Understanding the US (was Re: [UA] Greetings)

[sneadj at mindspring.com]

Epoch <msulliva at wso.williams.edu> wrote:

> On Wed, 16 May 2001, James O'Rance wrote:
> 
> > Epoch <msulliva at wso.williams.edu> said:
> > 
> >  >>>please do consider the idea that your "reasonable handle on
> >  >>>American 
> > cultures" might just be about as reasonable as the handle Americans
> > have on Australian culture through /our/ media.<<<
> > 
> > I am considering the idea. I always consider that I might be wrong,
> > it's part of my beliefs that knowledge is tentative  :)
> > 
> > My statement was based on the following:
> > 
> > I watch more American television than Australian television, and
> > this is not uncommon. There's a lot of it, not counting films.
> 
> Quantity doesn't really impress me much.  If there were 30 clones of
> the Crocodile Hunter on the air in the U.S., and I watched all of
> them, would I have a good handle on Australian culture?

Except that to a large extent, US TV is both a wellspring and a 
reflection of US culture.  It's exaggerated, but it's mostly all there.
Given how much TV the average US citizen watches (~25-30 
hours/week for adults of working age, more for kids and old people) 
this is hardly surprising.  I have found that TV is far better for this 
purpose that movies, especially big budget Hollywood films (which 
are often designed for international appeal). 

> > In addition, American political news and current affairs have very
> > high profile in Australian news. We generally have a good idea of
> > what's happening in the US. Even when it's completely irrelevant,
> > like the Clinton impeachment, we get decent news coverage.
> > 
> > Do many Americans know who the Australian PM is? The Opposition
> > leader? How does our electoral system work?
> 
> Do you know who the governor of California is?  Our Senators?  Are you
> familiar with our direct democracy legislative systems?  How about New
> York?  California has half again the population of Australia, and New
> York has roughly the same population.

If he knows any of those answers he's well ahead of most folks 
here in the US (including a rather shocking percentage of people in 
the California and New York).  

Also, why all the criticism, all the comments I remember James 
making about the US have seemed pretty accurate.

-John Snead sneadj at mindspring.com

_______________________________________________
UA mailing list
UA at lists.uchicago.edu
http://lists.uchicago.edu/mailman/listinfo/ua