(OT - I had to wonder if you were Red or his son.)
That's worth posting:
THE CITIZEN AS STAKEHOLDER
After a recent lover's tiff prompted by my girlfriend's bog-standard casual anti-Americanism, it really got me thinking. The argument was prompted by us watching some of the September 11th stuff that's all over the TV in the U.K. right now, and our basic disagreement was her spouting of the usual British snobbishness over what we incorrectly perceive as over-the-top American flag waving and patriotism. In this regard, the British and Americans will always be different (and I do love the true British patriot's understated love of country), but immediately after our tiff I came to a realisation. Forgive the long winded explanation, but it's worth it in the long run.
A few years ago I worked at one of our prime Scottish tourist traps, the Whisky Heritage Centre at the top of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. We had a lot of tourists from all over the world, of course, but my favourites were always the Americans. For those so inclined, there are a lot of trivial things that could arouse dislike or jealousy of Americans abroad. They tend to be wealthy. If you're a snob, they don't often harbour the same intense dislike of popular culture that drives a lot of western self-loathers. The reason I liked Americans, however, is best demonstrated with a short anecdote. A young American family were amongst the visitors this particular day, a pretty non-descript young American mother, father and a child around 5 years. They came in, did the usual tourist stuff and left. No one really paid them any attention.
About a week later after we'd all but forgotten them amongst the waves of tourist faces, they returned. Apparently, during their earlier visit, their young child had exhibited some of the kleptomaniac tendencies of his age group, and snatched up a couple of tiny bottles of malt whisky (the kid had good taste), and stuck them in his satchel. No one had even noticed, but the parents had marched him straight back when they'd found out. Now, this could of course have been a standard scene in any country involving good parents of any nationality. But these parents were not just teaching a valuable lesson to their child. I could sense a heartfelt anguish to redress any act which reflected poorly not just on them, but on their country. And that was the key difference. An American abroad thinks of himself genuinely as an ambassador for their country, because Americans are stakeholders in their country in a way that people in Britain, France or Germany are not.
After this event I began to look at Americans differently, began to see a whole raft of issues differently. I began to see gun rights not as the hobby horse of a nation of right wing violence fetishists (which is the standard perception of just about everyone in the EU), but as a natural outcome of a self-reliant people who feel that the first line of defence is themselves. I read the same stories about US citizens setting up their own patrols along the Mexican border, but unlike everyone around me I didn't laugh at these poor deluded hicks pretending to be sheriffs in the Wild West, I marvelled at their sense of empowerment. We Brits moan constantly at the incompetence of our customs and immigration officials, but I could not imagine in a million years a group of us ever getting together to try and help or fix it. I read the reports of active citizens trying to help any way they could after 9/11 - the retired fire chiefs in New York, the wave of citizens giving blood, National Guard reporting for duty unasked. We are a passive, downtrodden people in comparison, only insisting upon our right to moan at successive governmental incompetence.
I have realised what sets your average American apart. An American is a citizen in the true sense of the word, mindful of not only his rights but his responsibilities. He is a stakeholder in his country, and respects the symbolism of the accoutrements of state - the flag, the anthem and the head of state. Can you imagine a group of Brits storming the cockpit of flight 93? I wish I could say yes - perhaps in Churchill's era (it is depressing to think he died in living memory) - but in all honesty I envision a group of surly Brits awaiting the intervention of their incompetent government, gingerly looking at each other for some sign of leadership. It's no surprise
to me that there was no shortage of leaders on that American-laden ill-fated flight.
My point, if I have one, is that all these things we Europeans like to mock in Americans - their self-reliance, their relative religious piety, their 'cultural ignorance' (I'd call it a lack of obsession with other cultures), their ability to rally to the symbols of statehood in time of war - these are the things that will ensure America has a fighting chance in the future. These are the things we in Europe have given away, if we ever had them. But I do draw strength from the American example, even if the media tells me I shouldn't, and my family and friends at least seem to have their eyes open with regard to the threats we face from radical (and even moderate) Islam. I will not ever stop challenging the bullshit knee-jerk anti-Americanism that seems to be the default position of anyone who thinks of themselves as a great thinker, in so far as I am able. So while I share your sense of pessimism for the future, Mark, at least some of us will not go there willingly.
Nick McCrea
Edinburgh
Bravo, Nick!
"Please understand, it is not my position that is tenuous and subject to criticism, but yours. In view of the hate mail which your article has triggered, I must now take off valuable time from my work to consult with legal authorities about the article itself."
- A K Dewdney
MARK REPLIES: My mistake. From the hours you’ve devoted to those conspiracies, I assumed your work time wasn’t in the least bit valuable.
That's gonna leave a 'mark'.
