The problem with America -
Warning: the textual discourse you are about to read may be offensive. Particularly if you are an American. It's not meant to be. But it's bound to be. So - enjoy this particular piece of external [that is gratuitous] feedback.
One of the interesting ideas generated by the school of psychology know as NLP (Neuro-lingustic Programming) is the idea of the known matrix. It looks like this:
There is a part of each of our lives that we know and that we know others know.
There is also a part of our life that we know, and that we know [or hope] others don't know.
Similarly there is a part of us that others know, yet we don't know about - and it is this part that I wish to discuss.
There is also a part of us that we don't know, and that others don't know either. Perhaps that's just left for God to know, yet is the subject of progressive revelation.
My observation is that Americans generally don't have a very good understanding of quadrant 3 - what is know to others and yet unknown to themselves.
I am a frequent visitor to the USA, having visited on average once per year for the past ten or twelve years, a consumer of American culture [progressively increasing] for the past 35 years and a veracious consumer of the written word in fiction and nonfiction forms. It is this experience that I am drawing on as I write.
Many of the things I see in America inspire and motivate me. They make me glad to belong to the human race. I see spirit, courage, entrepreneurism, industry, vision, purpose - and above all this sense of "I made it - you can too." I love that.
There are also many things I detest about American society. I loathe the contempt for which some lives are held, the self proclaimed mantle of leadership, the capricious and self-serving election of the "chosen" few. I abhor the spirit that says "I made it - why can't you." I hate that.
The cardboard boxes
Once I was being driven through the main drag in Hollywood, Los Angeles, by my boss at the time. Somehow we made a turn, I forget now whether it was accidental [we were lost] or we were doubling back a few blocks, but we found ourselves one block up from the Hollywood glitz and glamour we have come to be familiar with. One block up, and there were people living in cardboard boxes. On the footpath. Just one block away.
That picture has left an indelible mark in my mind. It is ingrained in my thoughts, recollections and memories - as much as my wedding day, or the birth of my children, or the events of September 11. It is there - as stark and as bare as anything I have witnessed. And it shapes my views.
The guns
Another time I was visiting dear friends in Portland, Oregon. Somehow the conversation turned to firearms. These were beautiful God-fearing people whom I am proud to call friend - brother and sister - fellow human beings - yet they were mouthing viewpoints and attitudes that repulsed me. Justifying when and how they would be provoked into using the concealed pistols and rifles that they kept in their home, to take the life of a fellow human being.
This also affected me and ingrained itself on my psyche.
The wars
I was at a camp in Springfield, Missouri a few years back. One of the night meetings turned patriotic, perhaps it was the proximity to July 4 - but the speaker was honoring servicemen in the 7,000 strong gathering. He asked men and women to stand from the following events - the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam conflict, and finally the Gulf War.
Whilst containing myself [because of the solemnity of the occasion] I was rolling around with laughter on the inside. What brazen cynicism to suggest that only the military events in which one is victorious are worthy of being called wars. This was mind boggling to me. Hypocrisy at its highest. Conflict indeed. Even now words fail me. I am sitting here stuttering, shaking my head in recollection.
The ignoble causes
The Gulf War and the War on Terrorism both stand as markers of this same phenomenon. A big bully attitude, cynically pandering to domestic forces, yet citing noble and global ones. The Gulf War wasn't about Kuwait. Let's be honest. It was about domestic oil prices. Afghanistan isn't about ridding the world of terrorists. It's about punishment.
The conclusion
Why can't America call a spade a spade. They can in business. They can't -- or perhaps won't -- in moral issues.
Feel free to comment. But please note the following:
1) I know Australia is not perfect
2) I know I am not perfect
3) I know this is simplistic.
4) I guess that I would have similar, although different, observations about other countries - if I'd visited them as often as the USA.
I hope it allows some people to see a little into the area of their life that they can't see. The blind spot if you will.
4:42:30 PM 
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