Paz on Blogs

"When I arrived in the United States I was surprised above all by the self-assurance and confidence of the people, by their apparent happiness and apparent adjustment to the world around them. This satisfaction did not stifle criticism, however, and the criticism is valuable and forthright, of a sort not often heard in the countries to the south, where long periods of dictatorship have made us more cautious about expressing our points of view. But it is a criticism that respects the existing systems and never touches its roots... Almost all the criticisms I heard from the lips of North Americans were of the reformist variety: they left the social or cultural structures intact and were only intended to limit or improve this or that procedure."

-Octavio Paz, The Labyrinth of Solitude, p22

So Octavio, you don’t want to hear about the kid who ripped me off at the appliance store?! How everything in our country would be fine if we could just nail that W bastard for treason? How weddings today always seem to serve salmon and a garden salad? This is an outrage!!