Clarity

[robinbloke]

Explanation of my prior post.

I made a comment last night that I caught after a few moments afterwards and thought "What did I say? Hey, morals and guidelines bucko.".
I have no excuses about alcohol or anything (I was stone cold sober) and it was casual conversation and it came out, making me realise that I am not who I want to be.
What did I say?
I commented on wearing a T-Shirt that said "Not an American."
A racist slur.
I know many Americans, they are wonderful people, sure they have flaws like every other person in the world but a blanket comment like that is totally unforgiveable.

So this is my apology and this is my steps to address a part of me that I don't like.

People can moan about America, but it has done many great things and it has many brilliant people in it, certainly it isn't perfect - nothing is - but look to yourself before you cast stones at some other target.

America has produced innumerable fantastic scientists, literary geniuses, designs, films, art and concepts.
If you want to stereotype (which I will in future avoid, as it's part and parcel of the same problem I suspect) what about their great "can do" attitude? Their ability to believe in themselves and what they can achieve?

For the Brits, so you might not like President Bush, you surely can't ignore the fact that Blair isn't exactly a shining example of a PM, and we have a chance to get rid of him real soon - are you going to do something about it?

I invite people to comment here and say something nice about America or Americans.

For myself I'd like to say that almost all the Americans I've met are people that I've invariably found to be friendly, helpful and great people to know. I have a good number of wonderful friends over the water (or staying over here) and I'm very glad to know them. This is to let you know that I'm going to do my bit to try and stand up for people that slag you guys off. When it comes down to it, they're people like you and me and they deserve as much time and respect as anyone from any other country, race or creed.

Negative comments will be deleted without question.

Comments

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

:)

Yay! Thank you.

[akonken.livejournal.com]

That's very kind of you. I've actually stopped getting riled up over the "Americans are so..." people, because it's so prevalent. I'm kind of embarrassed to be American these days, in the first place.

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

I stopped getting riled up when I discovered that most cultures are silly, nationalistic and self absorbed. The more people you combine, the higher the likelihood for random acts of idiocy.

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

Definately, the more people you put in one place the more crazy things seem to happen.

[akonken.livejournal.com]

You make a very valid point.

On a side note, are you an RPGnet-er? Between your kickass LJ icon and the fact that the Hulk's blog is on your FL, I got the sneaking suspicion.

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

Yay! You love Quark! Why RPGNet? I'm a Cammie (don't hold it against me) though. ;) Found The Hulk from Jase, another Cammie when he still had a livejournal :(.

Dude, you're on Matt's journal as well. Ex Pats unite!

[akonken.livejournal.com]

RPGnet is an online community of gamers. "How YOU doin'?" was an inside joke with them a while ago, and bestblogthereis is written by one of its elite. Or something. Anyway, clearly your friend Jase is the cool one. ;)

[akonken.livejournal.com]

Stupid me, getting the html wrong. Stupid html.

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

Nothing wrong with being American, although I reserve the right to object to your administration ;)

But as I say we ought to sort ours out first, I'm sure Blair is going to declare himself High Immortal Eternal Overlord of the Isles or something sooner or later...

[nannyo.livejournal.com]

Heh, I'm an American in disguise, in that I have a British accent and dual nationality. I often catch people out in anti-American daftness, but then I am sometimes embarassed by both my nationalities. one of the things I particularly like about being American is the 'give it a go' attitude that seems to be more prevalent in US culture.

Thanks for this post by the way!
N.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

The US has a great many aspects that we, the British, could do well to aspire to - the 'give it a go' attitude, the cheerful and friendly demeanor, the generosity at an individual level, the fact that the US may have been the first culture in the history of the world where the word 'Stranger' did not translate as 'enemy'.
That said, there's a lot of bad there, usually linked to quite shocking degrees of isolation and ignorance. The citizens are no more or less stupid than everyone else - what they are, by and large, is ill-educated and blinkered. And that, I think, is their weakness.

The master of summary

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

Oddly I think Bill Bryson summed it up best for me. The US consists of 50 little countries with open borders. I'd add on to that as well, that about half the population of the US (the ones of European descent) left their respective homelands for some reason. The Irish left because they were poor or convicts, the Scots left because they were poor or convicts, some of the English left because they were fanatics, some because they were being persecuted and most people, I'd venture to say, left because they were downright greedy.

Because of that I'd theorize Americans on whole have a legacy of trying to deny and honor their homeland at the same time. In my case it was Scots marrying other Scots, which I think you'd find in most Presbyterian churches. In others it was little Italy, little Ireland, Chinatown or the Ukranian district. I think that isolation was and is intentional. The best possible example is the man who created Venice, California. He went to Venice and loved it but then, so he never had to go back, he tried to recreate it.

The Marshall Doctrine was never popular...

Re: The master of summary

[akonken.livejournal.com]

Okay, Smartacus, I'm friending you now.

Re: The master of summary

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

Hehehheheh ;) And added back. I need more Americans on my friends list. This lot are totally corrupting me.

[nannyo.livejournal.com]

When as a small child, snarky British diplomatic ladies used to ask me which of my two countries I liked better, I apparently used to answer "I like things about both places".

I think a lot of Brits are ill-educated and blinkered too, and I don't think Americans make lots of jokes about "Stupid Brits" so it balances out. I think vulgarcriminal is right, that people as a mass are foolish, and ignorant and crazy, and nationality doesn't affect it much.
N.

[riksowden.livejournal.com]

I've been to the US twice, have a bunch of American friends, and generally like Americans when i meet them. There have been some who've had no idea of what they were spouting, but they were in the minority.

I'm not keen on many of the policies (foreign especially) of the current US Administration, nor on several of previous administrations, but we're not exactly angels...

And hey, they're better than the French! (who, in fairness, i dislike as a concept rather than as a group of individuals)

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

Tredding close to the line there partner, don't get me started on how great the French are!

[riksowden.livejournal.com]

Heh...

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

And I am quite serious, I think France is a wonderous place :)

[riksowden.livejournal.com]

Fair enough, i don't like it - i've been 4 times and haven't particularly liked the country, found the people to be unhelpful (yes my French is bad, i still tried, my mum was a French teacher, her French is good, people were still very rude) and generally didn't like it much.

Most of the French people i've met outside of France have been pleasant and easy to get on with.

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

I've found people to be friendly, food to be fantastic, scenery to be wonderful and weather to be very nice indeed. Better experiences I suppose!

[riksowden.livejournal.com]

Different experiences indeed (i'm not a massive fan of French food, its okay...but only okay - its similar with Italian stuff), and experiences are what we [should] make judgements on.

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

I fell in love with French food after my first visit to a patisserie!

[riksowden.livejournal.com]

The pastries are the only thing i like.

[silja.livejournal.com]

Thank you.
I am getting so tired of people putting down the USA. Of course, not everything is perfect about that country- but which country, which people, is? I have actually left parties because on constant American bashing, because some people here are really rabid in their hatred, and that is sad.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine who's lived in Kansas all her life is working 16-hour days at the moment - eight of them at work, eight of them campaigning non-stop against the Marriage Amendment their state government is pushing through. She has complained of being tired exactly once. I don't think there's any way I can make that look any better.

[fellcat.livejournal.com]

Something nice about an American. (Sorry to those who read yesterday's rant and have already seen this from me.)

His name is George W. Bush, and he's got a compassionate spot somewhere under the war president exterior. He cut short his holiday and got up in the middle of the night to ratify a law that allowed Terri Schiavo's parents to take her fight for life to the Federal courts.

Compare to Blair, who did not cut short his holiday after the Boxing Day tsunami.

As for can do, it's not always a good thing. Will try is always a good thing, but can do has the implication if you try but ultimately don't do, you're a failure. The notion that, if the most deprived child in the neighbourhood can become President, you can too, and the only thing stopping you is yourself, is broken because there is only one Presidency and it is therefore impossible for everyone to be President. We can't all run our own businesses either, or all be self-made millionaires, and I'm always very wary of any attitude that deceives people into thinking otherwise.

Note: this is criticism of an attitude, not of the people who hold that attitude.

[nannyo.livejournal.com]

Good point about the "can do" attitude... I like to consider both sides, and hadn't thought about views on failure.

N.

[akonken.livejournal.com]

Now I'm starting to worry about the backlash - "some of my best friends are Americans" type stuff. :P

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

Well, it's who you know, it's what you do and say.

[zotz]

A racist slur.

Maybe a xenophobic one, but not racist. Americans don't constitute a race. And even that would depend on the wearer's motivation. We've all disliked some government's actions (most often our own, though) and wanted to dissociate ourselves from it. That shirt's cruder and paints with a broader brush than the badges saying "don't blame me, I didn't vote for them", but has the same sort of sentiment.

I agree entirely that the US is a wonderful country, and that I've really liked those of its citizens I've met. But simply pointing out that you're not such a citizen yourself doesn't actually say anything unpleasant about the people or the place, and has too many possible intended meanings - positive and negative - to be dismissed that simply.

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

The T-Shirt wasn't the whole thing, but it was also how I wasn't thinking about what I was saying that worried me...

[neilh.livejournal.com]

Indeed, in Tokyo all the Americans I met answered the "Where do you come from?" question with an apology, and the immediate assumption of all the locals is that any white person is an American ("American go home!" is a common abuse directed to any non-Japanese person).

It is important to differentiate race boundaries from political boundaries, I disagree strongly with many American political views but that doesn't mean I hate any of the people, in fact all of those Americans I've met have been outside of their national borders and have been very aware of the political nightmare their politicians are building. (Except for one Californian who just couldn't deal with my strong European accent)