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I hear America sometimes playfully accused of sending you all your storms, and am in the habit of parrying the charge by alleging that we are enabled to do this because, in virtue of our protective system, we can afford to make better bad weather than anybody else. And what wiser use could we make of it than to export it in return for the paupers which some European countries are good enough to send over to us who have not attained to the same skill in the manufacture of them?

James Russell Lowell#91

PoliticsAmericaEconomyImmigrationInternational relationsSatireTrade

About this quote

What does it mean?
Lowell satirically defends American economic policies, suggesting the US creates favorable conditions for itself while mocking the idea that it exports storms or unwanted immigrants in return.
In plain terms
He jokes that America is so good at making bad weather that it can trade it for poor people from Europe.
What can you take from it?
Economic systems shape what nations produce and trade.

Where it applies

  • political debate
  • economic commentary
  • satire

Putting it to work

  • critique economic nationalism
  • analyze trade rhetoric

Questions to consider

  • How does rhetoric mask economic reality?
  • What is being traded here?

Another view

The metaphor is confusing and relies on outdated assumptions about immigration.

More from James Russell Lowell

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  3. A wise skepticism is the first attribute of a good critic.

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