[WikiEN-l] The American ego trumps all -- thank God, 'cause mine needs surrounded by other big heads

[Ray Saintonge]

MacGyverMagic/Mgm wrote:

>On 5/19/07, Ken Arromdee <arromdee at rahul.net> wrote:
>  
>
>>On Fri, 18 May 2007, K P wrote:
>>    
>>
>>>>>>Charlotte, in my view you'd be wrong.  Paderewski was hugely and
>>>>>>internationally famous as a pianist, whereas his fame as a Prime
>>>>>>Minister of Poland is largely limited to Poland ...
>>>>>>            
>>>>>>
>>>>>'''Ronald Wilson Reagan''' ...
>>>>>          
>>>>>
>>>>The United States is bigger and much more important in international
>>>>politics than Poland, and being president of it is much more notable.  President of
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>>the US and Prime Minister of Poland just don't produce equal amounts of fame.  
>>>>
>>>>If you look at the article for Grace Kelly, being an academy award winning
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>>actress is mentioned before being princess of Monaco.
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>Right on.  After all, size is all that matters,
>>>      
>>>
>>Size isn't all that matters, but it's one thing that matters.  (Or more
>>precisely, importance, which is often related to size.)
>>    
>>
>>>and only the last few hundred years of history have any meaning.
>>>      
>>>
>>I believe that Paderewski was a pianist and a Prime Minister during the
>>same historical time period.  The same for Grace Kelly being an actress and
>>princess of Monaco.
>>    
>>
>I know a little bit about grammar and sometimes putting something at the end
>of a sentence is supposed to draw attention to it, so mentioning something
>first doesn't neccesarily mean it's more important. I don't deny the US is
>important in world politics today, but that fails to take into account
>anything that happened before the US even existed or any nationally
>important stuff from other countries. Their influence doesn't matter. All
>countries are notable and should be treated equally independantly of size or
>influence.
>
It's difficult for me to resist someone's fatuous comments about the 
last few hundred years of history.  Perhaps he has never heard that 
those who ignore the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.  The 
lessons have been there for a long time as evidenced by the [[Classic of 
History]].  Over the years others too havemade keen observations about 
issues, and it is amazing how much influence Aristotle and Plato still 
retain over modern political thought.  Perhaps the less said about the 
role of the US in today's world the better.  It suffices to say that 
there is a sharp contrast between such attitudes within and without the 
United States about the importance of the United States.  Most 
experienced Wikipedians from both camps are acutely aware of the 
distinction, and are willing to moderate their views in the intrest of NPOV.

Ec