Attempting to be a "social commentator", I am sincerely hoping not to put my foot in my mouth by writing this post. Because the world seems to have been consumed by the US election (and I have been following this subject with keen interest), I thought I might add my two cents worth. Maybe my observations won't even rate that highly (!), so I am happy to stand corrected. For more understanding of this situation, I would really welcome feedback from the readers of this blog, preferably those with American connections.
"They're a Weird Mob" was actually an Australian novel set in the post-war period. Our hero, Nino, was an Italian journo dispatched to the Antipodes to write about Australians and their way of life for an Italian audience who might wish to emigrate. He quickly discovered that there was a vast chasm between his knowledge of both the people and the Australian form of English and his reality. I can't help feeling that my understanding of Americans might be as discombobulated as Nino's of Australians.
My view of Americans and the election process has been coloured by access to reliable media coverage. I have tried to engage with the non-partisan press, but that avenue has sometimes been very difficult to navigate. As a result, I started reading those commentators who might be considered on the fringe. Sites such as Medium and WTFJHT (What The F*#k Just Happened Today) have become must-reads to stay informed. CNN and the Observer have been other sources I have explored, along with the Guardian, New Daily and Australia's Independent Media Network (AIMN). Lastly, the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) has been my constant companion as I have tried to muddle my way through the maze of an election that takes up most of an entire year.
The broad character of some Americans that I have witnessed may point them towards a self-fulfilling prophecy of chaotic separatism. Americans seem to be passionately partisan in their thinking, rigid in their views, with the sense of individual rights overriding their decisions. Their patriotism and nationalism (even within their own state boundaries) don't add to communal pride that is constructive for all.
The universality of affordable health care, education and housing keep being A Bridge Too Far. The debate about gun control polarises the country. Public health messages through the COVID19 disaster are taken as an affront by some and an attack on their human rights. Their lack of knowledge about the rest of the world is mystifying. Are they not interested in becoming people of the world? My opinion about America is of a country that marches to the beat of a different drum but is hesitant to compare itself to other countries objectively in case they are faced with different, awkward and uncomfortable questions about themselves.
The United States? Make America Great Again? Or We Are America? As long as the American Average Joe (no reference to Mister Biden) has a pathological fear of any idea that has a sniff of "Socialism", I can't see how either of these slogans can heal this country.
Please give me some positive hope that democracy can somehow be resurrected in the (Dis) United States.
Is this how Americans feel?
Excellent advice to us all...
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