Is England Anti
American?
By Dwight Longenecker
As
an American who has lived in
England for over twenty years
I have discovered four kinds
of anti-American attitude. The
first is anti-American jokes
or anecdotes. English people
love to tell stories about the
dumb American tourist with camera,
cigar, loud trousers and a louder
wife. My favourite is the conversation
overheard as a couple stepped
from a tour bus in Parliament
Square. As she squinted in the
sunshine, the good lady from
Iowa saw the Houses of Parliament,
clutched her husband’s arm and
shrieked, ‘Look Sidney It’s Oxford!’
Every
country has stupid tourists because
every country has stupid people.
There are equally amusing stories
of Basil Fawlty-type Englishmen
shouting at French waiters in
English hoping that the increased
volume will increase comprehension.
Every country sends their loud,
vulgar people abroad. In this
respect, do not English youths
on Spanish beaches make American
students seem like paragons of
modesty, sobriety and good manners?
It is true that Americans abroad
are sometimes gauche, ignorant
and loud. But when making these
jocular observations the English
must always remember that one
of their own most famous exports
is the football hooligan. When
it comes to jokes the fun can
be poked both ways, and there
is nothing wrong with this sort
of badinage between affectionate
cousins.
The second
sort of anti-Americanism is, however,
more trying. This is the perennial
tendency amongst the English
to be snobbish towards Americans.
No matter how educated an American
is, the Englishman will regard
him as an ignoramus. This is
because, as T.S.Eliot observed, ‘The
Englishman uses language as poetry,
even when he is being practical,
and the American uses language
as a tool, even when he is being
poetic.’ As a result most English
people think Americans sound
stupid. This misapprehension
causes the English to constantly
underestimate and misunderstand
both individual Americans and
the whole American culture.
Time and
again the English make snobbish
comments
about the stupidity, vulgarity
and violence of American culture.
The English think snobbery is
a witty form of social interplay.
But because we use language as
a tool we think snobbery is either
rude or that it indicates a personality
defect. As such, we believe snobbery
demands a sharp rebuttal. As
C.S.Lewis’ American wife Joy
Gresham said when she suffered
a waspish put down by one of
the dons at Oxford, ‘Are you
being rude on purpose or are
you just stupid?’ When will the
English learn that snobbishness
is neither big nor clever? It
is simply embarrassing. Don’t
snobs realise that anyone with
even a smattering of maturity
and self confidence can see right
through them to recognise their
snobbery as a pitiful masks for
personal insecurity and social
inadequacy?
The third
sort of anti-Americanism is blatant
bigotry. Rather than jokes or
snobbery, America is attacked
for a whole political, economic
and cultural reasons. Never mind
that the attacker has rarely
taken the trouble to inform himself
with facts or the complexities
of an alien culture. It is good
enough for them to resort to
slogans, caricatures and the
broad smash and grab of satire.
In this posture America is the
great Satan. Americans are only
interested in pillaging the world’s
resources, manipulating the world’s
economic system, exploiting the
poor, dominating the weak and
imposing fundamentalist Christianity
on people made vulnerable by
their ruthless hegemony. I am
shocked at how many seemingly
intelligent commentators in the
British media assume such bigoted
opinions. These anti-American
attitudes are not simply amusing
or annoying. They’re dangerous.
It doesn’t take a genius to realise
it was the same kind of crude
propaganda that prompted the
fanatics to fly airliners into
the World Trade Centre.
Where does
such bigotry originate? I believe
it arises from the natural human
instinct to criticise the man
on top. Its natural to be suspicious
and antagonistic towards the
rich and the powerful. If the
top dog is not only invincible,
but wields his power with a sense
of moral righteousness the outrage
is even worse. When this human
instinct descends to petty jealousy,
bigotry and discrimination it
becomes destructive. When it
leads people to be closed minded
and aggressive it can be dangerous.
However,
this same basic instinct can be
used
as a right and proper check to
unlimited wealth and power. There’s
actually nothing wrong with being
suspicious of those who wield
enormous power. Rich and powerful
people should be criticised.
When anti American attitudes
are thought through and expressed
rightly, they provide a good
balance to the invincible power
of America. And that brings me
to the fourth form of anti-Americanism.
The final form of anti-Americanism
is actually a proper criticism
of America. Not all the criticism
is the result of ignorant and
immature jealousy.
This is
why the international diplomacy
of the
Pope is so important. The Pope
actually loves America, so his
criticism is all the more potent.
Furthermore, he speaks from a
worldwide perspective and with
over twenty-five years’ experience
on the international stage. Most
importantly, he speaks without
an ulterior political and economic
agenda. The Pope is not jealous
of American power and wealth.
He doesn’t need to win an election.
He has no plans to exploit the
oil wealth of Iraq.
Neither is the
Pope a simplistic pacifist. In
the Iraqi conflict he is not
in favour of appeasement. The
Pope sees the need to resolve
the terrible situation in Iraq,
but he insists that the use of
military force causes more problems
than it solves. Pope John Paul
II has seen harsh regimes fall
without resort to war. In Poland,
the Philippines, Czechoslovakia,
Romania and Albania the regimes
crumbled from within.
The Pope’s criticisms
show us the proper way to criticise
those with invincible wealth
and power. The Pope’s method
of criticism deliberately avoids
naming names. He doesn’t criticise
America. He criticises greed.
He doesn’t condemn America, he
condemns what he sees as the
unjustified use of military might.
In other words, the Holy Father
teaches us to condemn greed,
duplicity, cruelty and the unjust
use of power wherever it occurs.
If such criticisms apply to America
so be it. Americans must have
the courage to listen to their
critics. Then with intelligence
and clear vision they must not
only reply to their critics,
they must also question their
own aims, motives and means,
remembering that the only people
who are always wrong are those
who think they are never wrong.
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