Getting A Ticket to the Freak Show

Escaped Family, Been there, done that!

I love George Carlin.  I second his motion, and I will add this amendment:

My general philosophy is this:

Since America - and most Americans - are from a HUGE melting pot of cultures, then why not take advantage of that face, and enjoy as many other cultures as it is humanly possible to explore?

IN NO WAY would I want, just as one quick example, an Asian Indian (from India) to muddle, mix or or otherwise generalize their customs or culture, including art, clothing, food, religion, etc with any other culture. Anybody that has ever experienced Hindu (or other Indian) culture with an open mind would be the first to admit that any 'watering down' or mixing this culture would be a great loss to this world. The beauty lies in a purity that took place literally thousands of years before the first European ever set foot on the land that would later become The United States of American.

The same can be said for many other world cultures, including but definitely not limited to: Chinese, Japanese, Mongolian, Moroccan, etc.... etc... etc...

So..... Since we are all 'mutts', then take advantage of that 'muttness' by sampling the entire world. If somebody (Hindu, just as one example!) is bound to their culture by ancient tradition and ties, and they will never even temporarily break those binds to sample the rest of the world, then it would be in our best interest to NOT let their sacrifice be in vain.

Now - go forth and SAMPLE! (And much in the same manner as visiting a National Park, etc, "Take only memories... and leave only footprints."

Well.... let me amend that rule: "Take only genuine hand-made souvenirs that were made by natives of that land that were made possibly for sale but NOT for the tourist trade."

(People that buy souvenirs in Paris, for example, that were "Made in China" or people that are visiting Beijing that buy souvenirs that were "Made in the USA" should burst into flames!)

- Michael