I taught in the USA for a year in 1979/80. That was a very enjoyable and interesting experience. I had lived and worked in the USA for short periods prior to that (in 1971 as a dishwasher) but had not been there long enough to immerse myself in the culture.
Being English I share a common language. That gives the illusion that our cultures are similar. They are not. I rapidly found that I actually culturally share more in common with my European cousins than I do with Americans.
The first hurdle was religion. In England Christianity is dead. The churches are empty. As an atheist that suits me fine. In the USA I rapidly found that religion permeated everything.
Then we have nationalism and patriotism. In England we have a cynical attitude towards those who rule. While some love the monarchy others want it kicked out. As for the country and our history many of us are ambivalent. I certainly don’t condone much of what went on during our colonial days. It was violent and racist. Neither do I support an establishment that deployed the troops, profiteered and stripped the wealth back to their palaces and mansions while the bulk of the country lived in terrible slums. So the pledge of allegiance, saluting the flag was an amusing joke.
Religion and patriotism seemed like a brain washing exercise to me. I didn’t think that would be nearly as effective as it proves to be.
I watched from outside. In my Biology lessons on evolution I had dour-faced parents with egg-timers checking that I spent 50% of time on creationism. I treated this as a joke.
I listened to my black and Hispanic students regale me with their stories. We had racism in England but not gangs with guns like in LA. Not the massive drug problem and battles with the police. (I guess we’re getting there now). I listened to the stories of shoot-outs, to the discussions on weapons – machine guns for heaven’s sake! This sounded nuts to me.
America always had that nutty side – the Wild West attitude, the religious extremism, white supremacy and Nazi stuff. It looks to me from outside as if the internet has fuelled it with conspiracy and reinforcement and Trump’s cynical populism has harnessed it, magnified it, empowered it, and brought together a set of disparate groups. He’s united the white supremacists, evangelicals and NRA and QAnon has turned conspiracy mainstream. Never realised there were so many nut jobs!
