This is the legendary speech by Gordon Sinclair. With the bashing we take every day from all over the world, I thought it prudent to remind everyone...just who we are.
Americans: The Good Neighbors
"This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most
generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth.
Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out
of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and
forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying
even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.
When the franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who
propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the
streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.
When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in
to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes.
Nobody helped.
The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into
discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about
the decadent, warmongering Americans. I'd like to see just one of those
countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar
build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to
equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas 10? If
so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the International lines except
Russia fly American Planes?
Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the
moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk
about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American
technocracy, and you find men on the moon - not once, but several times and
safely home again.
You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store
window for everybody to look at . Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued
and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they
are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at
home to spend here.
When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through
age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad
and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both
are still broke.
I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other
people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to
the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during
the San Francisco earthquake. Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm
one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They
will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they
are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their
present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those."
Stand proud, Americans!
Americans - The Good Neighbors
-
Clodhopper
- Posts: 5115
- Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:11 pm
Americans - The Good Neighbors
Generally true and I agree. But I would point out that the British did pay off their war debts - we finally finished a couple of years ago. Were we forgiven any debt? I know British representatives at Bretton Woods said they were treated like a defeated enemy and the help was cut off just like that when the war ended. It badly stunted our recovery - rationing did not finish until the mid 1950s. My understanding (which may well be wrong) is that many in the USA DID regard Britain as at the very least a serious commercial rival, and worked at war's end to make sure we could not be.
I'm assuming this speech was written about the USA during the Vietnam era. I would like to point out that Britain has stood by the USA over Serbia, Iraq and Afganistan and are regarded as an American poodle as a result, and it damages us in Europe because the Europeans believe we'll always sell them out to you folks. De Gaulle vetoed our entry into the original Eurpean Community for that exact reason. (Personally I don't see that there is a conflict of interests, but no doubt I'm missing something vital...)
Every country has its down sides, Britain and America included, but generally I think you are a great people with wonderful achievements to your credit. God Bless America!:-6:-6:-6
I'm assuming this speech was written about the USA during the Vietnam era. I would like to point out that Britain has stood by the USA over Serbia, Iraq and Afganistan and are regarded as an American poodle as a result, and it damages us in Europe because the Europeans believe we'll always sell them out to you folks. De Gaulle vetoed our entry into the original Eurpean Community for that exact reason. (Personally I don't see that there is a conflict of interests, but no doubt I'm missing something vital...)
Every country has its down sides, Britain and America included, but generally I think you are a great people with wonderful achievements to your credit. God Bless America!:-6:-6:-6
The crowd: "Yes! We are all individuals!"
Lone voice: "I'm not."
Lone voice: "I'm not."
Americans - The Good Neighbors
The text is MOSTLY acurate.
Here's a link to a copy of the broadcast:
Online Speech Bank: Gordon Sinclair - "The Americans"
It makes my misty every time I hear it.
Here's a link to a copy of the broadcast:
Online Speech Bank: Gordon Sinclair - "The Americans"
It makes my misty every time I hear it.
Americans - The Good Neighbors
Saint_;1378574 wrote: This is the legendary speech by Gordon Sinclair. With the bashing we take every day from all over the world, I thought it prudent to remind everyone...just who we are.
Americans: The Good Neighbors
"This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most
generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth.
Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out
of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and
forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying
even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.When the franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who
propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the
streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.
When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in
to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes.
Nobody helped.
The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into
discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about
the decadent, warmongering Americans. I'd like to see just one of those
countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar
build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to
equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas 10? If
so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the International lines except
Russia fly American Planes?
Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the
moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk
about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American
technocracy, and you find men on the moon - not once, but several times and
safely home again.
You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store
window for everybody to look at . Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued
and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they
are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at
home to spend here.
When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through
age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad
and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both
are still broke.
I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other
people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to
the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during
the San Francisco earthquake. Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm
one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They
will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they
are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their
present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those."
Stand proud, Americans!
I thought the UK did repay its WW2 loans to the US and that these repayments finished just a few years ago? Maybe the UK wasn't repaying in 1973?
Americans: The Good Neighbors
"This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most
generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth.
Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out
of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and
forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying
even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.When the franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who
propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the
streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.
When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in
to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes.
Nobody helped.
The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into
discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about
the decadent, warmongering Americans. I'd like to see just one of those
countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar
build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to
equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas 10? If
so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the International lines except
Russia fly American Planes?
Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the
moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk
about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American
technocracy, and you find men on the moon - not once, but several times and
safely home again.
You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store
window for everybody to look at . Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued
and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they
are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at
home to spend here.
When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through
age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad
and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both
are still broke.
I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other
people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to
the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during
the San Francisco earthquake. Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm
one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They
will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they
are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their
present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those."
Stand proud, Americans!
I thought the UK did repay its WW2 loans to the US and that these repayments finished just a few years ago? Maybe the UK wasn't repaying in 1973?
Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answers...Rainer Maria Rilke
-
Clodhopper
- Posts: 5115
- Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:11 pm
Americans - The Good Neighbors
Maybe the UK wasn't repaying in 1973?
I understand that we were allowed to defer payment a couple of times because of economic crisis and 1973 might well have been one of those times
I understand that we were allowed to defer payment a couple of times because of economic crisis and 1973 might well have been one of those times
The crowd: "Yes! We are all individuals!"
Lone voice: "I'm not."
Lone voice: "I'm not."
Americans - The Good Neighbors
Give me a break, would you please! You honestly believe America hasn't been hitting everyone over the head with this stuff ever since? America is a national mafia constantly calling on favors due to it's generous past. A truly humble and thankful people would not be slopping this right-winged garbage up like the lap dogs they've become.
I'm American.
I'm American.
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities,
Voltaire
I have only one thing to do and that's
Be the wave that I am and then
Sink back into the ocean
Fiona Apple
Voltaire
I have only one thing to do and that's
Be the wave that I am and then
Sink back into the ocean
Fiona Apple
-
Clodhopper
- Posts: 5115
- Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:11 pm
Americans - The Good Neighbors
Give me a break, would you please! You honestly believe America hasn't been hitting everyone over the head with this stuff ever since? America is a national mafia constantly calling on favors due to it's generous past. A truly humble and thankful people would not be slopping this right-winged garbage up like the lap dogs they've become.
I'm American.
:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl
Ok, you aren't perfect. But it was you or the Russians and I'm glad it was you.
There is one area I can think of where the Americans have never appreciated what the British did for them: The Normandy Campaign of WW2. Sadly, it got caught up in a political row about Montgomery (who was every bit as difficult as Patton to deal with, if not worse, and upset just about everyone, British and American.)
"The greatest tragedy of the Normandy breakout was how little the Americans appreciated the sacrifice of Goodwood and other British battles. Only Bradley, who had been told by Monty to take as much time as he needed for his own push, Cobra, really understood what had been done and, alas, Monty later managed to alienate him as well, so when the time came to write memoirs, the US First Army commander hardly extolled his boss's strategic brilliance." (quoted from Mark Urban Generals)
In brief, the Normandy campaign was a Napoleonic style battle with the British in the role of the line troops pounding away at the East end of the line to draw as many German units on to the British as possible, so that when Cobra struck in the West, (playing the role of the Old Guard) it would be against a much weaker force. This is what happened. Twelve divisions, six of them armoured and including the SS forces, faced the British, while eight (three of them armoured and no SS) faced the Americans.
This was entirely deliberate, but it involved asking British troops to die in diversionary attacks so the Americans could break out. Quoting from Mark Urban again, who is quoting (I'm guessing, but it sounds like him) Brian Horrocks:
""There was by definition an almost insuperable problem, because you could not be totally frank with people about what was going on," noted one officer "in the know" at Monty's HQ. "If you had been, they would have said..."I'm not bloody going to do that.""
As far as I can tell, American history talks of the campaign as a series of failed British attempts to break out, until Bradley got impatient and showed the Brits how it should be done. Which is desperately unfair to the British (and Canadian) troops involved.
I'm American.
:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl:yh_rotfl
Ok, you aren't perfect. But it was you or the Russians and I'm glad it was you.
There is one area I can think of where the Americans have never appreciated what the British did for them: The Normandy Campaign of WW2. Sadly, it got caught up in a political row about Montgomery (who was every bit as difficult as Patton to deal with, if not worse, and upset just about everyone, British and American.)
"The greatest tragedy of the Normandy breakout was how little the Americans appreciated the sacrifice of Goodwood and other British battles. Only Bradley, who had been told by Monty to take as much time as he needed for his own push, Cobra, really understood what had been done and, alas, Monty later managed to alienate him as well, so when the time came to write memoirs, the US First Army commander hardly extolled his boss's strategic brilliance." (quoted from Mark Urban Generals)
In brief, the Normandy campaign was a Napoleonic style battle with the British in the role of the line troops pounding away at the East end of the line to draw as many German units on to the British as possible, so that when Cobra struck in the West, (playing the role of the Old Guard) it would be against a much weaker force. This is what happened. Twelve divisions, six of them armoured and including the SS forces, faced the British, while eight (three of them armoured and no SS) faced the Americans.
This was entirely deliberate, but it involved asking British troops to die in diversionary attacks so the Americans could break out. Quoting from Mark Urban again, who is quoting (I'm guessing, but it sounds like him) Brian Horrocks:
""There was by definition an almost insuperable problem, because you could not be totally frank with people about what was going on," noted one officer "in the know" at Monty's HQ. "If you had been, they would have said..."I'm not bloody going to do that.""
As far as I can tell, American history talks of the campaign as a series of failed British attempts to break out, until Bradley got impatient and showed the Brits how it should be done. Which is desperately unfair to the British (and Canadian) troops involved.
The crowd: "Yes! We are all individuals!"
Lone voice: "I'm not."
Lone voice: "I'm not."
Americans - The Good Neighbors
Clodhopper;1378607 wrote: :
Ok, you aren't perfect. But it was you or the Russians and I'm glad it was you.You sure about that? The Soviet Union collapsed a lot quicker.
Ok, you aren't perfect. But it was you or the Russians and I'm glad it was you.You sure about that? The Soviet Union collapsed a lot quicker.
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities,
Voltaire
I have only one thing to do and that's
Be the wave that I am and then
Sink back into the ocean
Fiona Apple
Voltaire
I have only one thing to do and that's
Be the wave that I am and then
Sink back into the ocean
Fiona Apple
-
Clodhopper
- Posts: 5115
- Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:11 pm
Americans - The Good Neighbors
You sure about that? The Soviet Union collapsed a lot quicker.
We still need a counterweight to the Chinese. And the Soviet Union may have collapsed quicker, but the Kremlin was a bad place to be ruled from. Ask the Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Georgians etc etc...
We still need a counterweight to the Chinese. And the Soviet Union may have collapsed quicker, but the Kremlin was a bad place to be ruled from. Ask the Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Georgians etc etc...
The crowd: "Yes! We are all individuals!"
Lone voice: "I'm not."
Lone voice: "I'm not."
Americans - The Good Neighbors
America's generosity ?
The whole speech as rousing as it is, doesn't give the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.............probably written by a Hollywood script writer.
As a percentage of the richest nation on earth's budget it is poor...................
Linky link
Not like the biblical humble widow's mite.
The whole speech as rousing as it is, doesn't give the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.............probably written by a Hollywood script writer.
As a percentage of the richest nation on earth's budget it is poor...................
Linky link
Not like the biblical humble widow's mite.
I thought I knew more than this until I opened my mouth
-
Clodhopper
- Posts: 5115
- Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:11 pm
Americans - The Good Neighbors
Read the link. Most interesting. Certainly didn't realise the US contribution was that low as a percentage of GDP. And credit to Norway!
The crowd: "Yes! We are all individuals!"
Lone voice: "I'm not."
Lone voice: "I'm not."
Americans - The Good Neighbors
It appears the Norwegians are a humble people
I thought I knew more than this until I opened my mouth
-
Clodhopper
- Posts: 5115
- Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:11 pm
Americans - The Good Neighbors
Never met a Norwegian I disliked. And they still give us the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square every year as a thank-you for our help in WW2.
The crowd: "Yes! We are all individuals!"
Lone voice: "I'm not."
Lone voice: "I'm not."