A reminder of the good things

In light of all of the chaos in the world right now, I am taking a break from travel blogging and posting a little piece that my Canadian-Aussie-Qatar-resident friend Mark wrote for me a few months ago. I thought we could use a reminder of all of the good things for which America stands.
It's the first of two parts, hence the abrupt ending.


A non-Americans’ view on American exceptionalism.

I was born in Canada, the national pastime of which is finding ways to define oneself as not American. So for example, in Canada, unlike America we have; Celine Dion, Shania Twain and free health care while Fox News and other hate mongering programs are banned as a matter of national pride and decency. In spite of the daily brainwashing on the evils of America, many thousands of Canadians visit the United States, work there, shop there etc. Some even marry Americans and secretly many of us know that the US is not really all that bad. In fact, we kind of like it.

The United States of America stands alone in many ways. There is the strength and size of the US economy and military. Add to this the cultural influence that America has in areas as diverse as feature films, automotive styling, sports and even cable TV and it becomes clear that the USA simply cannot be ignored.

There are many in the world like myself who welcome this influence wherever it is found. But there are others from whom it seems nothing good can be said of America.

Hence the American embassy here in Doha Qatar, is the most heavily guarded complex in the city, with the possible exception of the Emir’s palace. There is an on-going low level war with those who hate America for being, in their eyes, the embodiment of everything decadent and unholy. Although, it seems that America’s main crimes are that it allows people to say and do, come and go, buy and sell, basically whatever they like as long as no one is injured. Worse still, these freedoms which date back to the time of George Washington, are now extended to both genders.

If George Washington did not exist he would have to have been invented. The reluctant President was eager to serve but reluctant to take and hold title. Much to the dismay of the European aristocracy, Washington shunned suggestions that he become the “King of America”. No doubt influenced by Thomas Payne, the last thing Washington wanted for America was a monarchy. Washington set the pattern for the American way. That is a nation that does not shrink to take on responsibility and leadership in the world but at the same time does not seek to rule and dominate other nations. Washington and his colleagues, the founding fathers, sought to create a ‘light on the hill” to inspire the world.

So it is not surprising that the USA, having arrived at a point of military and economic supremacy at the end of World War 2, sought no opportunity to colonize the world but rather implemented the Marshall plan in Europe, and set conditions and provided support in Japan and Germany so that they could develop into powerful trading partners. It is also no surprise that the United Nations would be based in New York and to a very large extent funded by the USA.

The United States has come a long way from the time of George Washington and even from World War 2. Many of the incidents in American history are not so inspiring as the gentleman president and the light on the hill. During a period of expansionist European colonization, the USA also expanded, displacing Native Americans. During a time when slavery was practiced worldwide, it was legal in America. When European powers were warring with each other for foreign territory, America went to war with Mexico and later Spain and annexed large territories including most of the western USA, but also Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines.

But somehow America has always seen its way through, justice through rule of law and the will of the people have prevailed. So that now the Native Americans have land rights, and legal recognition, the slaves were freed and given voting rights and Cuba and the Philippines were given independence (notably before most European countries gave independence to their colonies).