US: Cultural Irrigation Needed?

[adderslj]

I'd be very interested as to what US readers think of this article.

Despite being published by The Guardian, it's from a right-wing commentator, incidentally.

Comments

[doctorcaligari.livejournal.com]

My reactions are:

1) Well, duh. Yes, Americans in general need a broader and deeper cultural literacy. Yes, Americans are in a global position where they are more able to get away with ignoring other countries' affairs than other countries are to get away with ignoring them. Yes, realpolitik suggests that as long as the present geopolitics persists, Americans are not likely to leap up en masse of their own accord and start consuming foreign media and policy.

2) On the other hand, I'm a little disturbed by the author's seemingly unquestioning acceptance of the premise that he and his country are at the "mercy" of the U.S.'s decisions (his own word). I know there's a massive power imbalance and one must be realistic, but is this really something most people in Europe are resigned to indefinitely? Is there nothing that can be done about it, immediately or eventually? Is Western Europe not still First World and does it not still possess self-determination, particularly if it bands together? Would it not be wiser in the long run to seek an alternative mode to eternally wheedling, cajoling and lecturing the United States and hoping for the best?

3) The one thing most guaranteed to piss off the arrogant is to suggest that they're arrogant, and the best way to piss off the ignorant is to inform them they're ignorant. Ignorant and arrogant people may not know much, but they know when they're being condescended to -- ignorant and arrogant are not the same as dumb. The unfortunate truth is that until Americans take it upon themselves to become more conversant with world affairs, nobody outside the U.S. is going to be able to overcome that inertia, particularly if they're pompous about it. It needs to come from within and to be supported and led by U.S. government and media figures (since folks usually don't pay near as much attention to someone who doesn't already have name recognition no matter how valuable the information is). Unfortunately our election system is predicated on the assumption of public ignorance, and changing that would just mess everything up for the people who would most need to be involved. :-)