 |
 |
Sunday, December 05, 2004 - 07:40 PM
They know us; we have heard of them
By Josh Pringle
I recently spent three weeks in Western Europe, traveling through eleven cities in six countries, and got a taste of a different view of the United States, an objective view, the way it looks from the outside peering in.
The way that Europeans feel about America, from what I could gather in my short time there, is both positive and negative depending on the issue—but that wasn’t what shocked me. What shocked me is how much they know about us, in comparison to how little we know about them.
I expected to get some attitude from the Italians and the French, simply for being so obviously American, but those instances were very few and far between. For the most part, I felt that people had nothing against Americans. They were very friendly and didn’t mind speaking our language. It was more America, as a whole, the huge intimidating superpower that we are—that’s what they were afraid of.
Speaking to some friends in Germany, they mentioned how, when we went to war in Iraq, they were afraid that they would be attacked because they hadn’t supported our war. They were seriously afraid of this. America is seen as a loose cannon, dangerously unpredictable, and we could strike any adversary at the drop of a shoe. I hadn’t realized until that moment the kind of visceral fear that we instill in people.
But still, this is not what struck me the most. What struck me is how easy it was for these people to carry on a conversation about the United States. They asked me how I felt about decisions our government had made. They had opinions about our president. They could talk intelligently about our presidential race. They were educated and conscious of the current issues in our country. It was as if they were reading the same papers, watching the same news. Granted, they get CNN there, but how many of us can talk about the political situation in Italy, or Germany or Spain, with any context or scope?
To put things in perspective though, I should mention how immediate our culture is in European cities. I mean, if the world has a cultural imperialist, it’s the United States. You can find a McDonald’s on any city block. I’m not kidding, they’re everywhere. And our movies are everywhere, the music too. I had a conversation with a young Japanese guy about Radiohead and the Smashing Pumpkins. I heard every pop song in restaurants and clothing stores that you would hear walking through a Wal-mart in American suburbia. So we are definitely in their face. There is a reason they know us so well. But the internet and technology has closed the gaps for all of us. Shouldn’t we all be a little more intimate at this point?
I learned some interesting things while I was there—such as how to read a map with no right angles, or that paella is not necessarily good just because you’re in Spain. But how about this: were you aware that many people in Germany are getting tense because the post-Hitler party is gaining ground in their elections? They’re still pretty far down in the polls in their multi-party system, but still, I had no idea there was anything left of that regime, let alone a living, breathing party.
We’re certainly not the only ones discontented with our government. A young man from Italy told me how the multi-party system in his country is basically a recipe for gridlock. He also felt that the government stands up for the wrong causes, puts funding in the wrong places. He told me all this and I learned something, but not before he asked me how I felt about my country.
That, I think, is the difference. I was on their turf, trying to take in their customs, and they were still inquisitive about me. When I returned home, I was happy to be back, and I think we have a really good thing going here, but we seem so narrow-minded. Everyone in the airport walked with their head down, plowing on to the next stop, not looking around them much. I think we do the same thing when we meet exchange students, or see footage from afar on the news. We turn our heads; we plow on to the next stop.
I realize that with this election, we’ve had reason to be focused on our own problems, even obsessed. But now that our country is burning and divided among party lines, to the point of social civil war, it might be time to take the focus off and let the heat die down. There are a lot more cultures and colors out there to learn from other than the red, white, and blue. I think that if we look at things from a more global perspective, we might find reasons to be united again.
Look for new entries in QueenCityForum.com daily and weekly, including “The Singles” issued each week. “The Singles” are stories and columns to be featured in the next edition of QCF magazine.
Contact Information
· joshuap@queencityforum.com
|
|
| |
|
|
|
