Dr. Helen notes an interesting point made by the author of a newly published book:
Only in America does the word “frontier” mean freedom, open space and
opportunity. In every other language, the word “frontier” means the
opposite– border, boundary, and fear of the dangers that lurk in in the
strange and the new.
That’s not insignificant, but potentially more significant is the fact that America is also one of the very few societies foolish enough to forget that the primary difference between “immigrant” and “invader” is one of quantity. One of the reasons that the historical Greek, Roman, Chinese, and Japanese cultures remained distinct and significant for so long is that their words for foreigner translate to “barbarian”, “barbarian”, “barbarian”, and “round-eyed, red-haired, butter-stinking devil”.