USA - Blissfully Ignorant!

With a population in the order of 300 million it is somewhat surprising that only a mere 10% of Americans have a passport.

Then again, it is not! The USA is singularly insular and Americans generally care little about what is happening outside the country's shores. Turn on the so-called nightly World News on any major TV network and at best there might be some 60 seconds of news "bytes" covering 2 or 3 "topics" overseas. Only a major event sees a slightly longer "report".

Ah, the NYT would be better you say! Sadly not! It's coverage of international events - save for something major - is very limited indeed. Perhaps a few short paragraphs at best. The Business Section of the NYT doesn't even list what foreign stock exchanges have been doing.

It all boils down to not really caring what is "out there". All is reasonably well at home, the US is the best country in the world, what could be happening in the world which could be of interest anyway and, in any event, bottom line, is there anything Americans could really learn from others? All rather sad..... and troubling!

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Mahler's Prodigal Son

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