Alistair Cooke on America
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- Опубліковано 24 вер 2011
- Tuesday, May 7, 1996
Charlie Rose: An interview with Alistair Cooke
Alistair Cooke celebrates the 50 year anniversary of his BBC broadcast, "Letter from America", a 15-minute talk about life in America for British listeners.
"I've always maintained that behavior, character, is not what you do; it's what you wouldn't do...what you cannot do...what your conscience won't let you do."- Alistair Cooke
"There is a great deal of talk about the American system and the prosperity it has created, but there is very little talk about what made that system work. Actually, it was the moral foundations of the American system that caused us to become the world's most prosperous nation.
It was considered sinful to steal; so the people accepted their responsibility of creating their own wealth: they did not ask the government to take part of what other people had created and give it to them.
It was considered sinful to be slothful; so the American people accepted the moral obligation to be "good" workers: to do the best work of which they were capable.
It was considered sinful to cheat; so when people made contracts and promises they expected to live up to them and demanded that the other parties do the same.
It was considered sinful to be wasteful; therefore people accepted the obligation to be thrifty and to use their extra earnings to build up their community and their nation.
This economic code of morality came right from the Ten Commandments, and the code was lived up to because the people desired to avoid sin. Wherever you look, you will find a great deal of discouraging evidence that sin is becoming a joke in America.
Corruption is accepted as a normal condition.
Honorable men are considered behind the times.
"Something-for-nothing" has become a respectable ambition...
The mass guilt of economic immorality is avoided by blaming it on the "will of the people." A person whose morals would never permit him to steal from his neighbor will go to the polls and vote to have the government do the stealing for him. The fact that government does it is supposed to wash away the guilt... But in the long run we will inevitably reap the whirlwind that we have sowed.
We live not by bread alone, and if bread is all we care about, even that will be taken from us." - Fred G. Clark
Alistair Cooke is one of my heroes, along with H.L.Mencken
Came over from Nerdrotic, who just used an old Alistair Cooke speech to introduce his video on "Woke Hollywood". I wanted to hear some words from Mr. Cooke himself, and this excerpt does not disappoint.
Fantastic!!!! Thanks for uploading this. He knew of what he spoke.
Great I used to listen to him. I even recorded some of his numerous lettres from america. I still have the cassettes with me.
You actually wanted to listen to him reading, what year were they from ? I had a load of cassettes of him reading his 'Letter from America' from the mid/late 1990's when he was in his late '80's / early '90's most of which were just about run of the mill uninteresting subjects. And I can tell you he had the most irritating
sounding voices I've ever heard, by that time his voice was all fuggy, muddy and congested, you could hear the disgusting sound of moisture on his lips when he pronounced the letters 'b' and 'p' and him drawing his breath in between sentences.
I used to listen to the tapes not because what he was reading interested me but just to experience how repellent he sounded. Just look at him in that video he looks like a hideous boggy eyed old gargoyle. Yuk !
By that time he was way past his sell by date, a classic case of someone still there because they'd always been there who by rights should no longer be there.
Please tell me you have the one that 808 State used for "In yer Face"
HELP ! I am looking for the episode "Gone West". It used to be here on this channel but was apparently deleted. Any suggestions?
ua-cam.com/video/FZa1ahEPLUg/v-deo.htmlsi=X8Sazs5546uGPumR
A true conservative.
mrbeaverstate I wouldn't characterize him as conservative, far from it. A conservative wouldn't say the things he says. He was an objective and adroit observer of the World.
Not too bright are you mrbeaverstate?
3:17 I think in a roundabout way he would have said Bill Clinton.
One of the greatest political insights I learnt from him was that it didn't matter how intelligent or shrewd a President was - it was *always* the most charming guy that won.
That said, he did predict George W Bush on that basis and he didn't really win...
Church-going is no compass for morality; some of the most compassionless people I know are devoutly religious.
He was a pious and pompous windbag.
@@gynandroidhead He was educated - are you?
@@englishtime7925 If you consider IQ and EQ put together, than YES. No one ever said that he wasn't an educated, intelligent person.