For love of a country.....
Created | Updated Apr 12, 2003
Time for another rant.
I just spent the last two years of my life living in Brittain (no England and Brittain are not one and the same). A little place called Lincoln in Lincolnshire, England.
I have to say that I went there with my stereotypes and misconceptions, thatched roofs, cups of tea at a pre-ordained 'tea time', cheesy 'Are you being served' comedies and snooty outlooks on American 'colonials'.
Needless to say, they were all quickly shattered.
Granted, tea is consumed in great quantities throughout the day, but certainly not at 'tea-time'. It took me months to grasp the concept that 'tea-time' was, in fact, dinner.
I recently moved back to America, much to my chagrin. I'm now in Pensacola, Florida and started to miss England the second some f*****g american opened their mouth on the gangway to the plane in Heathrow.
Now I am quite deeply entrenched in America once more. Witty bumber stickers abound, a Kmart on every corner and (down here in the deep south) a church and/or liquor store next to it.
But my yearning for england was not to go rampant for long! It seems that in a new rash of American network 'original' programming, I was to be awash in new shows! But they weren't new. Nope, I had just seen them all in England. Only, they were funnier over there.
Survivor? BBC's shipwrecked, aired a year previous and filmed two years before that.
Who wants to be a millionaire? Been aired for years over the pond. And there wasn't even an attempt at creativity here, the set, music and even Regis's edge-of-your-seat 'Is that your final answer' were all photocopied from the original program.
Who's line is it anyway? Clive Anderson had been hosting that show for YEARS previous, and even Ryan Styles (admitedly American) was a long time participant. Once again, same set, games and themes.
It's a shame we can't 'borrow' other British attributes along with their programming. Such as, a little refinement.
Brits are fully aware of a world existing outside their borders. Americans are regularly amazed at news reports from the outside world and that many nations are as advanced as they are.
What percentage of the American populace can tell me what year the Falklands war started? How many died? Why did it start? Who is Agusto Pinoche? Why is he of concern?
Case in point: I was watching an episode of 20/20 one day. Questions asked were of international concern.
Questions incorrectly answered-
What other nations have a monarchy besides England? Who is Tony Blaire? What is the currency of the EU? What is the EU?
Would you believe that many didn't even know that Ireland was as independant nation?
Questions correctly answered-
What are the names of the Teletubbies? What are the names of the Spice Girls? And the like.
Many questioned gleened much of their history from movies and television. Imagine the mirth of my British comrades when watching a british comedian interviewing several Americans about history. One such educated American proceeded to inform the viewing audience that, indeed, William Wallace impregnated the future queen of England, thus placing a scottish b*****d son on the British throne in his ascention.
Hats off to those boys who managed to steal the German Enigma machine from a Nazi sub. Yeah, it sure was great to see our boys doing what had to be done. Only one problem.... The brits did it first. It must be said that the movie DID put a little blurb at the end of the movie about it. But then who could take the time out of their viewing pleasure to note that the date of the English aquasition was roughly a year prior to 'U-571'.
I digress.
Let's look at social climates.
US: Gang war and poor education.
England: Even if you multiplied the population of England to match that of America (multiplying the reported crimes and educational rating along with it) you couldn't come close. Figures and stats will have to be added at a later time, but for the sake of argument let's say that given an equal population, the crime rating per capita in the US would be 25 times that of our British cousins.
Only Russia and South Africa rival that.
The list goes on, and this is a work in progress. All comments are welcome. But let's keep the patriotism down to a dull roar.
Take away the Star Spangled Banner and what do you have? A capitalist nation driven by consumer indexis and cost overhead. Only problem is that in a capitalist environment geared entirely towards 'cash money' only those with capital can afford the protection provided by a safe community and non-labor involvment with that consumer market.
All countries, in the course of their lives, define themselves. Every country (even the ones who find their governments usurped by anarchy and coup's) on the planet has almost completely defined itself by now. Except the very young gem that is America. And judging by the way America is headed I would hate to see the dictionary that defines her in one hundred years.
Please excuse me, I must pack my bags and emmigrate.
I just spent the last two years of my life living in Brittain (no England and Brittain are not one and the same). A little place called Lincoln in Lincolnshire, England.
I have to say that I went there with my stereotypes and misconceptions, thatched roofs, cups of tea at a pre-ordained 'tea time', cheesy 'Are you being served' comedies and snooty outlooks on American 'colonials'.
Needless to say, they were all quickly shattered.
Granted, tea is consumed in great quantities throughout the day, but certainly not at 'tea-time'. It took me months to grasp the concept that 'tea-time' was, in fact, dinner.
I recently moved back to America, much to my chagrin. I'm now in Pensacola, Florida and started to miss England the second some f*****g american opened their mouth on the gangway to the plane in Heathrow.
Now I am quite deeply entrenched in America once more. Witty bumber stickers abound, a Kmart on every corner and (down here in the deep south) a church and/or liquor store next to it.
But my yearning for england was not to go rampant for long! It seems that in a new rash of American network 'original' programming, I was to be awash in new shows! But they weren't new. Nope, I had just seen them all in England. Only, they were funnier over there.
Survivor? BBC's shipwrecked, aired a year previous and filmed two years before that.
Who wants to be a millionaire? Been aired for years over the pond. And there wasn't even an attempt at creativity here, the set, music and even Regis's edge-of-your-seat 'Is that your final answer' were all photocopied from the original program.
Who's line is it anyway? Clive Anderson had been hosting that show for YEARS previous, and even Ryan Styles (admitedly American) was a long time participant. Once again, same set, games and themes.
It's a shame we can't 'borrow' other British attributes along with their programming. Such as, a little refinement.
Brits are fully aware of a world existing outside their borders. Americans are regularly amazed at news reports from the outside world and that many nations are as advanced as they are.
What percentage of the American populace can tell me what year the Falklands war started? How many died? Why did it start? Who is Agusto Pinoche? Why is he of concern?
Case in point: I was watching an episode of 20/20 one day. Questions asked were of international concern.
Questions incorrectly answered-
What other nations have a monarchy besides England? Who is Tony Blaire? What is the currency of the EU? What is the EU?
Would you believe that many didn't even know that Ireland was as independant nation?
Questions correctly answered-
What are the names of the Teletubbies? What are the names of the Spice Girls? And the like.
Many questioned gleened much of their history from movies and television. Imagine the mirth of my British comrades when watching a british comedian interviewing several Americans about history. One such educated American proceeded to inform the viewing audience that, indeed, William Wallace impregnated the future queen of England, thus placing a scottish b*****d son on the British throne in his ascention.
Hats off to those boys who managed to steal the German Enigma machine from a Nazi sub. Yeah, it sure was great to see our boys doing what had to be done. Only one problem.... The brits did it first. It must be said that the movie DID put a little blurb at the end of the movie about it. But then who could take the time out of their viewing pleasure to note that the date of the English aquasition was roughly a year prior to 'U-571'.
I digress.
Let's look at social climates.
US: Gang war and poor education.
England: Even if you multiplied the population of England to match that of America (multiplying the reported crimes and educational rating along with it) you couldn't come close. Figures and stats will have to be added at a later time, but for the sake of argument let's say that given an equal population, the crime rating per capita in the US would be 25 times that of our British cousins.
Only Russia and South Africa rival that.
The list goes on, and this is a work in progress. All comments are welcome. But let's keep the patriotism down to a dull roar.
Take away the Star Spangled Banner and what do you have? A capitalist nation driven by consumer indexis and cost overhead. Only problem is that in a capitalist environment geared entirely towards 'cash money' only those with capital can afford the protection provided by a safe community and non-labor involvment with that consumer market.
All countries, in the course of their lives, define themselves. Every country (even the ones who find their governments usurped by anarchy and coup's) on the planet has almost completely defined itself by now. Except the very young gem that is America. And judging by the way America is headed I would hate to see the dictionary that defines her in one hundred years.
Please excuse me, I must pack my bags and emmigrate.
