Love and Hate

When the former President of South Korea, Roh Moo-Hyun, committed suicide, he left a note that said: “Do not be too sad. Isn't life and death all a part of nature?” So true, life and death are the same, and so it is with Love & Hate.

My relationship with America is one of: Love & Hate. Let me list five things I love about the States:

• Innovation: Americans love innovation. Their record of invention is stupendous.
• The internet: essentially, an American invention: as Joi Ito says: the internet is based on love.
• Obama: isn’t it wonderful that the son of an immigrant, a half-breed, through his intelligence is able to rise to the most powerful position in the world?
• Jazz: I’m using this as a metaphor for African-American culture.
• Thousands upon thousands of colleges and universities: in America, virtually everyone has the opportunity to get higher education.

However, I must also list five things I hate about America:

• Bullying: why does the USA continuously bully third world countries?
• Gun Violence: Americans are way too quick to use guns to solve their problems (sadly, I have just read about the demise of Steve McNair and about a serial killer in South Carolina).
• The Police: in particular, police chases. Why do American cops insist on chasing “criminals” at high speeds without considering the numerous lives they endanger?
• Bills and Fines: a regular working class American has almost no chance to save money, because of all the bills and fines she accumulates.
• The Christian Right: this is a big, big, big, enormous problem.

So there it is: for America, I can think of 5 positives and 5 negatives. For Thailand, it would probably be 7 positives and 3 negatives.

I guess that’s why I live in Thailand.