hobitbob wrote:McGentrix, one cannot "prove" anything to someone who's mind is already made up.
So I should stop trying to prove anything to you?
France has also had some of the world's greatest philosophers/theologians, greatest artists, greatest architicture, best authors, wonderful composers, etc...
although Rene Descartes was no Rush Limbaugh.
Hobitbob
It is apparent that not only is the present administration distasteful to you, but the US as a country and it's citizens are as well. Since that seems to the case i would assume you believe there are far, far better nations to reside in. I can only ask providing I am reading you correctly is why do you stay? An interested American citizen would like to know.
Ahhh...the true patriotism of the "love it ir Leave it" variety rears its head. Rest assured, after I finish the PhD I will be looking for faculty spots in Canada or Europe.
Representative government has broken down. Our politicians represent not the people who vote for them but the commercial interests who finance their election campaigns. We have the best politicians that money can buy.
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.
See, I always thought that a patriot was "one who loves his or her country and supports its authority and interests" or "one who loves and defends his or her country". Not one who opposes the government at every turn.
Have't you heard, the Dems are trying to revise the term.
uh, actually, youse guys are the one revising it.
hobitbob
No you can hate the US and stay that is your choice in a free society. My question was why do you choose to stay? I want to thank you for your honest answer. After you get what you can you will leave. Try France it would seem to fit.
To be fair, I don't hate the US. I hate the small mindedness that seems to be becoming the norm. And thanks for the suggestion, I love France.
Why? They played a large role in the formation of our country.
Don't get me wrong here folks. France has had some important roles in lots of history, but like someone sang once..."What have you done for me lately?"
I am pretty sure that any scores between France and the US are pretty much equal history wise. They helped us, we helped them. That's what allies do. They don't stab each other in the back when they are needed.
I am really sorry that Professor Hobitbob will not stay in the USA. He really could have helped students to see the light.
Professor Hobitbob told us of the unfortunate illness of his brother. I know we all hope he will be better. But I do not understand why Professor Hobitbob wants to leave the country which has the best medical care in the world- the USA.
When the king of Jordan and the shah in Saudi Arabia were ill, they came to the USA for treatment.
Canadians do not want to wait months for elective surgery so they go to the Mayo Clinic.
Is Professor Hobibob missing something?
Professor Hobitbob, I am very much afraid, exaggerates the influence of France on Civilization.
The French have contributed some things but not as much as Professor Hobitbob would have you believe.
A glance at the titles and the provenance of the people who are covered by the "Great Books" do not indicate that the French were very well represented indeed.
Who do they have in the Great Books?
Montesquieu- Rousseau-Rabelais-Fourier-Lavoisier-Montaigne-Descartes- Pascal
When we look at England we find J. S. Mill, Gibbon, Boswell, Hobbes, BAcon, Locke, Berkeley, Hume. Fielding, Chaucher, Swift, Sterne, Shakespeare, , Milton, Adam Smith, Darwin, Gilbert, Harvey, Newton and Faraday.
Many more than France.
Even Italy is represented by more authors in the Great Books series- Plutarch, Machiavelli, Lucretius, Epictitus, Marcus Aurelius, Thomas Aquinas, Virgil and Dante.
Andas for artists and music, I am very much afraid that the music of Italy dwarfs the French contribution.
And, as for Artists, it need only be said that most of the major work in France's own great museum.
comes from Italy.
Sculpture?
The best is Italian, again.
The French hit thier apogee with Charlemagne, skidded into the French Revolution and have never again been a great power.
They just think they are.
Actually, they are a bunch of cowards who could have stood up to Hitler but did not have the guts to do so.
A recent cartoon showed a puny Frenchman with a briefcase saying to Uncle Sam--"Why would it take you so long to turn the government over to the Iraqis?
We turned ours over to the Nazis in only a month."
Italgato
"Shah" is actually the title for the former hereditary monarch of Iran, although the title has been used -especially in Medieval times- for the supreme ruler in a couple of Eastern countries.
Saudi Arabia is a kingdom since 1932. Thus, the rulers there are called "kings", the present one named King Fahd bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud.
You are indeed correct- Mr. Hinteler- My error, Thank you for pointing it out.
I am very much afraid that I was thinking of the old joke.
Are you Shah?
Sultanly?
McGentrix- You are aware, I hope, that Shirer, in his definitive book, "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" pointed out that the French could have stopped the Nazis in the Sudetenland but were to timorous to do so.
Shirer suggest that if theFrench had stood up to the Germans( At one time they outnumbered the Nazis significantly) Hitler might have been defeated early.
