Matt Damon thinks we should travel more
We don't take enough vacations. You know I had a whirlwind tour of Europe planned last month but that pesky rent thing got in the way. The 37-year-old actor told the September issue of Conde Nast Traveler:
"I think many of our problems as a country would be solved if people had thick passports. There's just no substitute for actually going and seeing things."Damon, who says only 21 percent of Americans have passports, says that fame has made him want to do good. (Source)
It must be nice to be Matt Damon. Promoting his films around the world; sight seeing in exotic locales; judging those of us that don't do the same. I'm pretty sure I'd be cultured too if I spent most of my adult life traveling to movie premiers in distant countries. I'm also pretty sure I'd also have like fifteen kids by now, one from each country. My house would be like the "It's a Small World" ride at Disneyland. I could charge admission and everything. It'd be awesome! Anyways, back to Matt. Shut the hell up. Most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and can barely afford to fill up their car let alone their passport. I guess in Hollywood, having a big mouth comes with the territory dating Ben Affleck.
NOTE: I can solve problems, too. More Americans would be on time to work and therefore productivity would increase . . . if we all had superfast Ferraris and Lamborghinis! Solving problems is fun!
[WENN]
umm.. didnt he only PLAY a genius in a movie? did anyone tell him that he's not that gifted that he could singlehandedly solve the world's problems? and of course being in the upper echelon of waelth i guess makes it hard for him to realize that international travel is not free.
When the current president who was a millionaire had never left the country before attaining the top job, and looking at the trouble he has caused through ignorance... sure it can't help for people to have an idea about the world. It really is something shocking to first visit a third world country, and experience different cultures. It's something you honestly can't even start to understand until you go. So he has a point.
The USA is a great country, and there is so much there, but when it goes to global issues, you need to travel, and you need to travel to the third world to get an understanding. Even if it is from 5 star hotels and air-conditioned coaches, the view you get from that sanitised world we all live in, is still shocking.
To speak for the common man, you must first BE a common man, doncha think????
"I can solve problems, too. More Americans would be on time to work and therefore productivity would increase . . . if we all had superfast Ferraris and Lamborghinis! Solving problems is fun!"
CELEBSLAM '08!
Believe it, bitches.
@ Grinspoon
"The USA is a great country, and there is so much there, but when it goes to global issues, you need to travel, and you need to travel to the third world to get an understanding. Even if it is from 5 star hotels and air-conditioned coaches, the view you get from that sanitised world we all live in, is still shocking."
That's completely retarded. How exactly will all or even most Americans afford to travel to third world countries? And why can't we learn from documentaries and news articles? And why don't you and Matt Damon shut up?
Once again, I fail to see how pretending to be other people for a living grants someone's opinion any degree of weight.
Yeah Matt - you definitely learn more from visiting places than by just reading about them. It's the total experience; sights, smells, tastes, etc. It amazes me that people have no problem throwing huge sums of money to see the fake representation of the world in Vegas or Orlando but continue to believe that they can't afford to see the real thing -- for the same cost.
He's right. If you ever coughed up the cash to see something other than your own backyard, you'd know why. And I love everyone telling him to shut up because he has no authority, as if you have more. Maybe, just maybe, you should ask someone who has traveled (like him) if it makes a difference.
Oh, and the money claim. Mexico's pretty cheap, if you'll check out of the resorts. As is Haiti. Come on, teenagers do chores and earn the money to do it. Considering 'a whirlwind tour of Europe' the way to travel and 'a child from each country' the necessary consequence reveal the very mindset you might lose if you saw the world. And you really think you're living 'paycheck to paycheck'? You need to get out. The non-purified air of the real world might do you some good.
Just because America is full of suckers that remain willfully ignorant doesn't mean he isn't right. And just because 99% of these suckers raise their children same as the local TV series parents to believe CREDIT is a gift from god and you'd better lose your right arm and leg than your credit rating doesn't mean much more. The only reason that American freedoms diminish is because the Americans think that anybody is obligated to provide such for them. How can you defend people that pay interest to USE their currency. THATS RIGHT THE FED IS NO PART OF THE GOVERNMENT.
Nor there is ANY LAW that requires an average American worker to file a 10/40.
You might want to watch America From Freedom to Fascism and get a newsflash.
Don't blame the rich for being rich, blame the poor for making them rich. They might not have money for travel but they've got billions for the box office and lots of other crap thats making their lives worse. The founding fathers of America are long gone, the people running the show now just care enough to shear your fur, milk you and let you graze some grass so they can milk you tomorrow and shear you again when its time and repeat the process till you you are dead.