Response to a Reader's Complaint About the Site

A 'David Baxter' has written the following in the comments section of this post:

Action Heats up in Belfast

"You know what Jett, if you don't like it mate, ship out. Nobody makes you stay in Northern Ireland. You do absolutely nothing to show people how attractive this country actually is."

I responded by pointing out that he seemed a bit thin skinned and asked that he watch this LTA Video:

Letter to America - Chapter 66 - Jett Loe, I'm Going to Knock Your F**K In

This is how he responded:

"I enjoyed your little video Jett.  I enjoy a lot on your blog but i think my comments are fair enough. 

We have lived through this bloody conflict for over 30 years and we see light at the end of the tunnel. However many people throughout the city, Protestant and Catholic get so annoyed by people who didn't give a fuck about this play when the bombs were flying around want to come over here now either as tourists or for their careers. Especially when items like the above photograph are posted and sent around the world. I'm sure many many many similar photographs could be taken in your own homeland of civil disturbance.

Try to include more of the heritage of Northern Ireland, the industry, the 2nd world war effort, the bravery and stoicism of the people and the HUGE contribution that Ulster peoples have made the the New World.

I apologise for my earlier comments on this post."

Now, instead of sending David an email or replying in the comments section of the post regarding his thoughts I think the best thing is to post about it here since I have to deal with comments like David's on a regular basis - so this blog entry will be a real time saver - I can just point people to this URL.  Ok here goes:

I'm not living in Belfast as a tourist and am certainly not a careerist.

As to your unhappiness about a photograph of a photograph in a newspaper that happened to show where I was staying at the time, (look I can see my house in the news!), you're being too sensitive.  I understand this of course as you've lived through a war and am sure you and most everyone you know has someone who died in the conflict.  One only has to look at the stress-lined faces of working-class women in their 40's in Belfast to see the incredible trauma they have been through.

But, this is only one photo - and there are hundreds on this site; here are a few:

http://lta.worldcriminal.com/2007/03/st_patricks_day_5.html

http://lta.worldcriminal.com/2006/07/belfast_marchin_7.html

http://lta.worldcriminal.com/2007/05/the_8th_cathedr_2.html

http://lta.worldcriminal.com/2006/10/belfast_festiva.html

http://lta.worldcriminal.com/2006/01/real_life_mecca.html

and of course this site is just 'behind the scenes' for the Podcast - I have the feeling that you probably have not listened to such shows as:

http://lta.worldcriminal.com/2007/05/letter_to_ameri.html

http://lta.worldcriminal.com/2007/04/letter_to_ameri.html

http://lta.worldcriminal.com/2006/12/letter_to_ameri_1.html

As to your suggestions about what I should include in my blog - I recommend that you start your own blog to cover the areas that are of interest and import to you - blogs are very personal and have specific takes on things - that's the point of most of the blogosphere - my angle on Belfast is a specific to me - my approach to a city and its people would be the same no matter where I lived.  I'm a comedian and a performer and as such I take the piss.  It's my job.

I'll end by saying thank you for your apology - and yes, similar photographs could be taken in many spots around the globe - but my 'homeland'?  - I'm not a nationalist David, I'm a human being - my 'homeland' is the world.

Comments

[bluemile]

Nice response Jett. I can understand why David is upset, though I also agree that perhpas it was misplaced. Northern Ireland has been inundated with "conflict tourists." On one hand this new attention is probably good for the economy, on the other i'm sure it is super annyoing as well. It seems to me, though, that blogs are a very personal space, shapaed by the authors, but which are not subject to the same mandate that public news outlets are. That is, blogs are not designed to serve public good. That is what the BBC is for. As an American who lived in Belfast until recently, I enjoy how you present your perspective of Belfast; if I didn't I wouldn't check the site everyday...
As to the claim that civil disturbance could be found in the US, of course it can. I always found it amusing the way my American-ness was received in Northern Ireland. "Post-colonial, neo-imperialist bastard" is the most creative(and accurate)descriptor of the US that comes to mind. I have not met many Americans living outside of the US that are under the beleif that the US is the paragon of morality portrayed in exported media. Most Americans I've met living abroad have replaced their narrow, aggressive patriotism with a borader, global perspective. Thank you for publicly continuing in that tradition. All the best.

[Jett Loe]

Yes, of course I can understand why David is sensitive to the issue of how Belfast is portrayed, but in my opinion LTA doesn't do a disservice to Northern Ireland or its people.

As for conflict tourists, I don't know any. The people who I hang with, (and who don't form a part of the show), are almost all folks from other countries who are working in Northern Ireland as part of the peace, justice and reconciliation movement. Odd writing that actually since I've never talked about it on LTA.

As to your last point, yes, the Americans I know who live abroad find laughable the pronouncements coming out of the U.S. federal government re: it's moral imperative.

Anyhew bluemile - thanks for coming by and hope you continue to visit the site.

[Phil]

Is there any country, really, where foreigners are not looked down upon?

[Sinead O'Hara]

Good point Phil, Maybe foreigners should keep their views to themselves and avoid puerile blogs that no one wants to read.

Jett's comment "The people who I hang with, (and who don't form a part of the show), are almost all folks from other countries who are working in Northern Ireland as part of the peace, justice and reconciliation movement." is exactly what is annoying people on both sides.

In my view we don't need people jumping on the so called "justice and reconciliation movement", leave the past in the past and find a real job!

[Jett Loe]

'Sinead' - I'll try to be kind:

1) Going on a blog and telling someone to 'keep their views to themselves' is so self-evidently absurd that I don't need to add anything.

2) Your use of the word 'foreigner' is very telling. Who's a 'foreigner'? The world's got enough problems - our fear of the 'other', while I'm sure a handy evolutionary device in the past, does us no favours in the modern world.

3) Puerile is a great word. I will endevour to use it more often.

4) The people that I know who work in the peace, justice and reconciliation movement are some of the finest human beings I've had the pleasure to meet. All of them could get high-paying 'real jobs' as you put it, but chose to devote themselves to making the world a better place - not just making more money. We need more like them.

[Phil]

My comment wasn't really meant to be interpreted as an endorsement.

Except when it comes to the Mexicans. I hate Mexicans. And I'm half Mexican! And I hate irony!

[Phil O'Kane]

Keep it up Jett!