[quote]masonator wrote:
Varqanir wrote:
Out of curiosity, anybody here have an American flag tattoo?
Or a bald eagle, or “Proud to be an American” or something similar?
No fucking difference. You’re proud of your nation, he’s proud of his.
This post REALLY pissed me the fuck off. How the fuck can you compare our nation(an actually country) to T-Nation (a fucking supplement company)?[/quote]
Masonator, Masonator, Masonator. I am REALLY sorry that my post pissed you the fuck off. That was not my intention, and had I known that it would have that effect on you, I would have considered more carefully before posting.
Or maybe not. Because you know, Masonator, it REALLY doesn’t concern me in the least how you feel about what I think.
But if you REALLY want to know how I can compare the United States to T-Nation, the answer is… very easily. Let me explain.
First off, you imply that the United States is not a nation, but an “actually country.” Well, yes and no. On paper, at least, the United States is a nation. It says so right on our Pledge of Allegiance: “one Nation under God”.
And just think of how many times the word “national” (which means “of or relating to a nation”) appears in our parlance. We have National Parks, the National Guard, and the National Archives, which house our National Treasures. We have National Pride, National Security, and the National Debt. We have the National League, National Geographic, and the National Enquirer.
Hell, we’re even a member of the United Nations, and as far as I know, they only let nations in there.
But this of course begs the question. What is a nation?
A nation is a large group of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory. By that standard, Ireland is a nation, Slovakia is a nation, Lesotho is a nation, and Japan is a nation.
What about the United States? Are Americans united by common descent? Nope. We come from all over the globe. Common history? Not really. Some of us came over on the Mayflower four centuries ago. Some of us came over in a van from Juarez four weeks ago. Common culture? You gotta be kidding. Common language? In your dreams.
What we have here is a massive group of people united in the single belief that our way of life is in some way superior to the way of life of all the other poor schmucks who are unlucky enough not to have been born American.
America is a nation that people have chosen to belong to. They feel proud of themselves for having made the choice, hence “proud to be an American.”
Now, how is this any different from T-Nation? Our members are not united by common descent, we come from all over the globe. We aren’t united by common heritage or culture, if the Politics and World Issues forum is anything to judge by. And even though we all communicate in English (some more effectively than others), we are also speakers of French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Japanese, Indonesian, Australian, and many others.
What unites us is our shared belief that our way of life is superior. That it is better to be strong than to be weak. That self-improvement is better than self-destruction. That the pursuit of happiness is synonymous with the intelligent and relentless pursuit of muscle. The territory we occupy may not be as tangible as the piece of American dirt that your feet stand on, but it is no less real.
Sure, this T-Nation has at its heart a corporation. A corporation that produces and sells products that many of us use and depend on (you too, I see, and more than a little, if that “Level 4” by your name is anything to go by.) A corporation that also hires writers, scientists, trainers and athletes to provide its citizens with a wealth of extremely useful and FREE information, in order that we may more fully enjoy our chosen way of life.
And anyway, should having a corporation at the heart of a nation cheapen the nation, or the pride its citizens have in it? If General Motors, General Dynamics, General Electric, Time-Warner, Exxon and Wal-Mart pumping the blood through the veins of America doesn’t prevent you from being “proud to be an American,” then I think it’s pretty rich for you to imply that the existence of Biotest LLC at the heart of Testosterone Nation in any way cheapens our national pride.
So in closing, my dear Masonator, I do hope you’re not still as pissed the fuck off as before, and that you have begun to realize that some of us on this site estimate this T-Nation of ours a bit higher than “a fucking supplement company,” and are proud to be here.
If not, then there’s simply no hope for you.
