America and Arrogance

After the 9-11 attacks, the son of a friend of mine asked her why so many people hate America. Her response was that a lot of Americans had arrogance about them, and that this arrogance got them hated.

I have myself been accused of arrogance, even of narcissism; and mostly the people making such claims did not know what they were talking about. I don't just care about myself; I care about all sorts of people, including the people whom those who label me that way don't care about.

Are Americans arrogant? If they are, they are nowhere close to being alone in it. There are plenty of populations around the world who think that they are better than everyone else. Russians, Jews, French, Muslim and any number of other populations think highly of themselves and low of others. So if Americans are in fact arrogant, they are nowhere close to being alone in it.

America is a very big target; and there are all sorts of people who want to bait it. Some of these people hate other arrogant populations, and others only hate the Americans. I was anti-American in my learning stages, but I have developed respect for America and Americans. They may be arrogant; but they have done meaningful things.

I think that there are many things that are worse than arrogance; and that the people who throw sulfuric acid into girls' faces or sell children into sex slavery are much worse than the people who think that they are better than these people. America is on the right side of history in this conflict, and I am willing to contribute my efforts toward that effect. Brutality is vastly worse than arrogance, and even if Americans are arrogant they are better than most people who hate them. And the solution comes in exposing the sins of these people so that America – and the rest of the world – can avoid falling the way of the Taliban.