I can’t remember who said it or the exact words, but it went something like “America is a 21st century superpower that still thinks of itself as a 17th century frontier land” – the context being that the USA is one of the less modern developed countries in terms of its culture and social attitudes.
Hopefully I’m not butchering that quote TOO badly…
Jeez, nobody tried to track it down for you even with my clue? Ok, go go google-fu.
Here’s another clue:
Thus, in 1901, Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson, a British writer, said in a letter from the United states to his friend, the novelist E.M. Forster: “The thing that rubbed into me in this country are 1) that the future of the world lies with America, and 2) that radically and essentially America is a barbarous country. The life of the spirit…is, not accidentally or temporarily, but inevitably and eternally killed in this country.”
It is not from a mainstream publication, but this quote from 2003, referring to the US in a commentary on Thanksgiving, seems to fit the bill:
***“Humanity cannot tolerate a 21st Century superpower, much of whose population perceives the world through the eyes of 17th Century land and flesh bandits. Yet that is the trick that fate has played on the globe.”
Superhal, I’m sure you’re aware that insults aren’t allowed outside of Pit. This is an official warning. Don’t do this again.
And while we’re at it, don’t post nonsensical answers in GQ. Your first post clearly didn’t have anything to do with the question in the OP, and trying to defend it subsequently didn’t help.
I was saying people in the 19th century were jerks. Sorry if my grammar misled you. My first post was trying to help someone who didn’t get any responses. The quote is well-known, I was surprised nobody here knew it at the top of their heads.
Frankly, I don’t believe that your remark was in reference to people in the 19th century rather than njtt. As for “trying to help someone who didn’t get any responses,” your first post came only eight minutes after the question was posted, and was in violation of the GQ Rules:
Claiming that “some French dude in the 19th century” said something about the US being a superpower in the 21st Century is clearly nonsensical, and you didn’t even have good information about that. njtt was correct in pointing this out. In the future, don’t respond to questions in GQ unless you actually have some relevant information. And I would also advise you to quit digging yourself a deeper hole. Any further discussion of this matter should be taken to ATMB.
Did I satisfy your curiosity with the Tocqueville or whatever posts?
See above. Apparently it was at the top of my head, not the tip of my tongue. So STFU, report my posts, and get the same negative ruling as everybody else.
