:: Stupid Americans ::

The national memorial day for the victims of the holocaust had me thinking. Wouldn't it be more educative for this day to be held by the Germans instead? It's so easy to remember the disasters other people were responsible for, but it would make more sense to honor more introspective memorial days, like the "Land Day", in Israel.

But then again, and here's the connection to the Wadi, we Israelis have never been too good at looking at ourselves critically. For us proud Jews, it is usually all the others that have some loose bolts up there, and we are the only ones that really understand how things should work. (What are we? Suckers?)

When this attitude spills over into the business realm, and it often does with Israeli start-ups, it can be downright dangerous. Many a time have I heard Israeli entrepreneurs (who whimsically set up their headquarters in the States, and register a .com domain name) call their American co-workers "Stupid Americans".

It seems to be common knowledge in the Wadi, that Americans are "not creative", "simple minded" and "anal". But no worry. We Israelis will find a way to work around this American problem, since we are so inventive.

If you hear your own start-up's high-ranking officials speak that way, well...what can I say? Good luck.

Wadi Writer #2 (Blue)

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