This may attract flak but I’d be much obliged if anyone could point out where this comment, ffollowing Justin ‘Koolaid’ Webb of the BBC’ on Anti-Americanism in this morning’s Guardian, is factually wrong:
DaveCanuk
April 12, 2007 4:29 AM
I like to think of myself as a proud anti-american, who’s hatred of the role of the U.S. government and business in the world is underpinned by my disgust with the culture that underpins it.
As a Canadian, I get plenty of exposure, not just ot US government policies, but to everyday Americans and the popular culture they love. And it is bad beyond most folks imaginings. Sure there are some decent american citizens. But precious few, even of these, are not bigoted, ignorant, and generally rather frightening.
1) They have a fascination with guns and/or uniforms unequalled in any democracy anywhere, anytime. These folks have some serious issues that need to be addressed in therapy.
2) They worship size and volume beyond all reason. Bigger is always better. Louder is always more correct. I assume the men have some easily understood insecurities in the bedroom, but the bloody women are almost as bad! In addition to all the problems with pollution and invasions that this flaw encourages, it just plain makes them bad neighbours.
3) These folks have a serious god complex. They really believe they have a direct line! And they can’t wait to bore you with the details of their relationship with the BIG GUY. Now we have our religious nuts in Canada too, but only in the US are they the dominant cultural force. It is way beyond satire that they are in bloody battle with ‘Muslim extremists’.
4) The level of ignorance about the world or history is appalling, but even worse is their pride in it. You can have a more informed discussion on world events with a Mexican cab driver than an American high school teacher. George II is really just a more or less polite version of what you can hear in any truck stop, bar or Wal-Mart. This and the most powerful armed forces in the world – if that isn’t a combination to make sleep difficult, I don’t know what is.
5) They are insufferably self-righteous about their greatness -great literature, military prowess, athletic abilities, biggest businesses, finest art, music – the list goes on and on. When discussing any other culture, which few ever do, they will invariably either attack or patronize it.
6) They are steeped in an incredibly mean spirited public discourse. Being stuck in a car for a few hours in the US is a nightmare for a news junky. With a few faint PBS exceptions, the airwaves are a non stop shouting match where slimy insinuations about opponents are quickly drowned out by loud threats and insults. And when what passes for a ‘left’ down there gets a radio station – they do the same thing, except that sometimes I agree with them.
7) The culture is permeated by a racism that is miles beyond what I am used to – and I grew up in a country who’s treatment of aboriginals was criminal and reflected in a racist popular culture.
I could go on all day. But as distant descendent of a Bootle sailer and a highland crofter, I will add that the only culture that I think could compare with the U.S. in recent centuries was the British Empire at its peak. There is just something about being the biggest bully in the school yard that makes people downright dislikable
Take care, eh?
Ah yes, Britain, this emerald jewel in an azure sea, this blighted pox-ridden isle; as always we’re bringing up the rear, trailing past imperialist glories.
But although we’re now much diminished as a nation, we’re still managing to keep up in the ‘planet’s most obnoxious people’ stakes. For example, the first news story I read today was that yesterday in Glasgow an Algerian woman asylum seeker was stoned by a gang of white men, had her hijab ripped off and both herself and her one year old child sexually assaulted – then, on the morning news I heard Tony Blair openly blaming the rise in gun crime entirely on some mythical monolithic black community. We just had our very own Iran hostage media circus too. We may be a busted flush internationally, but hey, no problem. We can just ask to join the USA.
We’ll fit perfectly as the 51st state – we’ve got the undemocratic government, the broken army and government, trigger-happy police, overflowing jails, drugs, corruption and an autocratic vainglorious leader already: now all we need is the OK. Hmm. Whatever would we call it, though?
