Let's say you're from Hastaloovia and you're living in my neighborhood for a while on a cultural exchange. You ask me if I've ever been to Hastaloovia and I say no, I'm sorry, but I really hate Hastaloovia. I don't like its foreign policy, its immorality, its quest for Hastaloovian hegemony. And then I say, "But, don't get me wrong. I think you're okay." Whew - you can cross that concern off your list.
Obviously, in addition to being more than a little rude, I'm quite opinionated, especially where Hastaloovia is concerned. You rightly ask me if I've ever been to Hastaloovia, the country you call home: "No, but--" so you wonder how I can form such a negative opinion about a place that I've never visited. I can because, like bigots everywhere, I've equated you and your fellow Hastaloovians with the policies of your government, policies that I don't really know anything about, other than what I read in my hometown newspaper and hear about from radio chat-show hosts. And, like bigots everywhere, instead of visiting all sides of the issues, I take shortcuts and allow others to form my opinions for me. But you, reasonable person that you are, realize this and try to not paint the rest of my country with the broad brush of ignorance that I'm wielding.
You tell me that you (and many of your fellow Hastaloovian citizens) don't agree with all of your government's policies any more than I agree with everything my government has to say (an opinion I've happily shared with you on many occasions). If you weren't so polite, you might even be tempted to tell me that you used to hate my country, too. That is, until you came here and lived with, not abstract opinions, but real people, people who, you learned, are not so different than you.
And, we can hope, after living with you for a while, I'll come to discover that Hastaloovia is more than its government's policies. I'll realize that I've been intellectually lazy by forming opinions based on other people's ignorance. And the people who run these exchange programs, and those of us who sent our kids thousands of miles away, will smile instead of saying, "We told you so."
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