The day after 9/11, the French newspaper “Le Monde” featured an article with the catchy title “we are all Americans”. Almost 17 years later, who doubts any publication in Paris would offer such solidarity. The media loves to remind us that the global view of America has dropped sharply after the presidential elections of 2016. But on the other hand, the statement “Le Monde” still rings true—people around the world continue to look at ourselves as Americans, at least in potential. This reality became clear to me while living abroad, in Southeast Asia, where I noticed a peculiar consistency, how foreigners view the United States.
Despite many caricatures of clumsy, arrogant American tourist, I found the majority of Americans are deeply interested in understanding the characteristics and nuances of a foreign culture in all of Asia. A strong focus on multiculturalism and pluralism at all levels of American schools (as well as many us media and Hollywood) affects how we interact with foreign cultures. Americans traveling abroad, as a rule, assume that other cultures differ from their own, and that other people see the world differently, communicate differently, and value different things. Indeed, this is one of the most attractive for us, as Americans, when planning a trip abroad—we want to experience something new and exotic cultural.
Guides know about it and play it, perhaps beyond reality La difference, often to such an extent that their culture seems almost prohibitive for American visitors. Countless Asians I’ve met have gone to great lengths to explain how their culture is very different from America, and how it will require a lot of time and energy for an American to truly understand and appreciate these differences. In turn, I watched countless American tourists are showing the wonders of humility and respect for those customs and beliefs. It is obvious that the Asian tour Guides to understand how this paradigm works in their favor—the more exotic and “other” of their culture seem to be more enchanted and respectful Americans will, and, of course, it is more likely that they will spend money.
But this method is mutual? Asians and other peoples respect, or even interested in, the nuances and complexities of American culture? Not really, I found. Indeed, most of the Americans I met in Asia, presumably they already knew almost everything worth knowing about American culture and society. There is likely a reason for that. In the same CBS report says:
Generations in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America grew under the influence of the US superpower and felt awe and envy. America permeated their lives—comics and Cola, through Hollywood and Neil Armstrong, and via the Internet, iPhone and Facebook. It was seen as the land of plenty, freedom and equality, where Indian migrants could lead the giants like Google, Microsoft and Pepsi, and South Africa can capture the imagination with an electric car.
Decades of commercialism is brought to the mainstays of American culture in the shops and homes of the rest of the world. No country in history—not Ancient Rome, colonial France or the British Empire—is seeking to impress its image worldwide, as the United States. Indeed, for the most part of the 20th and 21st centuries, we export not only our products but also our political and socio-cultural philosophy: democracy, rights-based law and free markets, to name but a few. And after 75 years, we have substantially, if quite imperfect, has fulfilled this mission. The “American experiment” has largely become an experiment in the world.
While the rest of the world often doesn’t understand America or to estimate its complexity. My close friend, Australian, described in the Hollywood movie, starring Jennifer Lawrence, what’s happening in the Appalachian mountains: “Winter’s bone.” Besides the movie not really happening in appalachia (properly pronounced, by the way, “APPA-latch-uh”). It’s about the Ozarks, about 700 kilometers. Of course, these two places share in common—both, for example, was populated by Scots-Irish and German immigrants. But they are different regions and different cultures. Bluegrass music is not born in Arkansas.
The same can be said of other “provinces” across America. It’s easy to see the differences between new York and California, or the Chicago native and comes from New Orleans. Accent, cuisine, ethnic heritage, manners and regional history are still far apart, even in our era of mass media and modern travel. In addition, non-Americans often think that the racism inherent in the South (thanks, Hollywood!), largely ignorant “white flight” and is deeply rooted bigotry that still plague Northern cities like Boston and Philadelphia. Due to the success of American commercialism, they are familiar with American holidays and traditions, such as Christmas, Halloween and Valentine’s Day. But by and large they have little concept about how all of this relates to America specifically the Judeo-Christian heritage of religious origin. At least, for most Thais, there is no debate about “putting the Christ back in Christmas”—it was never there in the first place. In their celebration of these festivals, as in the products they buy, foreigners often think that they take on aspects of American identity, effectively “becoming American.” It should not be.
As an American citizen, I just can’t participate in the ceremony, to buy the product, or to learn the language, and all of a sudden to declare himself an Italian, Nigerian, or Chinese. I can’t go to the country to get a job, and to assume another nationality. Like any diligent student from another culture will tell you, even after many years in the society, carefully absorbing its language and customs, local people will still perceive you as an outsider. It is a natural, almost primordial tendency in humans performs an important function for Group cohesion, solidarity and survival. And yet America is largely due to a system that works against it. We made it harder to maintain a sense of shared American identity, from the city to the provinces, with a high level of income is low and recent socio-political events have made clear. America today suffers largely because we can’t agree on what it means to be American, and whether or not that identity is something separate and unique from the world in General. As in the Ancient Roman Empire in its decadent final centuries, we have sold our identity to the world, and now the whole world is working to undermine it.
There is no simple answer or solve the issue. As Roosevelt once quipped: “Remember, remember always that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionaries.” America is really a nation of descendants of immigrants—even the native Americans immigrated here thousands of years ago. It is definitely a source of strength for us, and it’s hard to imagine America without the contributions of these successive waves of Irish, Italian, and more recently, Latinos and Vietnamese, among many others. Moreover, this tendency to pluralism, is so ingrained in our national history, it is a direct rebuke to the opinion of the citizens of many countries that consider the US as “intolerant.”
Some features still seem to bind us together as Americans, unique from other Nations. In the same report, CBS said: “the Americans also saw from afar, like a generous tip, friendly, [and] unpretentious.” In addition, we are the “bearers of freedom, equality, creativity and technological power.” That, I suppose, is worth something, although I would argue that there should be religious, spiritual and/or metaphysical aspect of American identity. Despite the diversity of religious views and beliefs in our land, we still need some form of public religion some appeal to the transcendent source of life—to unite us. The belief that “givenness” top involves life as a gift, and the subsequent “right” to participate in the common good. This, I would suggest, is more important than a “right”to privacy, possession of firearms, or sexual or gender identity, which determines our modern discussions.
One evening when we lived in Bangkok, my wife and I went on a date to a restaurant/bar that played American movies on the big projector screen. Upon entering, we were greeted by friendly, South-East Asia. As carefully instructed by other Southeast Asian natives, I gently bowed and pushed my hands together (called “Wai”), and greeted him in Thai. He smiled and said, “hell, I’m not Thai, I’m a Texan!” with the appropriate accent. “Broke both knees playing football in high school. Made good money with a startup company and decided to cash out and try my luck at the restaurant in Bangkok. Do you like burgers?” My wife and I spent the next few hours chatting about our shared American true Texan (of Vietnamese origin) eating red meat while watching “Ferris Bueller’s day.” I have only partial answers, that defines a unique American cultural identity and how to preserve and cultivate it. But, of course, what we experienced that night, this indicates, about the American experience that is worth defending.
Casey Chalk-a student in the graduate school of theology Notre Dame a Christian College.
Sourse: theamericanconservative.com
