America IS Better.

My friend recently posted this on her blog:

It made me think. (Which, is always a good thing). Here are some excerpts I found interesting.

in comparison to the European’s lack of instructional literature on the matter, we are bad at being expats.

Are Americans bad expatriates? More importantly, are we a deficient culture overall? Does our insatiable thirst for the American Way blind us to the true scope of the world around us?

expatriate (k-sptr-t): a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person’s upbringing or legal residence

Of course Americans are bad expatriates. We live in a culture where singularity does not exist. There's options everywhere. Culture, here, can't be defined in one dimension. The only singular word you could attach to American culture is variety. Anywhere else in the world, a country's culture is defined by one to three branches of sociological influences.

Spain, for example, has mostly "Spanish" roots with French, Bask and Italian influences. People speak Spanish, French or a dialect of the two. (And English, but that's a completely separate blog entry.) They have mostly traditional Spanish dishes and mostly Spanish traditions. Basically, they have patterns and behaviors that are tied to one basic culture. My point is it's simple in its culture dimensions.

AMERICA? Ha. Ask 5 "Americans" to give you a description of typical cuisine, social habits, language or traditions and you'll get 5 different answers. There is no simplicity here. America is a pool of the world's residents. We're tolerant, multiracial, and have a multiethnic polity. I can go get Hummus dip, carne asada and crepes, on my lunch break with a side of chicken chow mein and McDonald's french fries---all on the same street. Oh, and the owners of all those places can be illegal immigrants with equal civil rights.


So, no shit. When an American travels abroad and sees there isn't a varied culture--- we can get a little pissy. "Wait, so there's no where I can get a bean and cheese burrito?" We're spoiled. When we travel to the rest of the world, its hard for us to assimilate because we don't comprehend having only a dominant culture comprised of few cultures.

Her post continutes and she questions...

the reasons as to why Americans really receive this [bad] reputation. The circular reasoning always came back to the notion of American exceptionalism;

According to wikipedia, American exceptionalism is the theory that the United States occupies a special niche among the nations of the world in terms of its national credo, historical evolution, political and religious institutions, and its being built by immigrants. The roots of the belief are attributed to Alexis de Tocqueville, who claimed that the then-50-year-old United States held a special place among nations, because it was the first working representative democracy.

AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM, sounds pretty fucking great to me. Hell yes, we're damn proud that we're a special niche in terms of historical evolution, politics and religion. Because of American exceptionalism: My mom's a beaner and my dad's a Spanish conquistador, my one of my best friends in the world is Filipino, I get to date outside my "race", OBAMA'S my president and BIDEN is his bitch, and my favorite food is sushi.

She continues...

their perception of America as a murky figure of self-motivated concerns, unconcerned with the events and dealings of the world around them.[But we're]the exception to such generalizations, because we are the Americans that took the initiative to get out of America and see what else there is in the world.

First: Pretty sure, whenever there is any "world crisis", panic strikes and somehow the US is the first EXPECTED to "do something (!!!!!)." It may appear that we function on self-motivated concerns and not care about the rest of the world.... but its the opposite. I can best explain it thru the cheesy love quote: "To love others, you must first love yourself." Same thing with America, gotta make sure the homeland is doing well before I go save the rest of the world.
Second: Those generalizations are rooted from ignorance, so its a full circle. But nonetheless, Americans can't break the generalizations by going out and seeing the world. In fact, they'll never break them. Because they are true. The issue at hand, is the lack of understanding the rest of the world has. If i didn'tl ive in the US, I wouldn't get it either. The beauty that comes from traveling abroad, is the gift of understanding. When you visit someone's home, you get a better idea of who they are.

Taking the initiative to see the world doesn't gain you "America" points on some global ambassador chalkboard; it gives you insight and knowledge for understanding others. AND that goes for ANYONE who travels. By traveling the world, Americans can only further reinforce the idea of "American exceptionalism." Seeing places with three-dimenional culture allows them to come home embracing and appreciating the American culture-- the only country in the world comprised of all the world's cultures.

Long story short, foreigners think we're ignorant because we don't travel enough. Jokes on them because we live and enjoy the world right here at home, with everyone whose left their homeland to come to OURS.