I Am An American...

Marte - fanaticism, hatred are dangerous in that they offer simple solutions to complex problem and they fascinate weak minds with its simplicity.

Dale - I was confused. I am from good times even n the Soviet Union. I luckily missed Stalin's repressions and was growing mostly under lazy rule of Brezhnev, quite a relaxed time compared to Stalin (Khrushchev was when I was a kid).

But when I saw that, the lesson of those before me made my hair go up. I had that ingrained fear

Ted - I fear, too. And it bothers me a lot.

I started getting e-mails in Russian from people very concerned with what is happening in America. They say that Americans do not know what is socialism, but we do, and we need to fight so that we do not end up where we came from.

Andrea - it was a strange porst, came in one breath, started about anti-semitism, and ended on a different note... Posts have life of their own, and it is not always what we were trying to say.

thank you for your thoughtful comment

Gabe - with my no self-identification, I don't really notice it, but you are absolutely correct, that in New York this identification notion is much more pronounced

To an extent I can say that it is easier to be Russian in New York than in Daytona beach. And this doesn't bother me much either.

I am still an American with Russian accent and short fuse (LOL)

Nicholas - thank you very much. It is an honor

Karen - you are right. We can bring more damage and destruction to us, than any enemy. the more we have, the less grateful we are.

Entitlement societies are not the ones tha are poor. They are the ones that are rich

Judi - thank you very much. What you said was exactly what we experience after coming here. Acceptance... and it was a very unusual thing... It is very American.

And it is so great

David  what a terrific comment, thank you. And yes, we do not cherish what we have, and in this is our vulnerability.

We can easily follow a self-destructive and dangerous way.

Cheryl - I am reminding it to myself all the time.

Tom - the fact that Lars was moved is very moving

Mitchell - ouch, I ended up googling Groucho Marx, as I never heard this name before. Quite a history. What I love is so far people were deciding the direction, and this is the direction that I loved.

Future is, however, uncertain. I really never could imagine that one person could decide on the direction, and even less clear why he likes dead ends so much

Satar - yep, absolutely

Edward - I hear you, invisible man.