Hello. Welcome to my website. It started while I was in Europe for a semester, and I've kept it up since then. I'm now at the University of Chicago Law School, living in Hyde Park, and the story continues. If you want to say hi or visit me, email cfloyd at uchicago dot edu.
"Life is nothing if not the sum of your anecdotes." -Scotty The Body, on storytelling "But it ain't that bad, man. Just figure out the system before the system figures out you." -T. Matthew Smith, on the 1L year "The beer just doesn't taste as good when you're not drinking it with your buddies." -Anon., on being away from good friends "Somebody has to pay the rent around here. Why the hell not us?" -Cotton, on studying for exams
4/13/2003
Today I took a nice stroll throught the center of Bordeaux. The city is charming, with lots of parks, monuments, and old stuff next to new stuff. Does that make sense? I think that's one thing Americans find so fascinating about Europe: the old/new juxtaposition. Although the constitutional government of the United States is the oldest and most stable in the world, our civilization is relatively young. Where Tulsa few years back celebrated its centennial, cities here were celebrating their 500th, 1000th, or 2,000 year birthday. These cities are old, but they also have made room for Hugo Boss and McDonald's on the ground level of their old quarters. And they have built highways outside the antique walls and malls that the highways lead to. So Europe is a mix of old and new that Americans never experience outside of certain spots in New England, and even then it is not the same.
A quick note on the war in Iraq: When I got on the train in Graz the Marines had mounted their first excursion into Baghdad. When I got off the train in Bordeaux the city had fallen. We really are in a new age of unstoppable American might. That's not hubris; that is documented fact. Does might make right? Not by itself. The people of ancient Athens found that out the hard way. As Spiderman said, with great power comes great responsibility. America is the proverbial NFL linebacker in a room full of horse jockeys. Beating them up isn't the problem. It's getting along afterwards. We have to remember the Iraqi people and commit to helping them build a real country. Otherwise it won't matter how many statues the 101st Airborne pulls over. So support our troops and support the Iraqi people. If we believe in what our nation was founded on and show the goodwill that such a belief should produce, maybe, just maybe, people in the Middle East will grow to believe us.
4/13/2003 05:46:00 AM
