The Policy Blender

I don't mean to ignore the humor, but I would like to make an observation. There is obviously a stereotype about us Americans that we don't know anything about the rest of the world. I'm not quite sure where that comes from. I have travelled widely, as have most of the Americans I know. Personal friends of mine who were born and raised here in Oklahoma have lived or are living currently in Thailand, Vietnam, China, England, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Lithuania, Romania, Turkey, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Tibet, Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Japan, Venezuela, Peru... (I could go on.) Some went as missionaries; some for business; some in the military; some due to family; some just for the experience. Most eventually come back home. Some stay. But all of them are intimately acquainted with the "outside world."

Meanwhile, many of the people I met while living briefly in London have never been to America at all (or if they had, only to New York.) Most of the Parisians I met while there never even leave France.

I say there's no better way to get to know people from other cultures than to travel and see how they live. And to be quite honest, the most egocentric cultures I've ever seen are continental European.

America is comprised of immigrants or the children of immigrants who have brought their culture to our land. This is rather similar to post-Imperial Britain, except that we have been a nation of immigrants from the beginning. Many of the first, second, third and even fourth generation immigrants in America still have very close ties to their ancestral cultures. And we all live together and work together - we know a great deal about other nations and cultures here in America.

I'm honestly not sure where the "myopic American" stereotype originates. Where I come from, it is the exception, and certainly not the rule. My point is that a person who believes that Americans don't have a clue about the world (quite ironically) demonstrates that they know nothing about America.

So I would like to invite our British friends to come visit America and see what it's really like. (Hint: you must come father inland than Manhattan to experience America.)

see you in September.

:-)

Where are you going?

Great! Have you been before? I spent many summers of my childhood in Florida, either at Disney World or in Tampa. Enjoy your trip!

Hi Beo,

I've been to Manhattan, Rochester NY, and New Orleans, and a few other parts of Louisiana. Everyone I met was extremely friendly, and didn't seem to be ignorant of the rest of the world. It could be intended as a reflection on governmental styles, not people; that is, some might suggest that politically the US can take its position in the world trivially - I have to say that if Tony Blair put everyone else first and Britain last I'd be fed up with him, though, so I'm not sure that's fair.

But what is fair is that we have shortages, there are honest people in Eastern Europe, opinionated Chinese people, people in Africa with food, people in South America with manners and people in the Middle East who know what a solution is, even if it's only the chemists. And I'm looking forward to my next trip to America, if only to visit Old Navy, and further exploit the sweatshops of Eastern Asia.