>Now stop and ask yourself what kind of defense it is to say, "you think
>you've got it bad here...try Afghanistan."
I do think it a sound defence against the charge we are the world's second-worst arseholes, though.
>( I once had a man defend his behavior toward me by saying "I never hit
>you.")
>Yes, I do know that women have it worse, much worse in other countries.
>Does >that mean I need to be a happy little slavey here?
No. I don't think people should be happy little slaveys. BTW, do you think you are a slave because you are female (or, to wax correctly constructivist, because you have 'femininity' ascribed to you)? If so, how so?
>The same argument could be used against the working class. It's generally
>worse for them in any non G7 country: does that mean that workers have no
>cause for complaint in the U.S.?
Er, no ...
>The only general observation I can make about American men is that they are
>affected by the usual American cultural poisons; for example, hatred of the
>body (except (maybe) as a perfect object).
Well, Anglo Saxon countries do tend to prudishness, I'll allow. Indeed, I have long suspected the US is even more so than Oz. But we're all getting better, I'd've thought.
As for hating our own particular bodies, well, the body is where consumerism, individualism, competition and narcissism meet, I s'pose.
You can't make a dish out of ingredients like that.
Cheers, Rob.