Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Margaret Atwood - A Letter to America

This article discusses America and its faults from a Candian point of view. Atwood, who was born in Canada and moved to America to attend school at Harvard University, basically discusses the negative aspects of America and how it has changed over the years. The article is set in a negative tone, with Atwood bashing many of the situations in our society. SHe states that we're "gutting the Constitution", "running up a record level of debt", and "torching the American economy". She states that we are gutting our Constitution by allowing "your mail to be spied on , your private records to be searched" etc. Although she makes a good point that we have become a scared nation, I believe that we have reason to be. We have experienced so much with 9/11 and the invasion of our lives, that there is justification in our terror and therefore some of our freedoms must be taken away. I agree with her when she says that we are "running up a record level of debt". Increasing our debt is something that could be prevented by our government, and has not been implemented. I also agree with the fact that we rely on other countries to provide the production of goods,l and that this could lead to "a few megarich King Midases, with the rest being serfs, oth inside and outside your country." Atwoods concerns about America are definitely valid, although she was not born in America. She takes ideas about American culture that she never actually experienced, and compares to present day America. Her opinions are some what devalued because of the fact that she did not grow up in America. Although this needs to be taken into consideration, I still believe that Atwood has firm arguement that proves a point even if her facts did not come from personal experiences.

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