[427TJ]

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The hatred of America, liberty, capitalism and our free enterprise sys being taught to American children is really no different than the hatred of America being taught to children in the middle east (in fact, all over the world).

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I don't know if you've noticed, but Western/American capitalism is alive and doing VERY, VERY, VERY WELL. Anti-capitalists might 'try' to indoctrinate our kids---and some are successful I suppose but those kids become angry losers---BUT the desire to have a car(s), a house, air conditioning, a pool, a boat, a bath every day, freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom to go outside of one's tribe to find a companion, and on and on---that desire is RAMPANT across the world. Only the few, noisy malcontents like al Queda, Communists (old-school Communists, not the Chinese gov't), anarchists, and a few others make up such a small minority that they almost cannot be quantifed when compared to the BILLIONS who want what we in the West have. The minority that makes noise usually gets the attention it seeks, thanks to 24-hour cable news that needs SOMETHING to fill all that time, but rarely does that minority really get its way. Remember the WTO (World Trade Organization) riots here in Seattle several years ago? The anarchists made a big noise and all the local news and CNN/Fox/etc. all covered it from every angle. It was just like London during the German blitz in 1940-41 with newspeople on the rooftops and mayhem in the sreeets. Then the police moved in and kicked the s-it out of the protesters and dispersed them. Things calmed down after a few days and the angry anarchists, who are not going to change anything no matter how many windows they break, went back to their daily lives not having made any difference. People may sympathize (liberal professors, etc.) but damn-near every human being on this planet wants what Americans enjoy daily. (Americans may sympathize but we forget all about it once we are inside Costco.)

Ask any poor Indian (in India) what he wants and he'll say, "Air conditioning." Prod him some more and he'll say, "An Escalade with air conditioning." Keep prodding and you have an American consumer ready to go, just give him a job and credit and he has been won-over by capitalism. China too. The Chinese want it so bad that I wouldn't rule-out some kind of revolution someday--they almost succeeded in 1989. The Communist Chinese ruling body had better keep buying-off the population with consumerism because that's the only way they'll hold power in this Internet/cable news century, barring massive bloodshed (transmitted worldwide on the Internet and cable news television--way too risky for the Chinese gov't).

I know, it seems as if we are losing our hold on everything and we have to blame someone. The low-end of the AM radio dial is full of screamers warning of the coming doom unless we do something. Liberal professors and colleges have been around for a long time and capitalism (and liberty) just keeps roaring along. It roars along and tosses all those whining anti-capitalists overboard and does NOT look back! You either get onboard with capitalism or you will immediately become a forgotten loser.

Those people you mention who hate America--they are a vocal yet EXTREMELY SMALL minority and have no real effect except to piss-off AM radio hosts who need something to rail against to keep you angry and listening and buying the products his radio show advertises. (Capitalism again.) Look around: America is alive and well and thriving. Yeah, the stock market collapse of 2000-2001 really put a dent in my portfolio (I didn't get out fast enough) but it's been coming back (capitalism!) and I am not worried. Oh, and give American kids some credit. They may enjoy hearing anti-American screed from college professors because it suits their rebellious nature as college kids. But 99.999% of our youth cannot wait to get out of school and start BUYING STUFF. I remember it well. I bought an '87 LX 5.0 brand new with my college grad discount at Hayward Ford and the rumble of those stainless pipes and the pull of that little 302 (uphill in 3rd with the a/c on high) made me instantly forget any of that anti-whatever crap I had experienced during the past four years.

EVERYBODY ON EARTH wants liberty, capitalism and our free enterprise system for themselves, even hard-core al Queda crazies. (Osama bin Laden is from an incredibly wealthy family, by the way. How's that for irony?) You could take an al Queda foot-soldier out of his element, detox him for a few months, and then immerse him in capitalsim by giving him a decent job, a car, and freedom of everything. Maybe 1 in 50 would resist but eventually the other 49 would see that what we have in America is what they wanted all along: freedom, liberty, and yes, capitalism. Our founding fathers were not stupid.