We all love to hate America
by Matt Critton
Let me start off by saying I am proud of my roots. Yes, proud to be an American.
Perhaps coming to new Zealand has helped to strengthen my feeling of patriotism towards a country that is constantly slammed and ridiculed for being the big brother of the new world.
We have all heard the saying that with power comes responsibility, but with power also comes envy, hatred, and finger pointing towards those few who control it.
I am approached because of my easily recognizable American accent, and am quickly transformed from an open-minded globe traveler into a punching bag for an entire nation. As if all that is wrong with the world is my fault.
I try my best to be an understanding ambassador for America, but there is only so much reason I can hand out.
I have grown tired of hearing how America is killing everything that is golden in this world. Yes, Americans have made some bad choices throughout the years, but so have a lot of other individuals from a lot of other countries.
Part of what makes this contempt so difficult for me to take is not that I bleed red, white, and blue, but that evidence of the American culture is so prominently embraced throughout New Zealand, especially in Auckland. We are thousands of kilometers from the streets of America but I can almost guarantee that if you were to drop average Joe America onto Queen street he wouldn’t be able to tell if he was in Columbus, Ohio, Austin, Texas, or Auckland.
Whether you like this or not, too bad, because these are the facts of life. America is one of the most powerful, influential countries in the world. Yes, we make mistakes, but so do you. So, you can hate America all you want, but then think twice about bobbing your head when J.T. comes on at the club, or the next time you are sipping on a tall white chocolate mocha from Starbucks, or perhaps lacing up your new pair up All Stars…
…For as much as you love to hate America, it is impossible to ignore our contributions to society, whether you consider this a blessing or a curse…
Obviously I am a bit biased because I too am an American…. but I agree with the points in this piece, and I feel very much the same way.
I think many of us find it hard to separate the politics from the people. We judge and stereotype all too often.
I met a really nice American a couple of weeks ago. He’s a journalism academic from the Missouri School of Journalism.
His name is typically American, Fritz Cropp, and I wondered what to expect when we met up at Soul in the Viaduct for a drink.
Fritz had done his homework: after reading my blog, he knew that I was partial to the odd Martini or three.
So what did we do? We bonded over a handful of vodka martinis. I didn’t blanche when he said he liked his liqour sweet - bianco instead of the traditional dry vermouth.
After a couple of rounds we were best mates. Then we started talking about politics and I reaslised that there is hope in the world.
Fritz had some good things to say about the war in Iraq and I was pleased when he mentioned that on one he knew thought the American occupation was going well.
Next time you meet an American, engage them in a political conversation. This is, in my view, the best and quickest way to sort friend from foe.
Oh, dude. I get the impression there are two Americas; the one that buys the line and the one that doesn’t.
America’s foreign policies are scary and it’s political systems and ideologies seem retarded, but that’s not your fault.
It’s true you yanks are the target of a lot of lazy, flippant abuse, but I don’t like the idea that a person is judged by the actions of all her/his countrywomen/men.
Man, I agree we eat up American culture and we love it. It’s Americas greatest export. Some of it’s cool, some not. The list of cools may out-way the lames, but that’s a long list that I don’t have time to make (by the way, neither Starbucks nor America invented cafes or espresso).
However, there is the question of global cultural hegemony and whether the superficial choices made available to us by America’s version of capitalism gives any choice but to consume American culture.
I don’t know whether wearing Nikes, a baseball cap and dancing to JT while dissing the States is as hypocritical as you imply.