When I came to Canada in 1970 this was already an old piece — my recollection is that it was written/recorded in 1965, tho' I could be off a year or two — and it was directed at Canadians, who were going through one of their cyclical anti-American binges, damning any and every thing about the U.S. Whenever it was, the Vietnam War was well and truly in progress and that was sorta the springboard for that wave of ill feelings.

My recollection is that, while an inveterate shit-stirrer, Sinclair also produced some highly accurate, pithy commentary about any number of things. From our vantage point 35 years hence, yeah — we can pick it apart, argue with parts of it that were simplifications at the time and patently untrue now. But it was a set piece, skillfully — as noted by Rick F. — designed to get people's attention and make them think how petty and, in many instances, wrong some of the sniping of the time was.

Being at least as much against nationalism as I am against sectarian religion, I find this piece more than vaguely offensive if taken out of context. When you know where it came from and what it was designed to do, it's not too bad.

BTW, Mousethief — the Brits never got a dime out of the Marshall Plan; all that money went to mainland Europe and Japan, a point my English wife, who suffered through both the war and the post-war privations (they didn't lift rationing until 1950 or '51), still points out with some disgust.

cheers all,

david