Americans: Good people with bad publicity

Submitted by Catherine Parker

I feel compelled to provide another perspective on Tony Jackman’s “Ten places I’d sooner live than have a green card“. At the heart of Jackman’s argument is that American society is so off-putting that he’d rather live anywhere else than there. Two years ago, I would have agreed wholeheartedly. After all, who in their right minds would want to jump through a thousand legal hoops to live in a country surrounded by a bunch of reality-TV-watching, McDonald’s-scoffing warmongers? Certainly not me.

But then, as fate would have it, I accepted a job in San Francisco — a destination I wanted to see so badly that the price of living among Americans seemed worth it. That was a year-and-a-half ago, and since then, something unexpected has happened: my opinion of Americans has completely changed. So much so, in fact, that it’s made me take a long, hard look at myself. I have realised that by prejudging Americans, I’ve been guilty of the same cultural ignorance of which I have so often accused them in the past.

The obvious disclaimer is that I live in San Francisco, without a doubt one of the most liberal cities in the US. It’s natural that I would be surrounded by people who are extremely open-minded and culturally aware. But beyond San Francisco, I’ve travelled extensively around the country and have found that Americans are just … well … nice. Obviously there are exceptions, and every country has its doos factor, but on the whole, I can honestly say that the vast majority of Americans I’ve met are kind, generous and openhearted souls. They have respect for human life, they believe that personal safety is a right, not a privilege, and they have a fairly cheery attitude about immigrants arriving in their country trying to make a better life for themselves. That’s more than you can say for many countries in the world, including most in Jackman’s top-10 list.

Most Americans I’ve met are acutely aware of how badly the rest of the world sees them. But what makes me respect them is that despite this, they are still proud of their nationality. They still believe in the ideals their country was founded upon, no matter how badly these are currently manifesting. It’s sad that their fervent patriotism has been taken too far and resulted in, among other things, the mess we now see in Iraq, but I still think there’s a lesson to be learnt somewhere here. As South Africans, we’re so quick to judge ourselves and criticise our country for all that is wrong with it. Why not just acknowledge we’re not perfect and be proud of ourselves anyway, without focusing on our faults the majority of the time?

A South African I’ve met here regularly criticises Americans in their company. Whenever we’re in a social situation, he won’t hesitate to tell them what the world thinks of them. What’s amazing is that most people here take these accusations with a huge amount of grace. I can’t help thinking that if I were sitting with a group of my friends in Cape Town, and an American was telling us how arrogant the rest of the world thought we were and was lambasting South Africans in general, we wouldn’t be nearly as accommodating. Face it — as South Africans, we’re extremely defensive about our country with its growing pains and teething problems as a young democracy. And that’s my point. Which country is perfect? I don’t think such a thing exists.

Of course the grass is not greener here. The social problems are serious, there is greed and materialism and this place is far, far from any idea of paradise. But what I will say is that most of us form our opinions of Americans based on what we see in films and on television. Until you’ve lived here, resist the urge to write off all Americans as bomb-crazy ignoramuses. That’s like saying all white South Africans are racist. As anyone who actually visits these places will know, those sweeping statements could not be further from the truth. If you set aside your preconceptions and take the time to get to know your average American, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Catherine Parker writes marketing-oriented and informational-oriented copy for corporate websites, as well as travel and restaurant reviews for print and online magazines