03 maio 2008

the passion for ideas



If I were asked what is, from a cultural point of view, the greatest difference between North America and Portugal, I would say: truth, the pursuit of truth in North America as compared to the fight for power and appearences in Portugal. That is why Americans are a free people.
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Having lived in North America for a number of years and travelled the whole of the Continent, what I miss most is its intellectual climate: the debates, the bookstores, the libraries, the excitement of buying books and above all the passion for ideas. In North America you can search for the truth - your truth -, and you are encouraged and supported by others to do so. In Portugal, by contrast, if you try to do so you shall be insulted, marginalized, ridiculed, people will make you look like a fool. You must be very strong to follow your own way.
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All public discussions in Portugal, even when they start from a different angle, end up invariably in a discussion of politics - usually, small politics - which is the domain of coercion and force. There is no public life in Portugal beyond politics. Just see how people are excited now about the campaign for the presidency of PSD. This is really what excites them.

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