By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN en “The New York Times” del 08.06.2003
Last Sunday, I offered a "brief theory of everything" about why so many people seemed upset with America. The thesis: America has begun to touch other people's lives more than their own governments do and therefore people all over the world want to be able to vote on American power. I invited readers to e-mail me their thoughts.
I'll never do that again.
So far I've received over 8,000 e-mail messages from America and all over the world. I tried to read a sample every day. Two themes stood out: One is how much people are now interested in foreign policy, in the wake of 9/11 and Iraq. Grandmothers and students, tourists and immigrants — everyone is now feeling touched by the world, or by America, and everyone wants to be heard. The other is that many, many people are worried about how alienated America is becoming from the world. Many blame the Bush team, others blame the world, but there is a powerful sense that something important is being lost, which is why much of the e-mail was incredibly heartfelt.
A Chinese-American graduate student wrote: "The question you posed about hating America is the burning question . . . because USA has been the beacon of hope [this] past half a century to the disenfranchised, the wounded, the refugees (yours truly among zillions), the hopefuls of the world. . . . More important USA, until now, has been seen as the FAIR ARBITER OF THE WORLD — a fair judge, and, despite its unsurpassed muscles, a fair and unfeared policeman. . . . Nearly all imperial powers in history have been just the opposite. . . . The world is saying USA has become a self-righteous, self-centered Master of the Universe. . . . The world does not want to see you morph into just another imperial power. We know that movie too well. We all walked out, remember . . .? The America we loved was on the side of the poor and the powerless. . . . Yes, we bought the whole story. . . . And we were right in doing so. . . . I am not sure future generations around the world will feel the same as we did toward America."
Many torched President Bush for this. "Many of us in the world are frightened," wrote Saul, "yes frightened by the unopposed power of an Administration that has total disregard for those who disagree with it and that threatens the future of this world with its indifference to anything outside of its own plans [and] that addresses the interests of a very, very small but exceedingly wealthy group of people and institutions."
Others were more charitable to Mr. Bush. "For better or for worse the world is a bunch of petulant teenagers that now think of us (the U.S.) as the parent," wrote Roger. "They want our protection, our comfort (our financial support). They want us out of their rooms while keeping them tidy, freedom to mock us but come to us when they have problems. They want the keys to the car, allowance money . . . to spend on what they want, freedom to hang around with questionable friends, stay out late, steal from us, con us and always expect we will be there for them whenever things turn sour. Most of all, they want no responsibility for their own behavior. We should just understand them. 'Bout cover it? Only answer is for kids to grow up, realize parents don't have all the answers and are, at best, imperfect beings themselves."
Many others argued that Mr. Bush may often be right on substance, but his team's in-your-face style alienates even longtime friends. "I think we're generally right," writes Mike, "free markets are a good thing, free speech is a good thing, confronting evil is a good and necessary thing. So we can't give the rest of the world a veto on these things, but we can give them an ear. And we can respectfully make clear as day that we understand their worries, we feel their pain, and this is why we disagree. . . . Ultimately, I think we're right . . . these values will make other countries wealthy and powerful as well. . . . But perhaps even more important than that is how we say it. Bush has been vulgar rap in this respect. If we put the same lyrics . . . to the tunes of Beethoven and Gershwin then I think we could create greater harmony."
This was a very popular theme.
"Me, I am a 280 lb guitar player and part-time social scientist," wrote one reader. "All I know is that you can be a large physical presence in a barroom, but you don't have to make fun of people, be pushy, or respond to hostility with a punch. Mom taught me that to treat people with respect is the only way to gain their trust. You watch your back, but you treat people with respect."
Bless you all for writing — but you can stop now.