Two emails this week from old pals regarding the election:
"Ich verstehe das amerikanische volk nicht....wiekann man nur so dumm sein? Ich werde niemals in die usa gehen. What a shame....i can`t understand your country....excuse me but i can`t find the words."*
--Dani Meier
"I can assure you, that really a lot of people see very well that, people voted for Bush because they trust him and not because they basically support his beliefs. Probably it is very difficult for americans to get a view of the bigger picture because they have never been out of the country and they only hear the us- news. For us it is so normal to hear the news and read the papers from all europe. The fundamental problem in europe is, that we don't have ben and jerry's ice cream."
-- Michael Leibundgut
*TRANSLATION for the linguistically-challenged: "I don't understand the American people -- how can someone be so dumb? I will never go to the USA."
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3 comments:
It doesn't suprise me that someone from Switzerland cannot find the words to describe our country and more specifically, this last election. The election was ran as a war campaign for Bush and a smear campaign for Kerry with a sprinkling of Vietnam "heroism" to compete. (bring on the flames! *wink *wink)
A country that has no such elections on these premises and who remains neutral just won't "get it", for lack of a better phrase, when the issues turn towards wartime foreign policy.
I mean no disrespect to you or your friends but since when does traveling abroad have anything to do with voting for our president and seeing "... the bigger picture"?
U.S. news does cover world events as does European television. Does this imply that people who do travel abroad have the "big flick" and would vote for Kerry? I am just trying to see the angle of Michaels post.
Although I have never been to Europe, my 17 years in the Navy has afforded me travel to the Western Pacific rim countries. My new sea command might afford the opportunity to see some of the Middle East. Anyway, my travels abroad contributed to voting for Bush because I have seen how people in other countries live. Maybe I'll make a relevant post to this topic on my blog and show some images of the places I have seen but I would have to dig them out and scan them (pre-digital era of my life).
Anyway, again I mean no disrespect and I know that my style of writing comes off as crude and opinionated. Not that I am apologizing for my writing, just giving some an explanation because tone and non-verbal actions are lost in text.
Well, let me say that I lived for a year in Zurich. The Swiss, to be blunt, are not neutral out of some high-minded principle. They are neutral because they are arrogant sons of bitches who consider everyone else's affairs none of their own business, and vice versa.
Though obviously there are cultural differences, there are similarities. Were Switzerland to operate on an electoral college-type system, you would see a map that looks very much like the U.S. Urban centers like Zurich, Basel and Geneva are fairly progressive, at least socially. The more remote areas, particularly in the center of the country and the eastern border with Austria, are deeply traditional, xenophobic, and intensely Protestant. (I was going to say "passionately," but "passionate" is not an adjective that can be used to describe a Swiss person in any sense.)
Anyway, that was just a little observance on my part. Maybe you were confused because I took Dani's quote out of the larger context, though truthfully it was a short email and most of it was personal. (Ahem.) But he was only asking a question that a lot of people in Europe are asking (as well as 49% of the American voters): how is it that a man who took his nation to war under false pretenses won re-election?
As for the effect that international travel has on one's outlook, I think it's an important conversation to have. A lot of people don't give pollster Zogby a lot of credit since he had Kerry ahead consistently in the electoral vote and confidently projected a Democratic win. As it was, he was only off by 2% of the vote, so it's not like he's an incompetent charlatan. Anyway, one thing he discovered along the way is that an overwhelming proportion of Americans who hold valid passports -- I think it was like 70% -- were Kerry supporters.
The reason is that I think pulling the rug out from under yourself and experiencing different ways of life and giving yourself the chance to view America from abroad is intensely valuable. Two days after the election, the NY Times ran an article about how Manhattanites felt about the election. One resident theorized that our living in constant, close proximity with people of every race, ethnicity, religious and social persuasion forces you to be more open-minded. You realize that people don't live up to their stereotypes...oh, about 100% of the time.
You know, I'd like to ask these people in Red America who voted for Bush, do you KNOW any Muslims personally? Or, do you KNOW any homosexuals? I'd be very curious. (And frankly, I'd bet their answer would be wrong to the 2nd question...they probably have no idea their mailman/bus driver/church secretary is a sodomite.) Travelling abroad broadens your horizons. It may only confirm the beliefs you already had, but at least you've got some life experience to back it up. Also, travelling abroad puts a FACE on people in foreign countries. It's not just "the Swiss" or "the Japanese" or "the Arabs." When you begin to be able to see people as individuals, Bush's worldview falls apart.
And as far as the news goes, if you were to regularly check out the BBC or Le Figaro or the Neue Zurcher Zeitung, you would see that they just AREN'T reporting the same news that FOX is. Truly, they get a different perspective. And so should we.
I understand the thesis of your post: People who travel abroad are more open minded than those who don't. However, most people don't have the luxery of most Europeans who backpack across that region when they are 19 years old and gather all kinds of life experience.
I must say that I am a better person for having extensively traveled the rim of the Western Pacific but had I not done so I would have still voted for Bush regardless of the misconception that he took us into the war under false pretenses.
Living in Hawaii has alos afforded me a melting pot environment, although probably not to the extenxt of NYC. I remember having a nice conversation with a street vendor near the hotel I stayed at about 5 blocks from Times Square. Now, I wasn't into politics and stuff 8 years ago or I would have had a different conversation. But your poiint is well taken in that diverse cultural surroundings make people more open minded, I would have to disagree, however, with your 100% stereotyping statistic.
I am immersed in the Asian culture ("Oriental" is now a cultural faux pas) here in Hawaii and if nothing else, the 12 years I have lived here have reinforced the stereotypes. Some are good and some are bad I admit but when I see a car going 10 mph under the speed limit on H-1 and do not see a head above the headrest of the seat I have to automatically think "old Asian woman". The sad thing is that I am right 80% of the time. I am really trying to work on this negativity because so many times I have read a book by its cover and regretted it. The locals out here have been nothing but polite and courteous in my 12 years stay. But, it is the few bad apples that ruin it for everyone. Most Muslims are given a bad rap and labeled extremist asshole just because a few decide to bomb our country and soldiers.
Anyway, sorry for that off topic paragraph since I made my point in the first sentence or two. I'm just a tangentical thinker; it's a curse sometimes.
Your 70% of passport holders voting for Kerry statistic is interesting. What is also interesting is that the 1 million plus servicepeople who trvel to other countries under orders do not need a passport when they pull in. I don't know what that would do to those stats or where that would even make an impact. Just another variable I guess.
In your last sentence, I don't see the correlation between gathering life experiences by traveling abroad and the crumbling worldview of GWB. I can make a lot of assumptions but to save server space you can address comment if you want to discuss it further.
I have to admit, still, that Europeans do not understand the U.S. even though they may travel here from time to time. The Ben and Jerry's comment may have been a quip but a lot of foreigners see us a a bunch of hamburger eating, orgy having, spendthrifts. Why did Bush get reelected after allegedly bringing us into war under "lies" and "innuendo"? Because he is the right person to be in office at this time in history.
The November 15, 2004 issue of Time had a thought provoking piece that summed up a lot of the predictions about this election. One of the predictions that held was that a wartime president would not be unseated. What is more peculiar about this comment is that none of the 5 presidents (I think it's 5, i threw the magazine away so forgive me if my numbers are off) who have been in office during a war were not reelected.
Another prediction was a large turnout by Dems. If I could make that buzzer sound on Family Feud I would.
John Kerry is a good speech giver and can wrap his thoughts up eloquently. Not good enough apparently.
No president ever won an election without carrying Ohio. True that. Go Buckeyes!!
This was kind of dumb and has no indication whatsoever of a reelection analysis but it was proven untrue nonetheless: A president with a 4-letter last name has never won reelection. Bush did despite his predecessors Taft, Ford, Polk, and, of course, Bush Sr.
I thought the Redskin loss to Greenbay was a stupid attempt to sway the election analysis. Although the anomoly was correct since the 1930's, Bush upset that record too.
So these predictions certainly weren't scientifically based and I thought they were entertaining at best. I can only hope that after a GWB win the Blue states will heal over time and come back to being red, white and blue with the rest of the country.
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