TAKE A MINUTE TO READ THIS; I THINK IT IS PRETTY INTERESTING, ESPECIALLY FROM A FOREIGN PERSPECTIVE:

This is an editorial from Canada about the United States.

America: The Good Neighbor
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Widespread but only partial news coverage was given recently to a
remarkable editorial broadcast from Toronto by Gordon Sinclair, a
Canadian television commentator. What follows is the full text of
his trenchant remarks as printed in the congressional Record:
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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 the franc 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 distant cities are hit by earthquakes, 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 Tristar, or the Douglas 10? 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 - 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 American 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 5000
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 Canadian who is damned
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.

Think about it!!