American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
It's hard to describe to Americans who haven't experienced it what reverse culture shock feels like. It's a culture shock that shouldn't be a culture shock because this is your culture. It forces upon you the realization that the reason you feel like a foreigner everywhere isn't just because you are, in fact, a foreigner.
The headlines about America--which of course I've been studying from Turkey--led me to expect something different. I expected to find everyone screaming at each other about the economy. I keep reading, after all, that "Americans are angry."
You would not think that I, of all people, would make this mistake, but I suppose I forgot that what I say to Americans about the news from abroad also applies to the news from home: Angry people make the news, happy or indifferent people do not.
In fact, not one person I've met has brought up the subject of the economy spontaneously since I arrived. When I bring it up, the general reaction is abstracted and distant. You'd have no idea from any conversation I've overheard so far that debt ceiling negotiations are taking place. Some people are paying a bit more attention, but I can't make sense of their reaction to it--I don't mean this intellectually, I mean this emotionally.
I truly can't make sense of the affect, or lack thereof, that I've seen so far. Does this apparent lack of emotion represent "quietly terrified, but amazingly stoic?" Or does it represent "completely indifferent?"
What I expected to encounter--what I braced myself for--were "stupid but passionately held opinions." What I'm in fact encountering is no opinion, or a fairly realistic assessment of the seriousness of this debate and its implications--but no visible emotion about it.
Anyone want to help me understand what this means?
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Sep '10
Re: American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
You're in Seattle, right?
Apr '11
Re: American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
I have been following these events very closely - combing the internet for every available scrap of information. Any article more than an hour old is old news to me. But I have gone on two mini vacations recently for family reunions. On both occasions over 20 people have spent the weekend together and issue hasn't come up. Either it's not on their radar, or as in my case, despite tremendous concern, I go about my business working and playing.
Re: American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
Yes, and I'm not doing what I'd usually do--going out to a lot of different neighborhoods, speaking to a lot of people. I don't know how representative this is.
Nov '10
Re: American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
I think it's an issue of understanding. People view the debt ceiling debate as just a discussion of the machinations of government. It's not the kind of singular issue that people can rally around, it's too mired in details. I don't think most people have established a narrative in their own minds about whatever opinion they might have, because they don't fully understand the implications of raising or not raising the debt ceiling. In my own experience I've found one guy, a Democrat, who was willing to talk passionately about the debt ceiling and he agrees with most of us: it seems inevitable that they will raise the debt ceiling and some deal will be struck, but dangit, it's infuriating that's gotten to this point. That's one guy out of the many that I talk to. The rest are as you say, they simply have no opinion.
Re: American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
It's very interesting, again, to see the disjunct between what you'd believe of a country if you were only hearing about it in the news and what it really looks like when you step off the plane.
I'm not saying that what I'm seeing is all of America, of course not, but there's no way you'd guess that any of America was this seemingly detached from this debate if you only learned about America from studying its press.
Jun '10
Re: American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Yes, and I'm not doing what I'd usually do--going out to a lot of different neighborhoods, speaking to a lot of people. I don't know how representative this is. · Jul 20 at 6:12am
Don't lead us into the Conor Friedersdorf trap where he pronounced the new Sarah Palin film a flop because a midnight showing on a Thursday when Harry Potter also opened was virtually empty. It's just impossible to take the pulse of the American people because you have chatted with a few people after arriving here a doy or two ago.
I could make a guess about what appears to be indifference --- People are just not in the mood to engage in contentious political discussion. The debt ceiling issue is one of the least complicated topics in today's political debate, but it is impossible to discuss it without juxtaposing two extremely different world views as the rationale for what action one supports. We're in the middle of a heat wave here in Jersey, and nobody wants to raise tempers any higher. Beach. Beer. Steamers. Burgers. B-B-Q. That's how we temporarily escape.
Re: American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
I experienced this kind of cultural shock twice in my life -- when I returned from Oxford, where I was a Rhodes Scholar from 1971 to 1974, and when I returned from two years in Turkey (1984-86). It was decidedly odd being a stranger in my own country.
The key thing, Claire, is that Americans outsource politics. Some of us pay attention almost all of the time. Most of us do not. Every couple of years we wake up, take notice, make a decision, and go back to sleep. Most Americans are still in sleep mode.
The negotiations over the question whether the national debt limit is to be lifted are a snore. If the Republicans stand their ground, No-Drama Obama will no doubt try to electrify the country, and he will have the media behind him. But the month will be August, and everyone will be at the beach. Interest on the debt will be paid; soldiers, sailors, and those on Social Security will get their checks; and parts of the government will be shut down. No one will notice. Would you miss the Department of Education?
Jun '10
Re: American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
It's not like we have much to say about it. Our lords and masters in Washington will decide what's best for us. Our role is to whistle past the economic graveyard and keep walking.
Sep '10
Re: American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
Most Americans don't view themselves as indentured employees for life of USA, Inc. with King Barack of the Obamamites as their elected sultan and occasional CEO, in between golf dates. The idea that government actions completely foreclose their future opportunities is quite alien to them: they believe in free will as well as free choice. And the northeast of the US has a different vibe to it -- it seems that being one coast away and so heavily influenced by south east Asia gives those denizens a different take on reality.
I heard the coffee's good too.
Nov '10
Re: American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
It's safe to say that a good one third of the U.S. population sense a possible (if not imminent?) doom to the whole economic situation. Of that one third, I'll wager a significant percentage feign indifference out of simple "American optimism" and the desire not to be political in public.
They're more "quietly terrified" than indifferent.
(And "amazingly stoic" I'd say is a standard that rarely applies to any human being).
Edited on Jul 20, 2011 at 7:03amFeb '11
Re: American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
I felt reverse culture shock when I moved back to the States after living in West Africa for several years. Enter a room, turn on a light switch, and it always came on in the States. Not have to worry about police roadblocks and have the "tip" money in your wallet to get through the roadblock when driving around town. I was back in the States about a month and did get pulled over. I handed my entire wallet to the cop, and he looked so stunned. Then I thought, oh, yeah, I'm not in Africa any more.
I'm not surprised there isn't alot of talk about the debt ceiling. It is rather an abstract thing at the moment. And like Prof. Rahe said, who's going to miss the Dept. of Education or notice if it's closed? Will it delay the start of the school year? Unlikely.
The Republican $9bn budget cuts that just passed the House is a great move. Sets up elections nicely. But nobody is going to be talking about it much. That's one of the things I've always liked about the US -- Politics just doesn't matter very much.
Sep '10
Re: American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
"What, me worry?" The vast majority of the nation is in denial. It hasn't noticed that the America we grew up in is over. The lives of our children will see less wealth and far less liberty. Or else, most have simply bought into the delusion that the federal government is indeed omniscient and omnipotent; that a little more smoke and mirrors will make everything fine again. That is why it takes either a crisis (affecting everyday lives) or the MSM blaring about a problem day in and day out for a months (repeatedly, as when Bush was president) to get anyone's attention. Most of the reporting of the "debt crisis" takes the angle of the mere political "gamesmanship" of the negotiations, not the substance. Ron Paul has it right: default will come in the form of worthless dollars. Grandma will receive her Social Security check. It may even be enough to buy an entire loaf of bread every month.
Aug '10
Re: American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
You're a journalist and asking this question as you exit the echo chamber into a side street of domestic torpor. Have you seen "The Adjustment Bureau ", be sure to take a hat ?
Re: American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
Paul A. Rahe:
The key thing, Claire, is that Americans outsource politics. Some of us pay attention almost all of the time. Most of us do not. Every couple of years we wake up, take notice, make a decision, and go back to sleep. Most Americans are still in sleep mode.
That hasn't historically been true, unless my sense of "history" is completely colored by the same principle--"only angry people show up in history books."
I have early memories of everyone, I mean everyone, being riveted to Watergate. I was too young really to understand it, but I knew it was in the air and all anyone was talking about. Reconstructing this memory, it seems obvious to me that there was a huge, popular level of political engagement around me. What I remember about being five-and-a-half years old in summertime is "ice cream," "getting stung by a bee" and "Watergate."
Is this, objectively, less important to America than Watergate?
Jun '11
Re: American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
The reason Ricochet is valuable is that it's the place where these heavier conversations can take place. But I sure don't think any less of the folks in my little community because our topics of conversation are more along the lines of... who fixed your A/C and are they any good?... can you imagine what this month's electric bill will be?, Lawd!.... has that coffee place opened where the expensive ice cream place went out?... what are we gonna do about this crabgrass?
If I brought up the latest drama in DC down at the bait & tackle shop it would only be for the giggles and grins it would elicit. Of course, I've been in Seattle a lot and it isn't much like where I hang my cap, so your mileage certainly may vary.
Jan '11
Re: American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
Exactly. The people I know who are paying attention are not indifferent - we are worried, and we differ loudly and passionately about how to address the looming debt, but we've already done that debate and run out of ways to express our opinions, so we don't talk about it that much.
And the people I know who aren't paying attention - of whom there are a lot, this being Austin - tend to assure me they're doing their part about the problem by thinking beautiful thoughts and improving the collective aura of humanity.
So I don't talk about it to them, either.
Feb '11
Re: American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
There's the media version of things--which is to create crises to sell advertising--and then there's people living their daily lives.
I'm in San Francisco for the summer, and the only political thing I've noticed is that America's most liberal city is the least diverse place I've ever been: nothing but middle class and upper middle class white people, since they've priced all the minorities out of the city. Don't hear political discussions at all, just things like "I'm dating him but not feeling the sexual vibe."
Just got back from Paris and Rome and there's no American tourists there at all. That's the only sign I've seen of the recession and 9.2% unemployment. If people are concerned and worried and constantly debating these things...well, those only people seem to be columnists and news reporters.
Re: American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
Why not?
Would you think less of people who, as Margaret described, assured you that they were "doing their part about the problem by thinking beautiful thoughts and improving the collective aura of humanity?"
If not, why not?
Apr '11
Re: American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
Claire, I'm completely with you here on this. I think it's not only pitiful, but really dangerous the lack of interest. I get the feeling that the vast majority of people don't know what's going on, don't want to know what's going on and just want some deal struck so they don't have any of their Casey Anthony coverage pre-empted by this boring debt-ceiling stuff.
This is the end game of creeping statism - In '72 everyone is interested in Watergate, you wake up in'11 and noone cares about the looming debt crisis. Mark Steyn brilliantly points out in "America Alone" that the crazy thing about the nanny state is that citizens go crazy if they lose one of their 500 channels, or Itunes raises song prices by $.01, but couldn't care less about end of life healthcare or crushing debt burdens. They just want the state to take care of these uncomfortable things so they can go on playing the latest game on their Xbox or Ipad. In this nanny state, we are all children with childish attitudes. Watch out because the poopy's ready to hit the fan!
Oct '10
Re: American Culture: Can I Buy a Vowel?
Claire, what I it thinks it means is that unless we can persuade Paul Ryan or someone of his ilk to run--that is, someone that can present the urgency of our financial condition to the people without being crushed by the media machine--we are probably not going to have a Republican president. Those willfully ignoring it and those just not interested will follow the MSM portrayal of the issue when the time comes and pull the lever for Obama.
Reverse culture shock can sometimes be wonderful. At the end of April, we moved back to the States after ten years on a Bahamian out-island and going to the grocery is the most fantastic experience. On our first shopping trip to stock our larder, we had laughing fits. And we're not foodies, or at least we weren't. First-world supermarkets are an absolutely glowing testament to the glories of efficient capitalism, if anyone would bother to notice. Our first couple of weeks, we returned not less than eight times. I was a little embarrassed to see the check-out girls day after day.
Coming soon: My report on the glories of American fat farms.