Re: Quotes you would consider for your signature
Reply #738 - January 13, 2011, 06:24 AM
Would I rather there were more countries like Israel, or more like Syria? Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East (Iraq may yet prove a second), and its Arab citizens enjoy more rights than they would living under any of the kleptocrat kings and psychotic dictators who otherwise infest the region.
On a tiny strip of land narrower at its narrowest point than many American townships, Israel has built a modern economy with a GDP per capita just shy of $30,000 - and within striking distance of the European Union average. If you object that that's because it's uniquely blessed by Uncle Sam, well, for the past 30 years the second-largest recipient of U.S. aid has been Egypt: their GDP per capita is $5,000, and America has nothing to show for its investment other than one-time pilot Mohamed Atta coming at you through the office window.
----
Flame on.
I like the quote, partly because it made me laugh, and partly because as a gay person, Israel is the only country in the Middle East I could love enough to move to. Albeit, their foreign policies I disagree with (though I would argue which government would not respond with violence against terrorism), I envy the fact that Israel has the most amount of museums per capita in the world, or the worlds second highest output of books per citizen in the world, or that it has the most engineers and scientists per capita in the world. It is admirable.