A friend I grew up with lives in Vancouver, B.C. He is perfectly willing to join the rest of Canada in their favored pastime of bad-mouthing Americans. I listen to it every time I visit down there. But in a reflective mood, my friend will readily admit that he would love to live in the United States. Asked why we are not better liked, he will tell you it is because "Americans do everything better." Those are his words, not mine. Americans are greedy, yes, but so is everyone else.

That seems to be a human condition. But nobody has the compassion of Americans -- nobody! The question also arises, "Why, with all the professional brainwashing and bad will toward America does everyone long to travel, go to school or live here in America?" Achim Jahnke