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March 7, 2006
Do we censor responses of world opinion at LoveUsHateUS.com?
As you can imagine, naming this site was a challenge. Early on, we considered using something that would stir up debate (the suggestion I remember is "Why The World Hates Us, Really"). But we realized that we should not predetermine what people think. Americans may feel that the world hates them, but that may just be defensive, or stirred up by the media. Our goal is to listen and learn.
And we wanted to encourage broad participation. The U.S. is in some ways terribly divided. Liberals talk to liberals, conservatives to conservatives. If we were just to talk about 'hate,' we'd probably lose people we really want to hear from. Many of us in the U.S. are recent immigrants, after all, who have complex feelings ourselves about this country. We do want to learn about the things you dislike, even hate, about the United States, but it's also going to help to know what you like or admire. That knowledge may help us steer a better course in future.
Plus, it's pretty clear that everyone at least loves jazz.
Posted by Karen Christensen at March 7, 2006 10:28 AM