Assignment American
So i’ve got an observation for all of you and I really want to get your thoughts. With my first real taste of international travel i’ve noticed something i find disturbing. Now being born and raised in America i definitely feel privelidged as i’ve had many opportunities most people wouldn’t. I had access to great education. For the most part we have the freedom of expression and individuality which some countries do not. We have access to some of the best medical care in the world. We have the opportunity to be entreprenuers, open up businesses and make as much money as our business will allow. So basically i’d say that as Americans we have been given alot by our country. One thing however that i’m noticing as i travel is where is the American influence on a global scale? Around every corner in every city I see a Mcdonalds, or a Burger King, a KFC, a Subway, a Starbucks or a 7 Eleven. To me those things are very common American institutions. Seeing those signs just screams America. People in these cities associate them with America. So is our influence on the world, buckets of chicken, quarter pounders, venti latte’s, and slurpies? Is one of the most powerful and wealthiest nations being represented by these places? Most people that can’t afford to go to America don’t know how beautiful and wonderful a place it is. I’d have to say that we should have much more to offer as a country than greasy fast food and over priced coffee. So i guess what i want from all of you is to tell me what you think is the greatest influence that America has on the world. Now i know we give alot of money to countries. I know we have great technology, but what about our culture? In a thousand years when America falls like most every other empire in history what will they be remembered for contributing to the world? Give it some thought and you can give me a serious answer or a not seroius one but i’m very curious to see what people think.
Tags: Malaysia
Gagnonius
Brian,
Lots of stuff to cover so bear with me.
I was in Philly this weekend for the Red Sox/Phillies series. A few observations:
Beautiful city- Architecture is great, Brick work is top notch, the history awe inspiring.
Ball Park was beautiful and I enjoyed watching the beloved Sox kick A$$. I wore my Schilling Sox shirt and got some looks; one guy bought me a beer and said I was ok by him as I had big Spaulding’s wearing that shirt in Philly. My Jeter drinks Wine Coolers t-shirt was a huge hit with everyone I ran into except the occasional Yankees fan who just swore at me, I responded with a Year 2000 and Jesus Loves You. Hilarity ensued. Red Sox fans are like Locusts. I would say the split inside the ball park was 60/40 Phillies Fans. I saw all kinds of Red Sox gear all weekend. Classic. I was lucky enough to be eating lunch when who walks into the cheese steak place? Trot “Freakin’” Nixon!!! and he was roundly applauded by all the Sox fans in the place as he left.
Sox are 1 1/2 up on the Yankees and the Scumbags are in town for three starting tonight.
As far as Global Impact- As far as fast food goes- that’s not it. If something like KFC for example does well here, then why not Russia? Irish people need hamburgers too right? Don’t people in France need cell phones? Playstation is from Japan but it’s everywhere. Major industry is no longer national, everything is going global. Money is money. Corporations want ALL of it. You’re seeing that first hand.
Moreover for better or worse I think when a lot of people think of America they think we’re bullies. We go somewhere overthrow a government and install either democracy or a puppet government we can control. But you also need to remember there are a lot of Iraqis who are very thankful we did what we did. It all depends on what media outlet you listen to or watch or read. I admit freely that FOX News paints everything with a favorable Conservative light. But CNN and the big three hate Bush so much that it doesn’t matter what he does to them it’s wrong. So depending on what people abroad have for media bias will paint how they feel UNLESS they are directly affected by Americans good or bad. I’ve told you before. To quote Dennis Miller- “America is simultaneously the most loved, hated, feared, respected nation in the world. In short we’re Frank Sinatra, and the Chairman of the Board didn’t make his bones laying down for punks like France in front of the Tropicana.”
But hey I’m just one guy. I could be wrong.
-Lynch
I am not prepared to answer a serious question right now. We are in the middle of MCAS and I havn’t had a free period yet this week.
Anyway, I am anxious to talk to you. It’s been a while. I miss you. Reading your blog is not quite the same.
Love,
Mom
Brian,
Still reading your blog and enjoying it. Thanks for taking me along on your trip. I love the stories. While I’m sure things are not perfect, your trip has too be the ultimate education.
As for your “assignment America,” I’d say America will be remembered as the greatest civilization ever to exist (do I sound too jingoistic?). I think we give most of the world hope for a better future.
There are people who hate us but I think a lot of it is rooted in jealousy and frustration with their own government and society (i.e. the Middle East). The multi-national corporations represent only one part of America. They contribute some good things to these countries they go to and some bad. For all of our imperfections, we show the world that democracy, captialism, and freedom are attainable and can work. We are the only place in the world where people from every nationality, race, and ethnic background all live together without killing each other. If you put Russians, Poles, Jews, Arabs, Japanese, Chinese, Irish, English, French, Germans, Belizeans, and Guatemalans together in one place anywhere else in the world, there would be all out war. In America, it basically works. As I said above, I am not trying to pave over our imperfections but in the over all balance of things, we do pretty well. There is a reason why people from all over the world risk their lives to get into this country and don’t want to get out (with the exception of Johnny Depp). I can’t say the same is true for many other countries.
If you are looking for a book (maybe not anymore) then a pretty good book that deals with this stuff is the Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas Friedman. If you want to get to the interesting stuff about globalization and America, you may want to skip to the second half of the book.
Mark
Brian,
I’m going to agree with Mark McManmon on a lot of his observations regarding your questions. On a broad scale, the U.S. has been able to successfully (I suppose that word is always relative) do what nations and empires struggled with over the centuries.
I think that in addition to the jealousy that people around the world may feel for the U.S., there seems to be a sort of love/hate or envy/despise kind of view towards our country. And again, we’re talking about the entire country as a culture, as a political body, as a historical body, as an economic system and then as a general group of people. Within each of those entities we have many complex ways to view the U.S. – some good, some bad, some in-between, depending on one’s context. For instance, if you are from a foreign country and live in a certain class within that foreign country that benefits from certain parts of the U.S. economy or manufacturing etc, then you are likely to view the U.S. favorably. But another person from a different class and/or different foreign country might have a totally different view.
Mark might remember who said this, but the quote is, “We perceive from where we stand,” and I think context provides a significant factor in how we view ourselves and how others view us.
Politically, culturally (media, fast food, sports etc.) and militarily, I think many nations feel that the US often imposes itself on others, whether they want it or not, or whether it seems to benefit them or not. I think it is just more of the perceived principle of feeling forced to change or forced to adopt a certain way of doing things. Kind of like a salesman or a religious evangelizer knocking on your door and convincing you to buy a product or adopt a new religion. I think that with our power, some feel as though we don’t knock and we don’t ask, we just sort of “convince”, especially if the result helps our bottom lines over here.
When it comes to capitalism, it is often hard to find a balance between fairness and competition because if you stop to share or stop to be nice, a competitor will eat you up and take you down. So the pressure is there, within that system, to be vigilant about producing a better product more cheaply and efficiently to stay ahead of the competition. As a result, those without a voice or without power can get stepped on.
All in all, I wonder what you will find in your travels in terms of the ways that other cultures and systems work…for all its faults I think the U.S. is pretty great because of the freedoms that many of us have. Of course, being a white male from a middle class family has certainly given me a nice little advantage. But all in all I think that the U.S. is a pretty amazing place because there are some great people who live here and do incredible things. And our systems, while faulty, still have certain principles in place that we wouldn’t change, such as the freedom to start a business any time you want, secure some loans, go to college, etc.
My last thought is this. I often feel that in general, many of us in the U.S. should adopt more of a practice of listening and understanding those from other cultures and systems. Not that we have to change, and not that our way is wrong, but I just think it is dangerous to think of oneself as always right and always more “advanced” – it leaves out the possibility of growing and becoming even better by learning even more positive ways of doing things. As a culture and system we are practically infants – 200-300 years old. I dont’ think we know all there is to know and I think there are some other cultures that could teach us and improve our lives even more than we already are.
Anyway, good question! I enjoyed thinking about it.
A few quick notes:
The real surprises for the Sox this year:
-Mike Lowell being second in the league in extra base hits and hitting .330?!!?!?!Y His defense is even better than they said, and his hitting thus far is way more than anyone could have expected.
(As I write this he just dove and threw out Jeter at first)
-Papelbon leading the league in saves? Are you kidding me?
-Beckett – the guy is intense and looks to be the real deal – he could be our next Clemens/Pedro/Schilling as the big game emotional pitcher. He is only 26 or 27!
-Wily Mo being able to step in with Coco being hurt and play 3 outfield positions, hit the ball and even draw some walks.
-Youkilis. The man is for real. The Greek God of on-base!
Talk to you soon!
Jeff
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