More Country Bashers

My last post was about British expats who claim to hate Britain, saying it has gone to the dogs, and what a terrible place it is to live. I agree with some of the comments on the post - I really do think that some of these people are trying to justify their moving here by denigrating the country of their birth.

But it's not just the Brits - in case the rest of you thought you were getting away with it scot free!
The American expats are exactly the same. It's weird, because normally Americans are the most patriotic nation in the world, as far as I can see. But the ones I've met here are all too quick to criticise the US - the people, the country, the politics etc. In the past American expats have criticised their country's presidents because, I think, they feel it is expected of them in order to be accepted by other people. "Oh yes well, I hate Bush too you know", "All Americans are loud, brash and fat - except me", "America is a terrible place" - as if that will make them accepted in a community.

Well...politics has been an issue until now. And here I get into dodgy territory. I am delighted that Obama won the election - truly delighted - it was an historic moment in world politics, not just American politics. And I think that he will be a breath of fresh air on the world stage, and hopefully do a lot of good for both the country and the world. When he won the election I will freely admit that I had a tear in my eye. The US, and many other countries too, do not have a great history when it comes to race relations. It is only 40yrs since the assassination of Martin Luther King, and the Civil Rights Movement wasn't exactly popular - as far as I know - I am surmising here on the basis of what I learnt at school in the UK.

However, I do not think he is the new messiah. He has been put on this pedestal and, no matter what he does, he surely cannot meet the unrealistic expectations that a lot of people have of him. He has an extremely difficult job ahead of him, and there will be many people who are only to quick to criticise what he does.

The wave of hysteria, when he won was unbelievable, even here in France. On one hand, I totally understand that - it is one of the defining moments of our generation, if not the defining moment. However, there's this little part of me that feels that there were a lot of people over a certain age who were, perhaps, acting a little hypocritically. After all, some of these are people who grew up with segregation and saw nothing wrong in it. OK, maybe they've seen the error of their ways, or maybe they are covering up their true feelings because it's not PC.

I don't want to offend any of my readers, many of whom I am aware are from the US. If I have done so, then I apologise. I don't even understand US politics - if anyone out there can explain what the difference is between Republicans and Democrats I would be delighted.

I do believe that Obama will bring in a time of enormous change - however I do not think he should be placed on a pedestal purely because of his colour. First and foremost he has a job to do - and whether he does it well or not, he should not be judged on his colour alone, but on his ability to do the job of President.

I've strayed off topic a little here. The USA is no more a bad country than the UK. Yes, it has it's faults, but so do all countries. In fact, America is a huge country - on a scale that most Brits cannot even begin to comprehend - and there is so much beauty in it. I have only visited a tiny part of it, but there are so many places that would love to visit. I would love to see the coastline of Maine, visit North Carolina, see the Mayflower, go wine tasting in Napa, see the Golden Gate Bridge, visit Montana, travel down the Mississippi on a paddle steamer (this may be a dream - don't even know if you can do that!), or visit the Ben & Jerry's factory in Vermont (?). In fact, I may move in to the Ben & Jerry's factory! People think of the USA as California and New York - they don't necessarily have the imagination to wonder at the scale or beauty of the country, and the friendliness of the people.
As I said before, people come here and reinvent themselves, and the American expats are no different. But USA bashing, or UK bashing is completely unnecessary. We should embrace other cultures, but in order to do that, we should accept and embrace our own, and be proud of where we come from, and not deny our own roots.

Here endeth today's rantings.