(no subject)
The US elections have attracted much more, and much more polarized, media attention here than the previous ones that I can remember. While Bush has not done a single thing that even remotely impressed me, and while I believe that such power should not be in the hands of somebody who strikes me as intellectually so very plain, I must say that most things I heard were anti-Bush rather than pro-someone else. I admit I know little about Kerry, but tend to think that anything must be better than a continuation of what is going on now.
The news here have too often portrayed the US as a huge mass of non-thinking patriots with a few rare intellectual exceptions. My friends list, however, has always provided me with a very different impression. Which may partly have to do with the fact that I wouldn't read the journals of people who don't think, but also with the black&white picture presented in the media.
[Even though when the war on Iraq began and Germany did not support it, I have been kicked off the friends list of one person here. She had previously started a revoltingly brainless "I'm an American, and so I will support my president no matter what he does!" series of entries, and I got the strong impression that I was removed from the list not because my writing bored her, but because she assumed 1. that I would also automatically support my political leaders and their views and 2. that criticizing the war (which I did not think was justified, but which I did not mention here) automatically equalled criticism for the USA as a whole. Both of which I find ridiculous, so that I certainly wasn't sad to lose that 'friend', but the way of thinking still makes me feel both furious and helpless.]
As important as the US may be for international politics, I feel quite irritated by the fact that now, too many Germans act as if they were experts for American politics. They think they know what is best for Americans, they slap their foreheads in irritation when hearing opposing views, they start heated discussions and patronize all US citizens they can get their hands on.
At the same time, there is a complete apathy when German politics are involved. We don't have gigantic crowds of volunteers who would spend much of their free time helping their favorite candidate to get elected. In fact, there aren't any favorite candidates.
It's easy to shake our heads at the education level of the average American - easier than to think about the fact that Germany's scores in comparative analyses of school systems are falling rapidly. Our unemployment rates are scary. Our social welfare system is still better than its American counterpart - but it's about to collapse. Americans may often appear far too arrogantly patriotic to us, but our own attitude towards our country is quite messed up as well. And so on.
So easy to criticize others. So uncomfortable to concentrate on the problems you'd actually have the power to solve.
(Still I'm curious about the outcome of the election.)
The news here have too often portrayed the US as a huge mass of non-thinking patriots with a few rare intellectual exceptions. My friends list, however, has always provided me with a very different impression. Which may partly have to do with the fact that I wouldn't read the journals of people who don't think, but also with the black&white picture presented in the media.
[Even though when the war on Iraq began and Germany did not support it, I have been kicked off the friends list of one person here. She had previously started a revoltingly brainless "I'm an American, and so I will support my president no matter what he does!" series of entries, and I got the strong impression that I was removed from the list not because my writing bored her, but because she assumed 1. that I would also automatically support my political leaders and their views and 2. that criticizing the war (which I did not think was justified, but which I did not mention here) automatically equalled criticism for the USA as a whole. Both of which I find ridiculous, so that I certainly wasn't sad to lose that 'friend', but the way of thinking still makes me feel both furious and helpless.]
As important as the US may be for international politics, I feel quite irritated by the fact that now, too many Germans act as if they were experts for American politics. They think they know what is best for Americans, they slap their foreheads in irritation when hearing opposing views, they start heated discussions and patronize all US citizens they can get their hands on.
At the same time, there is a complete apathy when German politics are involved. We don't have gigantic crowds of volunteers who would spend much of their free time helping their favorite candidate to get elected. In fact, there aren't any favorite candidates.
It's easy to shake our heads at the education level of the average American - easier than to think about the fact that Germany's scores in comparative analyses of school systems are falling rapidly. Our unemployment rates are scary. Our social welfare system is still better than its American counterpart - but it's about to collapse. Americans may often appear far too arrogantly patriotic to us, but our own attitude towards our country is quite messed up as well. And so on.
So easy to criticize others. So uncomfortable to concentrate on the problems you'd actually have the power to solve.
(Still I'm curious about the outcome of the election.)