How To Make Myself Unpoular Amongst Americans (Part 1)

[adderslj]

There's often an assumption, usually found amongst the residents of the United States of America, that the UK and the US share a broadly similar frame of cultural context. This is, quite frankly, bollocks.

Take a quick look at this story: UK wants music embassy in the US. The key points are scattered through the story, but they come down to (a) virtually no British music is having an impact on the US charts and (b) the US is the most parochial music market in the world, bar Pakistan (which is currently edging the world towards nuclear war and thus is not a country to look up to).

Now, why is this important? Surely the good citizens of the US are entitled to listen to whatever music they want to? Of course they are. Indeed, I listen to quite a lot of American music and enjoy it throughly. The point isn't that, it's that many Americans are simply unaware of their degree of cultural isolationism at the moment. The British chart is a mix of British, American and European artists. The US chart is largely US artists. The cultural infulences at work there are purely American.

They are equally unware of the degree of cultural Imperialism that goes on. People outside America don't mind it that much - they're quite happy to use good American products that come their way. But the asymmetric nature of the exchange makes some non-Americans uneasy.

Many US writers in Livejournals, Blogs and newspapers are turning their attention to Europe and the rest of the world in a way they haven't since probably the Second World War. George W Bush has been forced to play a bigger part on the world stage than he would have if left to his own devices. We all remembers some of the simply daft things he said about foreign countries in his election campaign. This change of focus is an inevitable consequence of September 11th, but one that makes the rest of us a little nervous. Why? It's because suddenly Americans are commenting on things they have very little real understanding of. Sure, there are some well-informed commentators out there saying interesting things. But there's an awful lot of people espousing a jingoistic belief in the inherent superiority of the American way, without truly understanding the cultures and philosophies of those lands. They haven't seen their TV, watched their films and listened to their music. They haven't read their books or skimmed their magazines. They see everything through glasses with the stars and stripes printed on them. Indeed, many seem genuinely surprised when they discover that people hold different views from them and promptly set out to persuade the poor, ignorant natives.

I freely admit that not every American is guilty of this, but there's enough of them out there to make web browsing an increasingly uncomfortable experience. The really curious thing is that the attitude I'm describing here reminds me powerfully of the attitudes of the British in the 19th Century. Any chance of learning from our mistakes?

Comments

Re:

[adders.livejournal.com]

Thank you for making my last point so clearly for me. You'd have made a fine general in Queen Victoria's army. :-)

Yes, the US has more power than any other nation on earth. Surely that means that it should be a lot more careful with that responsibility than it's being?

[zamiel.livejournal.com]

Why, no one else has, including Great Britain, the UK, and Europe as a whole. One could argue that in the measley 200 years we've had to get it right, we've done a lot better than Europe in a couple thousand. After all, we weren't ditz enough to adopt the Euro, that was you guys.

Having more power doesn't mean you should lube up and take it from everyone just because you're the biggest and best. What America brings to the table is a general distaste for that sort of thing. Probably just what the planet needs, frankly.

Re:

[adders.livejournal.com]

Whoever mentioned "lube up and take it from everyone"? I never once suggested that America had to pander to everyone else's whims. Of course it shouldn't. No country should. What I do mean is that every country has a responsibility to be a good neighbour.

You're arguing against a point I didn't make, sir.

And as for the Euro, well, I'm not part of it. The UK's not part of it. Many European countries aren't. Europe is not equivalent to the USA. The different countries are not equivalent to the states in the US. We don't have a federal government in the same way that you do. In fact, once again you've made my point for me by showing a lack of understanding of the situation here.

[maliszew.livejournal.com]

I can only add that most Americans don't care, because, frankly, the rest of the world doesn't affect their lives at all -- and they're happy to keep it that way. America is, in general, passively imperialistic. It's not out to convert the world to its way except by anarchically disseminating its culture and, through it, its ideas. There's no grand plan or master strategy, for good or for ill. I find that frustrating myself, but that's the way it is. I think Europeans are far too insecure about themselves and their place in the world and that is why they tend to view Americans as little more ignorant jingoists who should learn their place and keep their heads down.

But then I am one of those ignorant jingoists myself, so what do I know?

Re:

[adders.livejournal.com]

Now I'm fascinated. Both Alex and you interpreted what I said as suggesting that America should learn its place, or some varient thereof. That was not my intent in any way, shape or form. Why did you both assume it was?

The point I was really making was the one you bring up right at the beginning: most Americans aren't interested in the rest of the world, yet continue to make pronouncements on it.

Surely September 11 proves that theisolationist attitude is a false security blanket?

[maliszew.livejournal.com]

>Now I'm fascinated. Both Alex and you interpreted what I said as suggesting that America >should learn its place, or some varient thereof. That was not my intent in any way, shape or >form. Why did you both assume it was?

I can't speak for Alex, but for myself, this reason is simple: the conjoining of assertions of US ignorance about the world with claims to Britain's (and by extension, the rest of Europe's) cosmopolitanism. In my experience, such statements are often but one step away from declarations of America's simplisme. If that is not what you meant or believe, my apologies.

>The point I was really making was the one you bring up right at the beginning: most Americans >aren't interested in the rest of the world, yet continue to make pronouncements on it.

Unlike the rest of the world? Again, I find this charge dubious, because, in my experience, most commentators, whatever their nationality, aren't at all unwilling to comment on what they know little of. I suspect the average European commentator understands America no better than his American counterpart understand Europe. And I have the clips to prove it. :)

>Surely September 11 proves that theisolationist attitude is a false security blanket?

Isolationism is not a guarantee of safety no, but neither is cosmopolitan multilateralism. I think the real lesson of September 11 is that America must look out for America's interests, because no one else is going to do it. With the exception of Britain, NATO is so much hot air and its invocation of Article V a joke in the extreme. The US at the top of the heap and will always be a target, no matter what it does. Isolationism is the norm and it's not for nothing that the legend of Cincinnatus is part and parcel of the American ideal, even if most Americans have no idea who he was. That story tells most of what the rest of the world needs to know.

[adders.livejournal.com]

Oh, and before I forget, I was including you in the "Sure, there are some well-informed commentators out there saying interesting things" category. :-)

A

[maliszew.livejournal.com]

Oh, I had assumed so. No worries. I get passionate, yes, but I don't get angry or hold grudges. Even if you had directed it at me, I wouldn't hold it against you. No need to be concerned. I enjoy a good debate.

UK is not Europe

[tryptophan.livejournal.com]

I find this interesting just because we Canadians often face the same problem when we travel or talk to people. "Are you American?" "No, I'm Canadian" "Well, same thing.. you're from the Americas" and they don't understand why we get upset about being lumped into a continent when we feel we have our own identity. Granted, sometimes the biggest defining factor is that we are NOT Americans, but...