CPAC - Friday, May 24, 2024 - 07:00 p.m. (ET) - Segment #2

feels all it adequate in the face of what is going on but it is something in our capacity can you do, and we should be doing those kind of things. >> The next two questions, one of them was shut up as shown as I can make the cleared you could moto this. >> I love your film section of -- in the philippines, because [ Inaudible ] nobody talks about that. But, [ Inaudible ] I as a canadian and embarrassed when you clap -- [ Inaudible ] americans. >> Nobody can hear you. >> I will try to amplify the comment after your done. >> I don't know what americans you are talking about, [ Inaudible ] it certainly not my family. >> First of all the complement was that the sympathizer was really fun around the filmmaking segment, and that is true. And just a little tidbit, it was a scene that was set in the philippines but I really wanted to have the shot in the philippines. But they said no, we would do it in the california mountains. But it has all been trounced -- transplanted. But it works, and it's episode number 4 and it's hilarious. Your comment however was about your experience as a american and with american. >> Canadians -- sorry. >> I'm sorry with american relatives, and that the americans that you have known have not endorsed the narrative that I just described which is about the celebration of genocide et cetera. All, yeah, I think we are a divided country, of course there are can -- americans who are conducts of of the history of the country, and who are opposed to some of the wars that we have carried out, and who are aware of things like genocide and things like that. But honestly I do think there are quite a number of americans who totally -- number 1 would never expect -- except the name -- the word genocide. They might say that yes, we had colonialism but it was a good thing, you know I think that's very common. And would be pro- war in a lot of ways. I mean, -- I'll it that, I know you just think you will already know this. If you read man of two faces, there is a whole page for one star reviews for my books. I do read my reviews, if you want to hurt my feelings go ahead. But I tell you you won't hurt my feelings if you write three stars, one stars I enjoy. [ Laughter ] >> Because I'm happy because I pace you so much that you write a one star. But anyway, in some of the reviews of the sympathizer but also a man of two faces, they are some people saying this is an anti- american book and clearly I'm provoking summary out there that does in fact read my book and disagrees with them, will in fact argue that may be these facts happen in american history but my interpretation is wrong. Then to go back to the history of you not more, one of the things I wanted to quote jimmy carter is he's a good liberal okay. But even jimmy carter would say, there's a war of mutual destruction. And so that reinterpretation, that containment of the meaning of war in vietnam is a bipartisan endeavour, it's not just republicans or conservatives who are trying to put a good spin on the war in vietnam. But it's also democrats who participate just as much from barack obama, back to jimmy carter. And so I think we are living in a time in which yes, there is more sophistication on part of some americans about the complicity and contradiction of our history. And that there's often usually a great resistance to the interpretation as well, if there wasn't we win and have a country as we do now. [ Applause ]

>> Thank you for that. I guess I want to extend that a little bit from where you were going, that fragmentation because -- I'm trying to figure out the question. I had so many different fragmented audience wanting to ask about all of the things that are happening in the U.S. right now, and one thing that, spent kept coming up and I didn't know how to approach it was about so-called on documented migrants word -- the issue of migrants coming from the south. And how this always seems to come up during election season and suddenly xena phobia and trail intensifies -- I can't even go to the U.S. without feeling nauseous all the time, and I am from the U.S. and so I have an interesting relationship with them but I think there's also a hundred million people displaced in the world right now. And that fragment tori is of the u.s., I'm always conflicted about because on one hand there is people like you, there is obviously amazing tradition of [ Inaudible ] but then you are in undated wherever you turn. Just everywhere. How do you -- I feel like when you're speaking to that audience, you are also trying to get under the skin and away. But how do you deal with all of those issues coming to the forum and again being the writer that people want to ask? >> That's one reason why I wanted to make sure in the talk that I made clear in, I'm criticizing liberals as much as I'm criticizing conservatives. Its easy in the united states to draw the division, and battle line, and if you're on the liberal side, you say its the red states or trump supporters that has all these terrible notions about our country. And do things and demonize migrants. But in all honesty I think that liberals in the united states also have a dominant version of american ideology, it's very hard for them to see passed. And that's the ideology of american, that they are the greatest country on earth. You cannot can banks on three -- americans that you cannot -- you cannot convince americans that they they are the greatest country. [ Laughter ] >> That's the american attitude and it is actually -- it's anonymously frustrating for me to be an american citizen and live in the united states, and sometimes I fantasize about what happened a few years ago. I don't remember if it is ubc or another canadian university that extended me to apply for a job. And I said, I should do it should deny? And I can just make myself in an. Because I'm still attached to the country, I'm still american. And even though I might want to leave the country, what happens to everybody else who has no choice but to stick behind and carry out these battles? But again, the issue is that so much of a division within the united states aren't domestic. They aren't domestic around by partisan issues, like howdy stan on migration, and how do you stand on taxes and so on. But there is a unity around foreign-policy. Which is, the united states has the right to fired drone missiles into any country at any time. Democrats are just as good at republicans and doing that. And I will never forget when -- the first interviews were conducted by a guardian or noise, and he said joe biden had been elected and he said, joe biden got elected, another imperious. So from outside the united states, from wheat judgement within the united states we make a huge difference between the parties. From the outside if you are being bombed, it doesn't make a difference and I think americans have a hard time preceding that. And so, much of my inking as a writer and scholar and someone is predicated upon not treating the domestic issues of the united states in isolation from its foreign policy because the foreign policy was at one point in the past the domestic issue. 's separate colonialism turns into mastic affairs of the country. And so -- that is the history in which I see myself as a writer trying to make an intervention, not just telling a story about asian-american. But distill us -- to tell a story about the united states as a whole, and these contradictions on which we were

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