I just read quite an interesting article thanks to a link on Facebook. The name of the article is "The 10 things Americans don't know about America." (That may not be the word for word title, but that title does sum it up) To read the article for yourself, just follow this link http://postmasculine.com/america. I found this to be a great read, but I also found fault with it. Now I am not going to be going through all 10 points and break everything down. I don't have the time and I know that nobody wants to read a post that would end up looking like a small novel.
Before I say what I didn't like, I want to first point out what I did like. I liked the fact that this person made it clear that in the grand scheme of things, other countries don't care about us. This meaning that they don't like, or hate, us nearly as much as the media, including the Internet, wants us Americans to think. People in other countries are just like us; they have jobs, families, and lives to attend to, they don't sit around thinking about America just like we don't sit around thinking about their countries.
Now my biggest issue was being compared to the alcoholic relative that someone dislikes being around. Now I know that within the article, the author pointed out that they are not perfect either and that every country has issues, but it is like when someone says "No offense but..." knowing that whatever they are about to say will be offensive. I know that since the author is an American, or so it was claimed, they are just showing tough love, and the article says this, but it also seems like a bias is showing. Another analogy that is used is when a person moves out and after being around other families, notices the weird things that their family did. They may also discover that some of the values were flat out wrong. Now while I somewhat agree, I have also learned through personal self-experience that when you are separated from your family due to something like college, you see what your parents had correct all along. You will also see what was wrong, but if you came from a good family, then the good outweighs the bad. (I know not all families are good/functional, so that's why I put a bit of a disclaimer)
I know that America is far from perfect, but I just got the feeling that the author saw more bad than good. Not only does this contradict my experience when I traveled to Japan, it also contradicts what I've heard missionaries tell when they return. In both my experiences and theirs, they spoke how much the people liked being around an American. I think the biggest thing this article failed to touch on was the fact that most people don't hate Americans, they hate the American government. To that, I say get in line and join the party cause most of us here feel the same way. What I would like to find out is if the reason why people from other countries dislike the American people is due to actual interactions with Americans, or if it is due to what happens on the Internet? If it is due to the Internet, then I will laugh since it is hardly fair, or justified, to base judgement on an entire country due to what someone does online since the whole issue of anonymity online causes people to act in ways they never would online.
Now the author did point out that part of the dislike is due to the odd way most people in America express themselves. While I agree to an extent, that is also just a culture difference. I know that in Japan for instance that making direct eye contact during the entirety of a conversation or interaction can be taken as offensive. In America, we're taught the opposite. Avoiding eye contact makes people think you're hiding something or that you dislike the other person speaking.
I know that I don't have a large audience to speak to with my blog, but this is something I wanted to speak on because as an American, it just rubbed me the wrong way reading everything that is wrong with this country without listing positive with it, or at least something redeemable. I know the author most likely did not want to offend, or at least I hope not, it still slightly came across that way. Like I said at the start, I enjoyed this article because it is nice to have voices from different views. A person learns and becomes a better person from seeing what others say. A person shouldn't just seek out sources that agree with their opinions either since it doesn't help them in seeing what other people may think. For those reasons, I enjoyed the article.
I know that I didn't cover the entire article, just like I said I wouldn't at the start, but if anyone believes I missed a big point that needed addressing, feel free to comment. If you want to know my opinion on the history aspect of the article, I will share. I didn't mention it since it would seem random with the rest of the post.
So, like always, don't panic, and never forget your towel.
