And I am guilty of these things too. I still drink Diet Coke as a reactionary measure after a few years living with some well-meaning Germans ranting for hours about the USA. It’s not good but I’m not totally Aristotelian either. :)

We have to change. Not only for our survival but because it’s fun and it enables us to grow beyond what we used to be, which was just another flavor of the century boring imperialist world power.

England did it, Japan tried to do it, and it just isn’t something worth trying to do anymore. So what if the sun is setting on our Empire? We can be powerful in other ways. Why is soft power less good than hard power? Why do we have to be the military for most of Europe? What do we get out of it? They’re smart, they can do it themselves and maybe teach us a few things instead of rushing psycho hippies at innocent American expats and screaming about America’s involvement in nuclear weapons.

And I don’t think China’s even trying to do it as they’re struggling to keep control of their wacky versions of the Tea Party so that another Cultural Revolution doesn’t happen. It’s really not worth it.

I know that there’s realpolitik and all, and I’m a realist. There’s a reason why all these “trade agreements” and “copyright protections” are held in place, and it’s not because of someone’s cool art projection piece at last year’s biennial but you know what?

The Cordoba House is a much more powerful statement and will protect America way more than uselessly invading a country because a corporation said so will. We spend a lot on education, so let’s use those critical thinking skills and get some backbone and be brave enough to ask questions that will help us get to a better place.

We have to learn how to surf. It’s FUN. Let’s do it!