Happy Independence Day, American Screwheads! I watched Army of Darkness. It's an American movie though I guess it's set in . . . Europe? It sure looks like California. Yeah, I'd know those beautiful brown hills anywhere. Maybe Ashe finds himself in a long forgotten mediaeval colony.
So the United States is 250 years old now. How we doin'? "Not so good" is the general answer I'd imagine. Sure, I complain often enough about the homeless problem. The president seems to have taken too many notes from Army of Darkness. Everything's suspiciously expensive. There are people who think ICE is doing a good job. So, this hellscape is rife with problems. "The Almighty hath not built here for his envy," as Milton's Satan said. Except a lot of people do still envy us. People from other countries keep buying American real estate. Having been living in a foreign country for six years, and a first world country at that, maybe I can give you some perspective.
I had to get a new cellphone last month. The Verizon employee assisting me was a muscular young woman who'd recently moved to San Diego with her girlfriend. As she told me about her, it felt really good to be in a country again where someone could talk openly, in public, about something that clearly revealed she was gay. It's so normal in this country that a phone salesperson can chat about it as casually as about the weather.
For all of Trump's boneheaded ideas about immigration, we still have the most diverse country in the world, not just in terms of culture and race but in terms of ideas. We've got the first and still the best film industry. As the old studios grow fat and stupid, scrappy new voices like Obsession are ready to take the torch. We've got the best technology companies and, while AI may be a Deadite, the U.S. of A. has the best damn Deadites in the world.
And this is still a country where you can freely complain about the country. There are plenty of civilised countries where you'd be censored or locked up for that. So hail to the king, baby. But no kings, please.
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