Read and Compare.

I ran across something tonight I hadn't read in quite a while, and I'd like to share it with you. For quite some time Steven Den Beste was one of the finest voices of reason in the blogosphere before, for medical reasons, he pretty much departed the field and took to blogging about anime. But the piece I want you to read isn't by Steven, it's an email from one of his readers, a young man living in Spain at the time.

But first, I want you to read something else. Something by a young man living in Minnesota. I want you to read A Profound Divide. It'll take you a few minutes, but please bear with it. Read it. Cogitate on it for a bit.

Then read An American in Spain.

Afterward, you might want to read the piece that inspired Den Beste's correspondent, Steven's Non-European Country, too.

And read all the links that aren't broken from age. They're worth your time, too.