This issue of AAAmaZine was published on September 17, 2001
"AAAmaZine" -- Absolutely Amazing!
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Each issue of AAAmaZine features excerpts or quotes from
longer stories. Topics include advances in science, health,
engineering as well as interviews with industry leaders
and characters, humorous and human interest accounts.
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America: The Good Neighbor
This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans
as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people
on all the earth.
Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy
were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who
poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in
debts. None of these countries is today paying even the
interest on its remaining debts to the United States.
When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the
Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be
insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there.
I saw it.
When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States
that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities
were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped.
The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of
dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those
countries are writing about the decadent, warmongering
Americans.
I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating
over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own
airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane
to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the
Douglas DC10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all
the International lines except Russia fly American Planes?
Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man
or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy,
and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and
you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy,
and you find men on the moon -- not once, but several times
and safely home again.
You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right
in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their
draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here
on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking
Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa
at home to spend here.
When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking
down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them.
When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central
went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are
still broke.
I can name you 5,000 times when the Americans raced to the
help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one
time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble?
I don't think there was outside help even during the San
Francisco earthquake.
Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian
who is [darned] tired of hearing them get kicked around.
They will come out of this thing with their flag high.
And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at
the lands that are gloating over their present troubles.
I hope Canada is not one of those.
- an editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair,
a Canadian television commentator, in 1973. You can
search the 'net for an MP3 of the original broadcast.
Look for: Gordon Sinclair - The Americans
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