The vast majority on this boat is American. They arrived in great numbers in LA and most are getting off there having done the wonderful loop on the exotic discoveries tour. It is impossible not to hear their conversations especially when they get excited by their subjects!
The actual hate generated by the name Obama is awesome. Mild mannered, gentle souls give voice to extraordinary loathing and as I hear some of the utterances I am occasionally tempted to at least say that Obama is neither a Muslim nor the spawn of the devil! But that might get me tarred and feathered I'm afraid.
This mornings conversation at the next table at breakfast time concerned the dreadful word welfare. This excited as much hate as Obama! One state that abolished welfare two years ago have now got all those receiving welfare hand outs back to work.
"They had no choice" the man reported...".suddenly they either worked or went hungry....all went back to work! " He had no figures for the dead or maimed caused by this policy! It's a hard life in that state if your a shirker!
Bearing in mind that everyone on this ship is fairly well off to be ale to afford it there seems a real determination that they should not be asked to support anyone less well blessed than they are.,
I couldn't ask if they were Christians but if they were they had sadly missed the concept of love and of helping their neighbours that is the core of that religion.
I am left with the hope that what is currently happening in our country never gets to that state of loathing of all those born with defects mental or physical which prevent them from working...
Paying tax is a civilized way of looking after those less fortunate than we are.....I pray the language of hate never becomes common in the UK.
Posted with Blogsy
4 comments:
A nasty experience Jean, and I fear bigotry and prejudice are pretty much world-wide phenomena, but mercifully, still only a small percentage of people think and talk like that.
Like you I find such language unacceptable though if you are going to speak out against it, it is as well to choose your arena with care.
I fear I would probably give them a wide berth and avoid their company - not easy on a ship.
It is impossible to avoid Ray but the option of moving out of range works well enough! ,
My husband and I had dinner with some Christian acquaintances from the USA just after Obama was elected. We told them we had felt encouraged by the election outcome, seeing Obama's election as a sign of hope for the US. The reaction was stunned silence - then the rant began - we had not realized how right-wing Republican the other couple were or how much they associated being Christian with a particular political viewpoint. So failed our attempt to change to safer topics after some very profound disagreement over Christian theology and hermeneutics.
Glad to hear your corroboration. Thank you.....
Post a Comment