(Note. This is a rant. This is only a rant. While it was triggered specifically by a response by a specific individual, some of the comments in here are very general and do not represent my feelings towards that individual, whom I generally like despite our disagreements).

There's a trend on the Internet that has me pissed off.

It's a trend for us to look at any post on the Internet that is written with proper grammar and spelling and a smidgen of intelligence as having the weight of law. Especially when it is written by a foreigner.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm all for the contributions foreign nations make to our culture. I don't think adolescence would have been nearly as pleasant without the occasional Olivia Newton John fantasy, and in the days of "mix" tapes, I would say that about 80% of the tunes that blasted out of my car stereo came from somewhere other than the United States. But it's amazing how ignorant many foreigners can be about our lifestyle, especially given how bent out of shape they get when we are so incredibly ignorant about theirs.

The truth is, none of us...not ONE...lives in a nation that is perfect. And none of us live in a nation that wasn't built on graft, corruption, and the occasional wave of genocide and/or religious persecution, and in certain rare instances, a bizarre combination of both. Put simply, governments must be tolerated and they are, at best, a necessary evil whose primary purpose is to keep the neighbouring tribespersons from raiding our caves and stealing our best buffalo pelts at gunpoint (nods in the whip's direction). None of them speak from a true "moral high ground".

And the same can be said about culture. While it may be tempting to turn one's nose up at the local "god botherers", it must be noted that same "god botherers" built a heck of a lot of hospitals, schools, and communities along the way (in between the occasional wave of their own genocide and/or religious persecution, and in certain rare instances, a bizarre combination of both).

America has its flaws, but it is what it is. We are one of the most materialistic society, but we give massive amounts to the less fortunate. Heck, most Americans even consider a certain amount of entitlement to be a governmental obligation (although I do not count myself among them). An astonishingly low 13% of Americans reside below our own artificially inflated poverty line (which is far above the world's poverty line), and there's a reason why those "feed the children" videos do not show a ghetto kid in America dying in their mother's arms. Because, for the most part it does not happen here, and when it does, it is almost always indicative of neglect on the part of the primary caregivers.

Want to hear about the selfish spirit of the god botherers? Let me tell you about them. Let me tell you that in our community (the larger one, where I work, and go to school), virtually every child below the poverty line (and there are a LOT of them) is wearing a brand new coat, courtesy of a charity run by those "god botherers". And these are not dollar store specials. These are BRAND NEW LONDON FOG coats! My children have them, and I assure you the quality of these coats is more than we would have paid ourselves. I'd put the price of these coats WELL north of the $50 mark...per coat.

Let me tell you about the "children's shopping tour" put on by the "god botherers", where 300 children (none of them ours, in this instance, although one of ours participated in the past) were each allowed hundreds of dollars to spend money for Christmas gifts for their family. Let me tell you about the homeless shelters and the food banks run by other "god botherers".

In my 37 1/2 years on this planet, I have been the recipient of many random acts of kindness. I've been the donor of a few. But I have also discovered that when I find someone in my community with a dire need, I only need to place a handful of phone calls to fill it. And this from a society that is supposedly self indulgent.

Yet to hear "enlightened foreigners" tell it, we're all misers standing astride a large pile of cash, with a loaded 12 gage for anyone who dares to come near. But as Brad has REPEATEDLY pointed out, you need look no further than our nation's bloated budget to see why that is so far from the truth as to be appalling.

We are SO heavily involved with government aid, that foreign countries cry out when we DON'T come. Although it isn't half as much as they cry out when we come with less than THEY feel we SHOULD, it is certainly a pretty vocal outcry.

The United States is a nation that is flawed, sometimes deeply. We have domestic problems, and some of our foreign policy failings are so glaring as to be painful to watch. But beneath that flawed exterior is a nation that cares deeply for the poor and downtrodden, and has evidenced that concern consistently throughout its history. While we have amassed untold wealth, we have also given away untold wealth. In our nation, every child has an opportunity for education, the vast majority have health care, food, shelter, and clothing. And while we haven't completely eliminated poverty, it is the very symptoms of poverty (the crime, the violence, the self destruction) that has insured its continued existence. What the "enlightened foreigners" do not see, do not WANT to see, are the millions of stories of people who have built themselves up from nothing, or next to it, to become immensely succesful. While I am sure those stories exist in their own countries, I challenge anyone to show me they exist in GREATER abundance in their own nation. Equal abundance, maybe. Greater abundance? I doubt it!