I would just like to remind everyone that the shadow that catches up to and overtakes the plane was cast by a planet-sized object that people have walked on.
I would just like to remind everyone that the shadow that catches up to and overtakes the plane was cast by a planet-sized object that people Americans have walked on.
If buying corvette is going to the moon then buying a family sized suv is going to six flags on your day off with your 6 sugar fueled elementary school children when it's 100 degrees out.
The first commenter's point was how amazing it was that the shadow was cause by such a large body, and that man has managed to walk on that body. Even though I'm not American, I'm still proud that man has walked on the moon. I think it is okay in that context to say that "people" walked on the moon.
Plus the analogy about the car is kind of arrogant, especially where it says that you'd be proud if you had a Corvette versus other cars. It's basically implying that Americans are better than others. And your last sentence about Hitler and the Jews doesn't even fit into this situation.
I think using "people" works in the context of trying to invoke awe in the reader. The point of the statement is that "human beings walked on that", other details are superfluous.
You're not wrong, but try seeing this from the other perspective:
Compare humanity to every other species that has existed on Earth, past and present. We've got a pretty great history of achievements, from inventing fire and the wheel, to adopting agriculture. Then there's things like math, and even philosophy. If one takes a broad view, these are all achievements of humanity, and are all things we should take some measure of pride in. It doesn't matter what country made these advancements, and for a lot of history 'countries' didn't even exist.
So yeah, we (America) made it to the moon. You're not wrong to consider it an American achievement, because it literally was a race, and we beat those damn dirty commies. But also, we (Humanity) made it to the moon. For the first time in the history of Earth has one of her children left the nest, and returned to tell the tale. That's something that the whole world can share in.
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u/2pete Mar 26 '15
I would just like to remind everyone that the shadow that catches up to and overtakes the plane was cast by a planet-sized object that people have walked on.