it's a dream for citizens, too

[aruan]

My cab driver this afternoon would not believe that I am from the US yet do not own a house, let alone a car. I could try to explain about property values and taxes, entry-level wages and everything else that makes it next to impossible to own a home in Florida at the age of 25, married or not. But mostly I'm just tired of reminding everyone that American movies and TV represent the average American about as well as movies and TV from any country represent its own middle class.

While we're on the subject, I'd like to also remind the world that Bush was "elected" by at most 50 percent of voters, support for the war in Iraq is at 40 percent, and most of us don't make a pastime of browbeating people about how America is the greatest country ever. Really, many of us are deeply embarrassed by the state of our nation and do not hold with the current administration's policies on everything from gay marriage to foreign policy. We're looking forward to this election as much as everybody else.

Comments

[callmesandy.livejournal.com]

It's as high as 40 percent? Wow. :)

[gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com]

I know, right? I thought it was 30 percent (still too high) until I went looking for statistics. Ugh. Also, I'm not sure whether it's meant ironically when Pakistani cabbies smile at us and shake our hands when they find out we're Americans, when all we did was arm the eventual Taliban overthrow of their government during the Cold War. But some from the Preshawar area seem genuinely thankful - a couple of my colleagues have even been waved off when they tried to pay the fare.