It's the day before the 2012 US Presidential election.
It's being billed as the tightest election since, well, the last one actually. Even more than last time, the country seems totally divided by their choice of candidate. Tempers are getting flared, strong opinions expressed. I even saw a tweet this morning saying that the author wasn't voting for Obama because "He's a stupid Mooslim communist [n-word]. Honestly being a [n-word] is enough for me." I was absolutely staggered when I read that. It would be prefectly legitimate to disagree with Obama's policies but I didn't realise that there were really people Neanderthal enough to hold views like that but still work a a computer.
Some people from the US have even told non-US tweeters to mind their own effing business with regard to the US election. I can understand this, to a point. I don't think we British would be too overjoyed about people from outside Britain trying to influence the 2015 election. The problem is, the US is not, in practice, as insular as it thinks it is. It is certainly not some tony little island which has little influence on the rest of the world. What happens in the US sends ripples, shockwaves and Tsunamis around the rest of the global population. America sets the agenda for the rest of the world in a way that virtually no other country does.
I like America very much. I enjoy being there whether it is for work or not. I get along well with the vast majority of people I meet. A couple of my closest friends are American. The mindset of America (as opposed to individual Americans) is interesting. I heard this morning on BBC Radio 4 that Obama has been criticised for not giving an unreserved endorsement of "American Exceptionalism". This is a phrase which according to some, means that the USA has a God-given destiny, a place above and beyond all other nations, superior to all. Obama has this to say about it in 2009:
I'd like to think that American voters (especially supporters of Romney) would look at this data and wonder if they are looking at the issues in the correct way. Instead, I worry that some (like our cave-dwelling racist I quoted earlier) would deliberately and specifically vote the opposite way. It seems extremely odd to me that in 2012, a major political candidate can be criticised for not being arrogant enough to think America is special.
This might be a good point to mention that whilst working in America in the past 10 years, I have been asked, on two separate occasions in two different States, what language we speak in England.
Sometimes I just can't identify with the logic of some aspects of the American system. I'm from a country that's had a National Health System since 1948 although our present Prime Minister is trying his hardest to abolish it. It seems a minimum criteria for any civilised country, let alone one that preaches its version of morality, democracy and human rights around the world, to have universal healthcare. It amazes me that America, where the Constitution states that all men are created equal, has made it to the 21st Century before universal healthcare becomes available.
In fact, in briefly researching the US Constituion, I found this:
A person from Republicans Abroad speaking on the BBC's Question Time last week said that the country couldn't afford universal healthcare due to the size of the deficit. This is the same deficit that George W. Bush created by giving tax breaks to the wealthy and going to war. He inherited a budget surplus from Bill Clinton. Would George W. Bush and his Republicans have backed universal healthcare in 2001, with or without 9/11? Of course not. I'm assuming that it's this same universal healthcare that earns Obama the perjorative tag of Communist.
Take a look at the next graph. [source]UK public debt, as a percentage of GDP, was almost 250% when the NHS was created. We still created it, and sustained it until this year. It doesn't take a great leap of logic to say that a healthier population works better, with corresponding increases in GDP. In fact, in the years following the creation of the NHS, public debt went DOWN even though the public purse was now paying for the NHS!
America - the country that can afford to go to war in other countries and kill hundreds of thousands of civilians, but can't afford to provide decent healthcare services for its own citizens.
Welcome to the priorities of the American Right in 2012.
It's being billed as the tightest election since, well, the last one actually. Even more than last time, the country seems totally divided by their choice of candidate. Tempers are getting flared, strong opinions expressed. I even saw a tweet this morning saying that the author wasn't voting for Obama because "He's a stupid Mooslim communist [n-word]. Honestly being a [n-word] is enough for me." I was absolutely staggered when I read that. It would be prefectly legitimate to disagree with Obama's policies but I didn't realise that there were really people Neanderthal enough to hold views like that but still work a a computer.
Some people from the US have even told non-US tweeters to mind their own effing business with regard to the US election. I can understand this, to a point. I don't think we British would be too overjoyed about people from outside Britain trying to influence the 2015 election. The problem is, the US is not, in practice, as insular as it thinks it is. It is certainly not some tony little island which has little influence on the rest of the world. What happens in the US sends ripples, shockwaves and Tsunamis around the rest of the global population. America sets the agenda for the rest of the world in a way that virtually no other country does.
I like America very much. I enjoy being there whether it is for work or not. I get along well with the vast majority of people I meet. A couple of my closest friends are American. The mindset of America (as opposed to individual Americans) is interesting. I heard this morning on BBC Radio 4 that Obama has been criticised for not giving an unreserved endorsement of "American Exceptionalism". This is a phrase which according to some, means that the USA has a God-given destiny, a place above and beyond all other nations, superior to all. Obama has this to say about it in 2009:
My interpretation of this is that Obama believes in the best of America in the same way that Brits are passionate about Britain, which would seem to be a fairly reasonable position. From this quotation, and from my impression of his Presidency, doesn't seem to think that America is superior to other nations, morally or otherwise. Again, I think that's a sensible view and might explain why Obama is extremely popular around the world:"I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism."
I'd like to think that American voters (especially supporters of Romney) would look at this data and wonder if they are looking at the issues in the correct way. Instead, I worry that some (like our cave-dwelling racist I quoted earlier) would deliberately and specifically vote the opposite way. It seems extremely odd to me that in 2012, a major political candidate can be criticised for not being arrogant enough to think America is special.
This might be a good point to mention that whilst working in America in the past 10 years, I have been asked, on two separate occasions in two different States, what language we speak in England.
Sometimes I just can't identify with the logic of some aspects of the American system. I'm from a country that's had a National Health System since 1948 although our present Prime Minister is trying his hardest to abolish it. It seems a minimum criteria for any civilised country, let alone one that preaches its version of morality, democracy and human rights around the world, to have universal healthcare. It amazes me that America, where the Constitution states that all men are created equal, has made it to the 21st Century before universal healthcare becomes available.
In fact, in briefly researching the US Constituion, I found this:
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." (Emphasis added)
A person from Republicans Abroad speaking on the BBC's Question Time last week said that the country couldn't afford universal healthcare due to the size of the deficit. This is the same deficit that George W. Bush created by giving tax breaks to the wealthy and going to war. He inherited a budget surplus from Bill Clinton. Would George W. Bush and his Republicans have backed universal healthcare in 2001, with or without 9/11? Of course not. I'm assuming that it's this same universal healthcare that earns Obama the perjorative tag of Communist.
Take a look at the next graph. [source]UK public debt, as a percentage of GDP, was almost 250% when the NHS was created. We still created it, and sustained it until this year. It doesn't take a great leap of logic to say that a healthier population works better, with corresponding increases in GDP. In fact, in the years following the creation of the NHS, public debt went DOWN even though the public purse was now paying for the NHS!
America - the country that can afford to go to war in other countries and kill hundreds of thousands of civilians, but can't afford to provide decent healthcare services for its own citizens.
Welcome to the priorities of the American Right in 2012.
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