Writers From Around the Globe Reflect on America

8/13/2019 Writers From Around the Globe Reflect on America

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How They See Us


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How They See Us

Writers from Around the Globe Reflect on America

Edited by James Atlas

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Table of Contents

James Atlas

*ntroduction

Chris Abani

!i%eria

The American Em$ire< A :ibretto in Ei%ht o1ements

Ricardo AlarcBn de uesada DTranslated by 0ristina Cordero

Cuba

The essa%e

8ernando ;Fe DTranslated by 0ristina Cordero

ene uela

The United States and :atin America< *ne1itable !ostal%ia

ourid ;ar%houti

+alestine

Gi1in% the Harness ;ells a Sha#e

Abdel#ader ;enali

oroccoIThe !etherlands


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7ear America

Carmen ;oullosa

e/ico

arilyn onroe s +anties

7a Chen

China

A 7ouble :ife

*mraan Coo1adia

South Africa

A Good on#ey

GyKr%y 7ra%omFn

Hun%ary

The Truth about America

Terry Ea%leton

United 0in%dom

8iddlers and 8ailures

ictor Erofeye1


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Russia

Wild-;looded En1oys of the 8uture

Alberto 8u%uet

Chile

A Stran%er amon% Amon%Them

Larah Ghahramani

*ran

7reams of a Re1olution ;aby

U ma Aslam 0han

+a#istan

8la%%in% ulticulturalism< How American *nsularity orally Justifies *tself

AndrMi a#ine DTranslated by Geoffrey Strachan

8rance

A :esson for America

:eilah !adir

Canada

How * See America as an *ra3i-Canadian


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Gianni Riotta

*taly

Returnin% from E/ile

Tom Se%e1

*srael

The :and of the :on% Submarine Sandwich

Sunny Sin%h

*ndia

*n +raise of the 7elin3uent Hero2 or How Hollywood Creates Terrorists

Werner Sonne

Germany

*t Can Nnly Get ;etter

:uOs 8ernando erOssimo:uis erissimo DTranslated by Janet in :ee

;ra il

The Rift

About the Contributors


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!i%eria

The American Em$ire< A :ibretto in Ei%ht o1ements

Chris Abani

4

The consensus amon% st non-Americans seems to be that we all #now how to be better

Americans than the Americans There is of course a dis%uised en1y to this assertion *t

im$lies that we are more com$assionate2 moral2 inclusi1e 2 and refle/i1ereflecti1e The en1y

* refer to is sim$ly that of wantin% the %ains of America2 but none of the cul$ability for

wieldin% the $ri1ile%e these %ains brin%

There is a uni1ersal $ossessi1eness to the term P American Q and the im$licit lifestyle

it carries This $ossessi1eness imbues the conce$ts of America and American with a certain

1iscosity Why viscosity 2 and not fluidity 8luidity im$lies ease2 whereas 1iscosity allows

for friction and attrition as well as accumulation2 which allow for the contradictions in the

terms to e/ist in the first $lace The terms America and American ha1e come to su%%est

both a $lace and an identity This means that the thin#in% that mar#s one as American or a

$lace as America2 throu%h %lobal ca$italism and the s$read of America-dri1en

consumerism2 has become a1ailable and wides$read from rural Ar#ansas to 0enya and

Romania and Russia The ability to thin# of oneself as a conce$tual American is an

interestin% $henomenon2 and it leads outsiders to feel $articularly in1ested in the

in1esti%ation of the term2 $artly because of their connection to it2 and $artly because their

own ability to conce$tuali e themsel1es is now connected to the identity of America and

Americans This creates a stran%e sense of $ersonal betrayal on the $art of these non-nati1e

Americans when America undermines their idoli ation of it2 because it directly s$ea#s


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directly to their own identity How can one belie1e uncritically in a reli%ion that betrays its

adherents

;y their em$ire of mytholo%y2 a mytholo%y $ro$a%ated worldwide throu%h $o$ular

culture2 Americans ha1e made this $ossible We non-certified Americans can now

le%itimately 3uestion not only what it means to be an American2 but also what and where is

PAmerica Q N1er coffee in a Starbuc#s-clone cafM in Sara e1o2 raises a new 3uestion5 se1enty-fi1e years in $rison for ha1in% sou%ht out . $eacefully2

without wea$ons2 resortin% neither to force nor 1iolence information re%ardin% the $lans

of a number of anti-Cuban terrorist %rou$s that o$erate with total im$unity on American

soil

When * mention the names of Gerardo HernFnde 2 RamBn :abaVino2 Antonio

Guerrero2 8ernando Gon Fle 2 and RenM Gon Fle 2 many of the Americans * s$ea# to tell

me that they #now nothin% of this case or of the heroic sacrifice that these fi1e youn% men

ha1e made The fact that e1erythin% has been duly recorded in official documents that are

easily accessible is irrele1ant The fact that that $arliaments2 churches2 and humanitarian2

le%al2 and human ri%hts or%ani ations all o1er the world ha1e called for their liberation is

also irrele1ant The $rinci$al U S media or%ani ations2 Pinformati1eQ as they are2 ha1e said

nothin% about these fi1e martyrs any honest2 noble $eo$le in the United States ha1e

confessed to me2 3uite sim$ly2 P* didn t #now Q

* ha1e wor#ed hard to ma#e $eo$le understand that this matter is one of critical

im$ortance for the United States2 its $olitics 2 and its $eo$le A country cannot $retend to

wa%e a Pwar a%ainst on terror ismQ around the %lobe while $rotectin% some of the most

des$icable terrorists of all within its own borders2 and ruthlessly $unishin% those who

o$$ose their trans%ressions in the United States

The abominable acts of Se$tember 442 '((4 2 $ro1o#ed a most ustified indi%nation

in the United States Nn that day here in Cuba2 alon% with millions of other Cubans2 my

wife2 my dau%hter 2 and * we$t in $ain and an%er

We also felt $ain and an%er when we learned that in early ay of '(()2 in the city

of iami2 a $ublic tribute was held in honor of :uis +osada Carriles2 self-confessed


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terrorist and mastermind of uns$ea#able crimes that he himself ac#nowled%ed in his

autobio%ra$hy as well as in front-$a%e inter1iews $ublished by The New York Times on

July 4' and 4?2 4==) The e1ent was co1ered e/tensi1ely in the media +ain and an%er were

what we felt when2 in that terrorist concla1e2 s$ea#in% directly to the cameras and

micro$hones of iami s tele1ision stations2 r +osada announced the new criminal $lans

he was hatchin% a%ainst the Cuban $eo$le

A %reat :atin American $oet who was awarded the !obel +ri e once described

United States forei%n $olicy with two words< arro%ance and i%norance

There are other binary e/$lanations

N1er forty years a%o2 * was sent to !ew "or# as the Cuban Ambassador to the

United !ations There2 * shared countless unfor%ettable hours with many brothers who

ma#e their home in !ew "or# and who are $art of a %enerations-old tradition of emi%ration

that e/tends bac# to the days before the trium$h of the re1olution in 4=5= They are the

successors of many others li#e them2 who followed the 1ery same $ath lon% before the rise

of the Cuban nation

Nne s$rin% afternoon2 toward the end of a $arty amon% Cubans2 a com$atriot of

mine2 wi ened by many years of lon% wor#days in the factories of !ew "or#2 told me

about a secret he had been hidin% in his house for some time2 an ob ect that he wanted to

%i1e to me before he died2 now that Cuba was finally free and inde$endent

*n a humble room in the northeast corner of anhattan2 this man be%an to rumma%e

throu%h a trun#2 from which he $roduced a $icture *t was little more than a modest wooden

frame with a %lass $anel $rotectin% a document that2 by this time2 was o1er a century old *

read it


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The document contained a messa%e si%ned by Carlos anuel de CMs$edes2 the

8ather of the !ation2 the founder of the Cuban nation2 the +resident of the Re$ublic who

rose u$ in arms and who2 in 4)6)2 $roclaimed the liberation of all sla1es and launched our

nation s stru%%le for inde$endence and social ustice The words had been written for the

benefit of one of the re1olutionary clubs of the $atriotic Cuban Mmi%rMs li1in% in !ew "or#

*n essence2 CMs$edes sent his $eo$le two cautionary messa%es< on one hand he warned

them that the United States leaders were beholden to an oli%archy that as$ired to ta#e o1er

Cuba and that would always try to thwart its efforts for inde$endence2 and on the other

hand2 he also stated that the $eo$le of the United States had absolutely nothin% to do with

those im$erial $retensions2 that the Americans were a noble and %enerous $eo$le of a

friendshi$ and solidarity that the Cubans would do well to culti1ate

;efore me * had a letter that reiterated what the 8ather of the !ation had e/$lained

on so many other occasions2 somethin% that JosM artO would condemn twenty years later2

and that history would e1entually re1eal to be true ;ut how had it made its way to the man

who was now handin% it o1er to me2 a century later

any years earlier2 before World War **2 when he was a youn% man who had

recently arri1ed in the United States2 he had found a ob with a construction team2 almost

all of them Cuban2 whose wor# consisted of demolishin% old buildin%s and cleanin% u$ the

remainin% debris This was $recisely what they were doin% one day in a dila$idated

buildin% in :on% *sland when2 by accident2 they came across the $icture and rescued it from

a mountain of twisted scra$ iron2 colla$sed walls2 and dust

They decided to hold onto it ;elie1in% that it would be an insult to the memory of

CMs$edes to turn it o1er to the Cuban leadershi$ of the day2 they #e$t it under loc# and #ey

durin% the two ;atista dictatorshi$s and the corru$t administrations between them They


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#e$t it in their $ossession e1en after the trium$h of the 4=5= re1olution2 until2 finally

con1inced that the !ation had finally achie1ed 1ictory2 they %ranted me the %reat honor of

recei1in% it so that * mi%ht2 in turn2 send it to the museum where it sits today alon% with

many other national treasures

:on% before anyone else did2 CMs$edes disco1ered the secret behind the official

U S s official $olicy toward Cuba Thou%h he tra1eled to many countries 2 he ne1er 1isited

the United States2 and while on one hand his letter warned of the threat it re$resented2 it

also called for friendshi$ between the two nations This messa%e2 so lo1in%ly $reser1ed by

the Cuban $eo$le2 is somethin% that will always stay with me


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ene uela

The United States and :atin America< *ne1itable !ostal%ia

8ernando ;Fe

Translated by 0ristina Cordero

*

The first time * e1er heard anyone utter the words PUnited StatesQ was in San 8Mli/2 the

town where * was born * was four or fi1e years old at the time and li1ed in di%nified

$o1erty2 the sole ad1anta%e of which was the absolute freedom * was %i1en to learn to read

without a care in the world y 1illa%e was an im$o1erished little hamlet situated alon% the

broad ban#s of the ma%nificent Nrinoco Ri1er 2 which2 from the 46 th century onward2 had

ser1ed as a $ort of entry and de$arture for the hul#in% shi$s that %reedily di1ested the

re%ion of Guayana2 in ene uela2 of the %old that $irate Walter Ralei%h so e/tolled :ater

on it would become the unyieldin% a/is of the sloo$s2 schooners 2 and steamshi$s that boldly

e/tracted iron and $recious stones as well as the tanned hides of ferocious ti%ers2 endless

anacondas2 treacherous alli%ators 2 and fossils that e1o#ed a world that was already

ho$elessly lost

Nf that time outside of time2 m y mind wanders bac# 2 in that time outside of time2

to the day that my father2 an honest . that is2 unem$loyed lawyer2 %a1e me a %ift With a

$om$ and circumstance * will ne1er for%et2 his eyes beamin% with %enerosity2 he handed

me a li%ht-%reen 1olume with %olden letterin% *t was a bio%ra$hy2 he said2 of the $olitician

he most admired in the world< John 8it %erald 0ennedy At my father s side2 wearin% a hat

that clun% to his head2 a blue-stri$ed shirt2 and blac# sil# $ants2 stood a man whose name *

ha1e since for%otten in fact * only recently learned that he had been one of the few


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consultants to sur1i1e the nationali ation of the old *ron ines Com$any2 a su$$lier of the

8airless Wor#s $lant which that belon%ed to U S Steel2 in the state of +ennsyl1ania *n my

$resence2 the two men s$o#e a lan%ua%e that was forei%n to me uch later that ni%ht2 or

$erha$s it was already early mornin% by then2 when * saw that my father was once a%ain

alone2 attem$tin% to read the $re1ious day s news$a$er2 * as#ed him where his friend was

from2 for * was intri%ued and somewhat astonished by his red colorin% y father dryly

res$onded< the United States That was all he said * don t #now if he intended to say

anythin% else2 but in any case those two words were $lenty

A wee# or two later2 * decided that * had to learn more about that eni%matic country

and went to the $ublic library2 where * en oyed the discreet aid of an aunt by marria%e2 a

widow who had been the strait-laced su$er1isor of the $lace for se1eral years The library

was little more than a blue house with a flat oa# roof held u$ by a number of ancient tree

trun#s that rather incon%ruously held 1arious thin sheets of inc in $lace The inside was

dominated by bro#en shel1in% and brand-new boo#cases2 barely illuminated by the scant

li%ht that came throu%h the windows2 ma#in% the collections seem scattered2 dis$ersed The

rooms were either loc#ed u$ with a #ey that had disa$$eared 3uite una$olo%etically2 or else

left o$en to re1eal s$aces that had become stora%e areas for the $am$hlets of the $olitical

$arties of the moment !othin% was where it was su$$osed to be uite often2 my aunt

would $lace in my hands the most da lin% illustrated 1olumes they filled me with

emotion :uc# was on my side when2 after tellin% her about my father s friend2 she $ulled

out a hea1y dictionary with color $lates and showed me a ma$ of the United States2 a ma$

of 0ansas2 $hotos of canyons in Colorado2 drawin%s that unsuccessfully $ortrayed colonists

from the Mayflower 2 Edison s li%ht bulb2 8ran#lin s li%htnin% rod2 the faces of artin

:uther 0in% and El1is +resley2 a !ew "or# s#yscra$er and an out-of-focus $hoto%ra$h of


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an astronaut wal#in% on the moon ;efore * #new it the hours had sli$$ed away2 smoothly2

ra$idly As if the rest of the world had disa$$eared

*t %oes without sayin%2 of course2 that * went home and declared to my mother2 a

lon%-sufferin% S$anish woman2 that * too could become an astronaut Anyone who could

ha1e seen me ri%ht then2 with my torn $ants2 mended shirt 2 and uncon1entional hair style

scul$ted by the $illow * sle$t on rather than the comb * did not $ossess2 would ha1e lau%hed

out loud ;ut * fer1ently belie1ed what * said And * belie1ed the thin%s * read in boo#s< *

could cry while starin% at an etchin% of a dyin% 7on ui/ote and * cut u$ $ieces of $a$er to

create the roc#et in which * would finally set out to e/$lore the farthest recesses of outer

s$ace With anuel2 my childhood $laymate2 * made a $rototy$e for a wooden shi$ that we

launched in the ri1er and would ha1e drowned in had it not been for the $ro1idential hand

of one of those lone fishermen who s$end days on end in search of the $erfect fish that

ne1er materiali es from the water s de$ths

Without many other distractions2 a$art from those of $lun%in% into ri1ers or $layin%

hide-and-see#2 * was 3uite ta#en by the local mo1ie theater that an *talian businessman by

the name of arconi o$ened in our 1illa%e *t lasted only two wee#s before %oin% ban#ru$t 2

but before it did2 * mana%ed to see a film that chan%ed my life 7urin% this time when * still

didn t ha1e a clear $icture of the United States2 * was at least able to ima%ine it than#s to

The i!ard of "! featurin% Judy Garland2 an un$aralleled e/$erience for me 2 e1en thou%h *

didn t understand much of it ;ut how could * not deli%ht in the wise scarecrow and the

fri%htened lion How could * not reali e that this was a new way of loo#in% at the world2

throu%h the lens of fantasy and enchantment American mo1ies had already left their mar#

on the $lanet2 and soon they cast a hy$notic s$ell on me that has dissi$ated only recently2

thou%h lea1in% behind intense after -effects redolent of Cha$lin2 Welles2 and Hitchcoc#


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The man who m my friends2 between %i%%les2 called Pthe %rin%oQ returned to my

house on more than a few occasions The routine of his 1isits was always the same2 as if

co$ied from a manual on sur1i1al in the tro$ics He would brin% two beers2 a $i$e that he

would ne1er smo#e2 and four or fi1e ba%s of $eanuts Nnce settled into the house s one

roc#in% chair .the same one my %randmother sat in as she swore ne1er to for%i1e my

%randfather for his infidelities he would be%in to tal#2 and thou%h *2 of course2 did not

understand him2 his words consoled my father and made him lau%h in the middle of all the

hardshi$s we li1ed with They would also ar%ue sometimes2 suddenly fallin% silent as if

they had run out of words2 the obstinacy of their con1ictions %i1in% way to the lon%est of

silences Nccasionally they would e/chan%e boo#s2 and * recall them their s$ea#in% about

RBmulo Galle%os and William 8aul#ner * ima%ine they were tal#in% about the time the

two men met in Caracas2 a $owerful encounter that brou%ht to%ether two literary traditions

born from the telluric forces of the American continent !e1er a%ain would a meetin% of

this sort between two literary %iants come to $ass as it did in the 4=6(s

Seated ne/t to my father2 who suffered from a most in1incible %loom2 * was able to

a$$reciate the 1alue of ar%ument 8or it was durin% one of these discussions with his

American friend that an inconcei1able debate was s$ar#ed by a stran%e word that * would

only come to understand only later on2 in my adolescence< ietnam * remember how the

man2 u$on hearin% that fatal word2 s$ran% from his chair2 tense2 um$in% u$ to s$it out a

few words before finally surrenderin% to the e1idence as my father %a ed at him with a

$erfectly serene countenance After that2 the word became a taboo2 and suddenly it became

terribly difficult to return to the ori%inal idea that had set them off on their $ath of sharin%

une/$ected2 re1elatory moments The man was finally bid farewell one 7ecember ?4 st2

without e/$lanations2 at a rather unusual hour of the day2 and only after se1eral lon% wee#s


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had %one by did * learn that he had returned to his home city with a hea1y heart2 because by

then he considered himself an honorary ene uelan

**

* must confess that this is my Dsomewhat unsuccessful 7es$ite my attem$t at recreatin% a

sense of those $leasant times2 althou%h to tell the truth * am only left with only 1a%ue2 half-

e/$lored recollections2 and the uncomfortable feelin% that my father2 who died of

+ar#inson s disease not lon% a%o2 be3ueathed to me . either #nowin%ly or not a

memory of and a commitment to friendshi$2 but most of all to dialo%ue and cultural

e/chan%e y $articular ima%e of the United States2 until * was almost twenty years old2

was an orthodo/ inheritance *ncredible as it may seem2 in my house 2 boo#s li#e Eduardo

Galeano s The "pen Veins of Latin America or !oam Choms#y s The #esponsi$ility of

%ntellectuals were not read2 nor were the wor#s of ario ;enedetti2 Au%usto Roa ;astos2

+ablo !eruda 2 or ladimir *lich :enin Abundant attention2 howe1er2 was $aid to the wor#s

of Ernest Hemin%way2 Ray ;radbury2 8rancis Scott 8it %erald2 Raymond Chandler2 Walt

Whitman2 Henry James2 Washin%ton *r1in%2 *saac Asimo12 and Jac# 0erouac When *

be%an to write2 at the a%e of twel1e or thirteen2 * was enthralled by Ed%ar Allan +oe At my

father s behest * memori ed the $oem PThe Ra1enQ and re$eated its 1erses o1er and o1er

a%ain

The most lu#ewarm cold war in history $layed itself out in my home2 in its own

idiosyncratic way2 with no $ressure2 because my father refused to allow us to buy anythin%

by 0arl ar/ or 8riedrich En%els At the uni1ersity2 * was ordered to #ee$ away from all

manner of anti-im$erialist student $rotests2 conferences2 concerts 2 or $oetry readin%s2 and *

re%arded all leftist initiati1es with sus$icion The one and only time * e1er mentioned2 in the


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softest 1oice * could mana%e2 that ChM Gue1ara .and his murder had cau%ht my attention2

my mother dissol1ed in tears The harshest criticism * e1er heard . and e1er will hear2 *

am sure was $rom$ted by the su$$osed heresy that fell from my li$s2 and that was how *

came to reali e that my family s 1ision of thin%s was firmly anchored in the 0ennedy era2

in s$eeches of the P* ha1e a dreamQ 1ariety2 at a time when it seemed that the U nited

States could loo# forward to a friendly future with the $o$ular :atin American sectors

This was also the time when the Alliance for +ro%ress was inau%urated2 a moment in which

sustained2 efficient social de1elo$ment seemed $ossible 0ennedy was the leader who had

said< P*f a free society cannot hel$ the many who are $oor2 it cannot sa1e the few who are

rich Q

* s$ea# of these thin%s2 $ersonal as they are2 because they are an inte%ral $art of how

and why * came to admire the United States how could * not Today2 howe1er2 * can only

feel dee$ly saddened when * thin# of how irre1ocably that o$timism .so fresh2 so %enuine

has been lost2 transformed into the %rowin% s#e$ticism that2 at the $resent moment2

$recludes me from belie1in% in the bene1olence of the most recent actions underta#en by

the country that the historian Samuel + Huntin%ton defines 3uite a$tly as the lonely

su$er$ower * don t belie1e the United States has e1er been 3uite as alone and menaced by

dan%er as it is now

*n my own case2 without a doubt2 two or three factors in $articular contributed to the

erosion of my faith Nne of them2 the most sinister2 infamous2 and incom$rehensible of

them all2 was the unconscionable tacit su$$ort that the administration of Richard !i/on

lent the cou$ d etat $er$etrated by General Au%usto +inochet on Se$tember 442 4=>? 2 in

Chile2 that led to the death of the country s $resident2 Sal1ador Allende *n my home this

$roduced conflicts2 insi%nificant at first and more serious o1er time2 that ne1er culminated


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in much of anythin% but which undermined certain time-honored family understandin%s

Nften * would ar%ue about the dama%e wrou%ht by Henry 0issin%er2 the !obel +eace +ri e

laureate most fre3uently associated with wars2 who encoura%ed so many ruthless military

officers to sta%e cou$s2 commit %enocide 2 and inflict torture2 all in the name of #ee$in% the

re%ion free from PCubani ation Q

*t was terrible to e/$erience 2 so intensely 2 the im$lementation of the thesis of the

ideolo%ical war in :atin America Countless writers and editors were assassinated or

silenced millions of men and women were disa$$eared or forced into e/ile 7urin% the

4=>(s and 4=)(s2 the officers of the U S 7e$artment of State seem ed to ha1e beenbe

con1inced that all e1il was $referable to the e/$ansion of the left 2 which2 no doubt2 too#

ad1anta%es of mista#es made on the economic2 social 2 and cultural fronts Nne

miscalculation after another2 attem$ts were made to build relationshi$s based on amnesia2

on indirect and bloody inter1ention ;y a certain $oint2 so many ne%ati1e elements had

cons$ired to destroy my ima%e of the United States 2 that * finally ran out of ar%uments with

which to defend the res$ect * had $re1iously felt for so lon% What finally shattered inside

me was somethin% of a moral nature2 and it feels no more whole now whene1er * thin# bac#

and wonder how it was $ossible to su$$ort murderers li#e Alfredo Stroessner2 who

%o1erned +ara%uay from 4=5@ to 4=)= with utmost cruelty Dand tried to ma#e +ara%uay a

ha1en for !a i fu%iti1es

Another de$lorable fact that dam$ened my enthusiasm for the United States was the

direct $artici$ation of its intelli%ence a%encies in the Central American conflict durin% the

days of 7aniel Nrte%a s Sandinista %o1ernment A number of Ronald Rea%an s ad1isers

belie1ed the !icara%uan mo1ement to be a direct and imminent dan%er2 and they decided to

train2 arm2 and finance Sandinista o$$onents2 s$onsorin% a ci1il war that left ?)2(((thirty-


33/253

ei%ht thousand $eo$le dead and 4> se1enteen billion dollars in losses This situation

re$eated itself in El Sal1ador and most $oi%nantly in Guatemala2 where '((2(((two

hundred thousand $eo$le died as the result of ?6 thirty-si/ years of conflicts between the

armed forces and %uerrilla mo1ements Hard as it is for me to belie1e2 the $erson who made

me ta#e note of all this was the American intellectual !oam Choms#y2 who ultimately

became central to my way of thin#in% * thin# it im$ortant to ac#nowled%e that * ha1e

Choms#y to than# not only for hel$in% me see that as an intellectual * ha1e a res$onsibility

to denounce situations in which human ri%hts are bein% disre%arded2 but also for hel$in% me

to reco1er my faith in the $ossibility of fi%htin%2 from a non- ar/ist $ers$ecti1e2 the

mis%uided forei%n $olicy of se1eral U S administrations

The United States has inter1ened2 on 45( se$arate occasions2 in a considerable

$ortion of the '' twenty-two million s3uare #ilometers that com$rise :atin America2

lea1in% its catastro$hic2 $ainful mar# on countries li#e Haiti2 the 7ominican Re$ublic2

Grenada2 ;ra il2 ;oli1ia2 and +eru *nstead of contributin% to the re%ion throu%h

humanitarian missions2 the U S %o1ernment o$ted instead to ste$ u$ its military $resence

Today2 some '2((( two thousand acti1e members of the United States armed forces are

de$loyed in the re%ion2 which includes the Caribbean SNCSNUTH DS$ecial N$erations

Command South 2 created in 4=@>2 is res$onsible for all the acti1ities of the so-called

Southern Command2 which has bases in Soto Cano2 Honduras +anama Comala$a2 El

Sal1ador :iberia2 Costa Rica Reina ;eatri 2 on the island of Aruba Hato2 on the island of

Cura ao ie3ues2 +uerto Rico Jamaica *3uitos2 Santa :ucOa2 and !anay2 in +eru Tres

Es3uinas Dair base 2 :arandia2 +uerto :e%ui amB2 and :eticia2 in Colombia Cha$arM2

;oli1ia and * cannot hel$ but conclude by mentionin% GuantFnamo2 which has become a

symbol for horror much as the %ula%s were in the now-e/tinct So1iet Union When * was a


34/253

little boy in ene uela 2 we had medical doctors2 en%ineers2 businessmen2 members of

humanitarian missions2 sin%ers all of them from the United States And then2 somehow2

all of a sudden2 they were re$laced with soldiers

Thin%s ha$$ened so fast2 * don t thin# anyone understood how Nn the stiflin% day

of Se$tember 442 '((42 a %rou$ of suicidal Arab militants belon%in% to the or%ani ation

#nown as Al aeda hi ac#ed four air$lanes and attac#ed the United States Their trail of

destruction e/tended from the World Trade Center in !ew "or# all the way to an entire

win% of the +enta%on * remember * was eatin% at the home of friends Someone turned on

the tele1ision set and des$ite the terrible rece$tion we watched as columns of smo#e came

billowin% out from a massi1e tower And then2 it must ha1e been a few minutes later2 a

$assen%er $lane do1e into a buildin% and thousands of $a$ers went flyin% into the air

7ebilitated beyond measure2 the structure was unable to withstand the heat and colla$sed2

somethin% * had thou%ht im$ossible !ot since +earl Harbor had the United States been

attac#ed on its own territory by enemy forces :i#e so many other $eo$le2 * could not hel$

cryin%2 and my ra%e was not lon% in comin% * #new somethin% terrible was about to

ha$$en

7estiny is what it is2 but more often than not a cataclysmic e1ent has a way of

redirectin% our $aths And because * want to tell the story of how my s#e$ticism came

about2 * ou%ht to e/$lain how2 followin% the *ra3 in1asion in '((?2 * recei1ed an in1itation

to be $art of an international commission char%ed with in1esti%atin% the matter of the

libraries2 archi1es 2 and museums destroyed in the wa#e of Saddam Hussein s demise 8or

the $ast ten years * ha1e been %atherin% information about cultural destruction2 and recently

* finished what may be the only boo#-len%th wor# on the to$ic -- yet that tri$ to *ra3 was


35/253

the only thin% ca$able of %i1in% me bac# the measure of doubt * needed to fully abandon

the myth of the United States as a nation ca$able of contributin% to $eace

+anic always seems to be out there somewhere2 ready to stri#e without a moment s

notice That was how * felt while standin% in the !ational :ibrary of ;a%hdad DAl a#taba

Al Wataniya 2 in Rasaf2 where the 7efense inistry is located The !ational :ibrary lost

almost a million boo#s After s$endin% some time there2 * went to the Archaeolo%ical

useum where o1ermore than '52(((twenty-fi1e thousand $ieces were $illa%ed and then

sold on the blac# mar#et * found myself standin% before a ma estic2 elon%ated structure2 the

fa ade of which was flan#ed by towers on either side2 a buildin% the color of sand that was

bein% %uarded by a tan# with a cannon that had the words PGreetin%s from the United

States of AmericaQ written on its side uite the $arado/ * now #now that all the libraries

and museums of *ra3 were torn to $ieces2 and that the United States may ha1e caused as

many as one million deaths in the country The worst thin% of all2 howe1er2 is that the

miserable ;ush administration destroyed the le%itimacy of the war a%ainst terror by usin%

false e1idence to ustify its attac# on *ra32 which was an attem$t to distract the world from

the clumsy actions that frustrated the mission to ca$ture the $eo$le who truly caused the

e1ents of =I44

* s$ea# of the same ;ush who fomented and re1i1ed the obsession with the iddle

East and who mana%ed2 as few others ha1e2 to com$letely i%nore the reality of his country s

closest nei%hbors *ndifferent2 disres$ectful2 and su$erficial2 the ;ush team for :atin

America only %enerated only anti$athy2 ra%e2 and ill will Allies were mysteriously

mar%inali ed as the United States instead chose to e/ert control o1er forei%n %o1ernments

throu%h elites instead of institutions The worst si%n of the increasin% distance wrou%ht

between the U nited States and the re%ion came2 of course2 with the construction of a wall


36/253

alon% the country s much-feared border with e/ico2 which brou%ht to mind the memory

and the conse3uences of other walls2 li#e the one that di1ided ;erlin in two

Contrary to what some mi%ht thin#2 :atin America2 not the iddle East2 is the

re%ion that the United States ou%ht to be concerned about in the decades to come Today2

the re%ion is a 1ast factory of $o1erty and famine +resently there are 6(( si/ hundred

million $eo$le li1in% in the re%ion2 half of whom are $oor *ma%ine the entire $o$ulation of

the United States li1in% in the most e/treme hardshi$ *t is a des$erate circumstance that

#nows only disa$$ointment and disillusion< )4 ei%hty-one million are indi%ent and nine=

million li1e on one dollar a day "ear after year2 for%otten and filled with doubt2

?((2(((three hundred thousand children die of hun%er :atin America has2 accordin% to one

estimate2 some 6>4 indi%enous %rou$s2 an o1erwhelmin%ly abandoned sector that re$resents

)(X of the most e/treme $o1erty2 des$ite the fact that2 in many cases2 these indi%enous

$eo$le share their territory with transnational minin% and oil com$anies

***

At my side as * write this essay is the 1olume my father %a1e me2 the 0ennedy bio%ra$hy *t

has not sur1i1ed the years so well< its letters are no lon%er 3uite so %old2 the %reen cloth is

fadin%2 certain cha$ters suffer from far too much underlinin% Here and there2 sli$$ed in

between its $a%es2 are a few articles my father wrote about ustice and his lo1e for America2

a country that des$ite e1erythin% he ne1er #new in $erson Nne note from 4=6@ reads2 P*

ha1e ne1er 1isited the United States2 and by now * #now * ne1er will2 but * shall #ee$ that

wish ali1e Q *ronically for him2 he was ne1er able to %et a 1isa to 1isit the country he so

admired2 thou%h in his later years he was a ud%e and an acti1e ad1ocate of democracy To

the 1ery end he would send $ostcards to his P%rin%oQ friend2 and recei1ed $ostcards from


37/253

his friend in return Nne of the $ostcard $hotos featured ima%es of Canaima and Salto

An%el2 the tallest waterfall in the world2 named after Jimmy An%el2 the American $ilot who

disco1ered it in one of those ma%nificent fli%hts of ha$$enstance

And today * #now how much has been made of the need for stren%thened relations

between the U nited States and its :atin American nei%hbors2 and * dare to su%%est that the

connections between the two re%ions must first be made more di%nified somehow ast

sums of money are in1ested in $romotin% the 8ree Trade A%reement2 yet somehow $eo$le

seem to for%et that culture is the brid%e between nations Any #ind of inte%ration without

honesty is an ambush y own fear . su$$orted by fact is that the United States has

been hi ac#ed by a $olitical class with a militarist military 1ocation that lon% since a%o

surrendered 2 3uite unconditionally 2 to the cor$orate interests that destroy the en1ironment

and mani$ulate the $olitics of entire continents2 ha1in% %i1en in to the commerciali ation of

freedom rather than the freedom of commerce As a result2 no matter where * %o2 from the

Rio Grande down to Tierra del 8ue%o2 the influence of the United States has become mere

com$romise2 and has lost all credibility

;y way of a n anecdote conclusion 2herewith an anecdote that summari es* will

conclude with a summary what has been on my mind as well as what has been ha$$enin% in

the world of late *n '((@2 on a 1isit to e/ico2 * s$ent se1eral lon% hours wal#in% around

the LBcalo2 fascinated by the mysteries of its elusi1e architecture After a while2 * decided it

was time for a cold beer and found a tiny2 noisy bar As loud shouts eru$ted from all the

tables2 the wind swe$t unceremoniously throu%h the $lace2 whi$$in% $ast those of us

standin% by the ancient entrance door The tele1ision dis$layed the cho$$y ima%es of a

massi1e crater in ;a%hdad2 formed by a homemade e/$losi1e de1ice that had #illed two

soldiers2 twenty and twenty-two years old At my side2 an old man from Jalisco said in a


38/253

low 1oice< P y son was a musician2 but he died in 8allu ah *n a horrible2 stu$id combat2

and the worst $art of all is that * thin# he %a1e his blood to a country that was not wise

enou%h to 1alue his talents Q He then showed me the $hoto%ra$h of a smilin% youn% man

PThe American dream can be a ni%htmare2Q he added2 and then withdrew * listened to him2

noddin% my head without much ener%y2 sur$rised by the disillusionment he had confided in

me2 and ordered another beer 2 which * wouldn t drin# * then wal#ed o1er to the dar#est

corner of the bar and sat down2 to wait hours and hours2 with the same doubts and the

ine1itable nostal%ia of someone who #nows he is an Mmi%rM of the lost $aradise of his

memory


39/253


40/253

military bases throughout the world and lightly sent young men and women to war.

The *#ar against on Terror+ has become a tool to end opposition to local dictators

and to demonize legitimate resistance movements. The & nited . States. has resorted to

the self(deceptive tric of being reactive its leaders refuse to investigate the causes of

those resistance movements -: that is,i.e. the military occupation in alestine, !ra/ ,

and 'fghanistan. The #hite 0ouse has devoted itself to stifling any voice calling for

an international conference to discuss a globally agreed ( upon definition of terrorism .

!ts unilateralism has almost destroyed the fabric of the &nited 1ations, which is

supposed to be the world2s arbitrator. 1ow 'merica has become the 3udge, 3ury , and

e%ecutioner. 'nd now millions have ta en to the streets around the world, protesting

'merican policies and wars. These huge anti(war demonstrations should have startled

many in the & nited . States., because they came less than two years after the near(

universal outpouring of support and sympathy for the 'merican people in the

aftermath of the crime of September 44 ,th 5664.

Americans $resent $reoccu$ation with the 3uestion P hHow do they see us Q is

$erfectly ustified And from my $art of the world2 the answer would be< P ery well Q We

see you 1ery well2 from P 'riends ( to 8 -46s2 from roc# Yn Roll roll to PShoc# and Awe2Q

from Walt Whitman to white $hos$horus2 from the useum of odern Art to

Guant Fanamo2 from ichael oore to 8o/ !ews2 from John 0ennedy to Geor%e W ;ush 2

and from 7onald 7uc# to 7onald Rumsfeld2 whose %roundbrea#in%ly ori%inal 1an%uard

$oetry many can recite by heart>2 Transyl1ania2Western western $art of Romania The country is one of the

more brutal $laces behind the *ron Curtain*ron Curtain 2 with an atmos$here of fear

resemblin% that of Stalinism The Hun%arian minority2 to which * belon%2 is $olitically

sus$ect2 and therefore our situation is e1en worse y $arents do not %et $ass$orts 2 not e1en

to the friendly nei%hborin% socialist re$ublic of Hun%ary * won t be allowed to lea1e

Romania until * ll bem fifteen2 and then * ll lea1e it for %ood2 as our family will immi%rate to

Hun%ary

All this lies well ahead in the future2 and * am not e1en aware of our situation * am

li1in% the life of a four-year - old2 life is a bi% %ame2 and so * do not e1en flinch when

one day my father tells me ne1er to re$eat anythin% * hear at home outside our a$artment

The ne/t day we are su$$osed to tal# about our fa1orite tales in the

0inder%arten#inder%arten * as# him about the Wi ard of N 2 my father tells me * should

#ee$ it secret So * do2 * tell the #inder%arten -teacher that my fa1orite tale is John and the

se1en-headed dra%on


98/253

America is the filthy cradle of im$erialist ca$italism $eo$le there don t ha1e the

ri%ht to wor# +eo$le star1e in America America is e1il Nr so the #inder%arten -teacher tells

us * #now this is not true2 when my father told me about #ee$in% N a secret he also told me

that nothin% they d tell me in #inder%arten would be true The #inder%arten -teacher tells us

we ha1e the ri%ht to wor#2 e1erybody in our socialist re$ublic has the ri%ht to wor# She tells

us we don t reali e how luc#y we are that we were born here and not in America or the

westWest * am si/ years old * #now America does in fact e/ist2 but it is still farther than the

moon * #now America is the land of the free America is not the westWest 2 it is somethin%

e1en better2 it is the Wild West2 were the buffalo roam free * want to %o there * want to become a cowboy Nr e1en better2 * want to become an *ndian * #now %oin% there is

im$ossible2 but * don t really #now why

The %ame we are $layin% has lots of rules most of the rules ha1e no e/$lanation And

sometimes * for%et them

Nne day the #inder%arten -teacher as#s me to recite the $oints of the com$ass

P!orth2 east2 south2 west2 and the Wild -West Q PWhat did you ust say Q PThe Wild West Q

PNh the Wild West Q P"es the wild west America Q PWhere did you hear about that 2 my

child Q PAt home Q PWho told you about the wild Wild westWest Q P0arl ay Q PWhat did

you ust say 0arl ar/ Q P!o2 0arl ay Q PWho is 0arl ay Q 0arl ay is my fa1orite

writer * don t tell this to the #inder%arten -teacher * cannot read2 but he is still my fa1orite

writer2 my mother reads me all his boo#s * want to become an *ndian li#e as he did We ll be

ha1in% a carni1al in our #inder%arten2 and * ll come be dressed u$ as an *ndian This * do tell

the #inder%arten -teacher The #inder%arten -teacher tells me * am not su$$osed to * am

su$$osed to come dressed as a wor#er PWe all are %oin% to dress u$ li#e wor#ers Q P!o * am

not Wor#ers are borin% They ust wor#2 * want to dress u$ li#e an *ndian Q * am not tellin%


99/253

the #inder%arten -teacher that * ha1e my own costume y father e1en %a1e me a bear -claw

as a talisman He told me it came from America2 it was a claw of a real %ri ly * will wear it

round my nec# Wor#ers don t ha1e talismans PWor#ers are not wor#in% they are fi%htin%

for $eace Q P8i%htin% for $eace is borin% * am not %oin% to fi%ht for $eace2 * am %oin% to

fi%ht with the *ndians With Winnetou * am %oin% to the Wild West * am %oin% to America Q

The #inder%arten -lady tells my me to shut u$

The ne/t day my $arents are called in to the #inder%arten They learn *

committed a %ra1e sin * am a cosmo$olitan2 a$in% western Western 1alues They should

#now better than to teach me such nonsense !onsense li#e 0arl ay !onsense li#e *ndians !onsense li#e America And they should #now there is no w way2 she will allow me to dress

li#e an *ndian All the children are %oin% to dress li#e wor#ers Nr miners Nr tractor-dri1ers

!o they are not y mother smiles2 reaches into her ba%2 and hands the #inder%arten

lady a soa$ PTa#e this small %ift2 it s really nothin% Q * #now this is what you are su$$osed

to say when you bribe someone2 this is one of the rules * ha1e learnt * also #now it is a lie2 as

the %ift is ne1er a %ift2 nor is it e1er small y mother tells the #inder%arten -teacher she

should not ma#e a bi% deal of this *ndian business She #nows how #ids are The

#inder%arten lady loo#s at the soa$2 she e1en smells it throu%h the $ac#in% The soa$ is

Re/ona brand *t smells li#e roses "ou cannot %et it in the sho$s *t is made in West

Germany y mother tells the #inder%arten -lady 0arl ay is East German All the *ndians

in his boo#s are friendly socialist *ndians The East Germans ha1e e1en made mo1ies out of

his wor#s The Wild West is in fact in "u%osla1ia Winnettou the A$ache chieftain2 he is in

fact "u%osla12 more $recisely a Serb His name is Go #o itic * #now this is a lie The Wild

West is in America Winnettou is an A$ache And if not an A$ache than West German2 or if


100/253

not West German than 8rench2 because in the West German mo1ies he is $layed by +ierre

;rice

The #inder%arten - teacher $uts the soa$ away 2 She tells my mother 2 * mi%ht may

dress u$ li#e as an *ndian after all y mother nods

The Carni1al is ne/t wee# * don t s$ea# En%lish * don t s$ea# German 2 *

don t s$ea# any lan%ua%e but Hun%arian * also can recite three lon% sentences in Romanian2

* ha1e no idea about what they mean2 but the #inder%arten-teacher s$ent lon% hours teachin%

these sentences to me She told me that was the $rice for allowin% me to wear my *ndian

costume * thin# of the soa$2 * #now she is lyin%2 the soa$ was the $rice2 and my mother $aidit already ;ut * #now * am su$$osed to $retend she did not2 so * learn the sentences * don t

understand a word2 but * learn them y father made me a bow of layered wood2 and a

3ui1er made of real leather2 and real feathered arrows2 he made me a headband with feathers2

he %a1e me a leather strin% for the bear -claw * want to wear all this * really -really want to

become an *ndian So * am doin% my best2 dili%ently learnin% those sentences

The day before the carni1al we ha1e a costume rehearsal All the other

#inder%arten -teachers of our county come to 1isit our #inder%arten Nur #inder%arten

-teacher tells me they ha1e all come to see me in my costume they want to see me dressed

u$ as an *ndian * belie1e her She tells me to stand on a $edestal she tells me to recite the

sentences she tau%ht me * do * don t understand a word of it2 * ha1e no idea of what * am

sayin% *t is in Romanian2 our #inder%arten is a #inder%arten for the children of the

Hun%arian minority *only #now only a few words in Romanian !one of those are

mentioned in the sentences * was made to learn ;ut * recite e1erythin% without a sin%le

mista#e *t is a %reat success2 e1erybody cla$s2 es$ecially all the other #inder%arten -teachers

They cla$ for minutes * am deli%hted2 * smile2 * am wa1in% at them They cla$ some more *


101/253

thin# they cla$ because * am so cle1er The ne/t day * am allowed to wear my costume * am

allowed to be an *ndian2 the Carni1al is a %reat success E1erybody wants to touch the bear

claw2 but * am %uardin% it with my bowie #nife2 which is made of wood2 with a blade

co1ered in tinfoil

A few years $ass * %o to school * learn Romanian Nne day2 * find the bear

claw in a drawer *t is somewhat smaller than * remembered ;ut it still loo#s dan%erous2 its

cur1ed $oint shar$ li#e a blade As * touch it2 * remember the carni1al2 and * remember the

sentences * recited the day before standin% on that $edestal Suddenly * understand them The

$ast %ets rewritten in a moment +ride turns to shame * reali e * than#ed the leader of theSocialist +arty and his wife for bein% better $arents than my real $arents2 * also than#ed them

for their tireless fi%ht for $eace2 and in the last sentences * denounced the westWest 2

im$erialism 2 and the United SatesStates * was dis$layed as a model of $atriotic education *

loo# at the bear claw * #now it was all a lie * #now it is not the claw of a real Gri ly%ri ly

* hide it somewhere2 * ne1er find it a%ain

* am nine years old2 * be%in learnin% En%lish * learn about ;ritain2 * learn

about America * learn about Trafal%ar S3uare and the Em$ire State buildin% * still don t

thin# these $laces actually e/ist * don t belie1e America e/ists * #now it does2 but * still

don t belie1e it 0arl ay is still my fa1orite writer * ha1e read his boo#s countless times *

#now that those are indeed German boo#s2 written in German2 and it is debated weather

whether the author2 0arl ay2 has e1er set foot on the American continent2 and e1en if he

did2 it is hi%hly unli#ely that he r eally earned the moni#er of Nld Shatterhand 2 while

becomin% a blood-brother to an A$ache chieftain 2 and slayin% %ri lies in close combat with

the aid s of a bowie -#nife * ha1e also learnt learned that 1ery few of his wor#s are translated

into En%lish2 he is 1irtually un#nown and unread in the United States This * find hard to


102/253

belie1e * still want to become an *ndian * #now the Wild -West does not e/ist any more ;ut

* am $lannin% to %o there anyway

* am twel1e * s$ea# some En%lish America is real Nf this * am sure * ha1e

%ot $roof America is a s#ewer A blac# s#ewer made of twisted wrou%ht iron * am not

allowed to touch it2 it is one of my fathers treasures2 it han%s on the wall of our li1in% room

alon% with some of his other treasures2 an old %un$owder horn2 a huntin% #nife made of the

sword my %randfather carried as a reser1e officer The s#ewer is a baro3ue $iece of #itchen

e3ui$ment it dates bac# to the si/teenth century *t is ideal for roastin% meat o1er an o$en

fire Nr so my father tells us ;ut * #now that is a not the truth Nr not the whole truth Thes#ewer is much more *t is America2 the United States Nr a secret lin# to it * #now * #now

how to use it * ha1e seen my father do it one ni%ht ;ut * don t dare to do it

Nne day * am at home alone * can t %o to school because * bro#e my an#le

when we were $layin% a war %ame on a buildin% site and * fell into a ditch 2 and ha1e to s$end

a few days in bed until the $laster on my le% hardens * am readin% Mo$y , -ick by Herman

el1ille * li#e it2 but * am bored * thin# of America2 the !ew World2 the whalers in their

shi$s * ha1e no $lans of %oin% to sea2 but * decide to loo# into this America business * want

$roof for once and for all * %et u$ from my bed2 hobble into the li1in% room2 %et our old East

German WE8 radio off the windowsill The colla$sible fish-rod antenna of the radio has

been missin% fore1er it is was ri$$ed out of its soc#et * %et the radio2 carry it in to my room2

and $lace it on the chair by the bed Then * hobble bac# into the li1in% room for the s#ewer *

hesitate before ta#in% it off the wall2 but in the end * do it The s#ewer is hu%e and hea1y it

is cold to the touch * carry it bac# to my room * only saw my father do this only once2 at

ni%ht2 throu%h the crac# of the door2 but the ima%e was unfor%ettable2 so * #now what to do


103/253

* $ut the radio on my bed2 * thin# of the whalers2 the s#ewer is now a har$oon2

* am %oin% to catch America with it * ta#e a dee$ breath2 and then * am the s#ewer into the

radio2 ri%ht into the blac# hole in the $lastic2 where the old antenna used to be * turn on the

radio2 switch the wa1e -switch to the short - wa1e $osition2 and be%in slowly turnin% the

search #nob The room is suddenly filled with the crac#in% hum of static2 * am turnin% the

search #nob 2 slowly2 e1er so slowly2 listenin% to the fast unintelli%ible bee$ of orse code2

the whoo$in% sound of stations comin% into focus and disa$$earin% a%ain 2 * am loo#in% at

the red dial 2 there2 behind the smud%ed +le/i%las2 it cree$s from ri%ht to left2 and then

suddenly * hear a faint 1oice $roclaim that * am listenin% to the oice of America y handti%htens around the s#ewer2 my body becomes a $art of the antenna2 the 1oice %ets stron%er2 *

am one with the radio2 * #now that the radio wa1es are $assin% throu%h my body2 * am

listenin% to that distant American 1oice2 most of the words * don t e1en understand2 but it

does not matter s2 only America matters * am a hero2 * am a s$y2 * am doin% somethin% secret

and forbidden2 * am fi%htin%the system from within2 with a s#ewer and a bro#en radio * am

$roud of myself2 thrilled by my coura%e * thin# of war mo1ies and the 8rench resistance

* am so absorbed in this %ame2 * don t e1en hear the #ey turn in the loc# of our

a$artment2 * don t hear my father arri1e * ust hear his 1oice2 and loo# u$2 and suddenly

there he is standin% in front of my bed2 as#in% me what * am doin% * let %o of the s#ewer2 the

oice of America fades bac# into the murmur of the static2 * am bac# in our a$artment2 bac#

in Romania2 bac# behind the *ron Curtain*ron Curtain

y father %rabs the s#ewer2 $ulls it out of the radio He wants to #now what * am *

doin% He does not seem to be 1ery an%ry2 ust tense * tell him * am sorry2 * did not want to

do anythin% wron%2 * ust wanted to find out the truth about America y father nods2 then

as#s me what do * care about America2 don t we ha1e enou%h trouble as it is


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* don t #now what to answer2 * am not e1en sure if he wants an answer at all y

father is not a hot-tem$ered man2 but it is no use ma#in% him an%ry So * counter with a

3uestion2 * as# him about the bear claw2 * as# him if it was a real %ri ly claw or not He

si%hs That s the only answer Then he sits beside me on the bed2 still holdin% the s#ewer2 its

shar$ $oint nested between two floorboards

The radio is still on2 the static is a low hiss y father does not turn it off2 he listens

to it for a while2 meanwhile2 he $uts his hand on the to$ of the radio in an aw#ward2 %entle

%esture2 his fin%ers are touchin% the crac#s in the $lastic around the soc#et

He as#s me about the radio He wants to #now how did * thin# it %ot bro#en Theradio is old2 * has always been bro#en * tell him * ha1e no idea2 then * tell him2 $erha$s the

security $olice did it2 they mutilated our radio2 to ma#e listenin% to forei%n broadcasts

im$ossible

y father smiles2 he tells me he always #new * had a 1i1id ima%ination Actually it

was my %randfather who bro#e the radio He %rabbed the antenna and flun% the radio a%ainst

the wall This ha$$ened in si/ty-ei%ht 8i1e years before * was born *t ha$$ened because of

the e1ents in C echoslo1a#ia

* ha1e no idea about C echoslo1a#ia * ha1e seen some cartoons which that were

made there2 and some one once brou%ht me a chocolate - bar as a $resent2 which was also

from there2 but that s all * #now y i%norance must be ob1ious2 my father smiles at me2 and

then he tells me that if * really want to find out the truth about America2 then * first need to

learn about C echoslo1a#ia and about si/ty - ei%ht2 about Hun%ary and about fif ity-si/2 about

"alta and about forty-fi1e


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*t sounds li#e a lot of learnin%2 but the tense way my father tal#s about all those

countries and numbers ma#es me want to learn anyway ;ut first * ha1e to as# him about my

%randfather2 about why he bro#e the radio

y father tells me 2 he bro#e the radio 2 because the Americans did not come2 it was

the third time they did not come2 and my %randfather had had enou%h They did not come in

forty-fi1e2 they did not come in fifty si/2 and when they did not come in si/ty-ei%ht he

suddenly had had enou%h2 he did not want to listen to their 1oice any more 2 because he

reali ed that they d ne1er come2 and they ll ne1er brin% what they ha1e $romised2 and we ll

be stuc# with what we ha1e %ot for %ood and ally father 1oice is ras$y with tension2 he tells me about the Hun%arian re1olution2

which they ha1e listened toat on the radio2 not the WE82 bac# then they had an old transistor

radio2 and the Americans were $romisin% hel$2 and they d $romise they d come and brin%

wea$ons2 they d $romised they $rotect us from the So1iets2 now that the Hun%arian $eo$le

ha1e %one and decided its time to ta#e fate in to their own hands

He tells me about how $eo$le were waitin% for the Americans to come e1er sin ce

after the Second World War2 he tal#s about the rumors of American soldiers ha1in% been

si%hted in the mountains2 where they were $re$arin% the %round for the rest of the troo$s He

tells me how he belie1ed they must ha1e been there e1en t hou%h he #new it could not ha1e

been true He does not e/$lain it further 2 but this sort of blind belief * understand fully *t is

the way * belie1ed in the %ri ly claw2 the way * belie1ed in the Wild West

y father s fin%ers are still caressin% the crac#s in the $lastic 8or a while he does not

s$ea#2 and then he tells me that when the Russian tan#s rolled into ;uda$est in the

!o1ember of 8iftyfifty -si/2 my %randfather was wee$in% in front of the radio That was the

first time he saw his father cry


106/253

The static is still hummin% my father suddenly lets %o of the antenna-hole and

switches off the radio He tells me that these are old stories2 but our world is defined by old

stories such as these2 and e1en t hou%h he is my father2 and fathers should always #now

better2 he can t tell me the truth about America 2 because he has ne1er been there2 and it is

1ery li#ely that he won t e1er ha1e the chance to %o there He then %ets u$ from the bed2

ta#es the radio and the s#ewer 2 and wal#s out of the room

* am lyin% on the bed2 * $ut one hand on the $laster of my le% 2 mye $alm is all

sweaty the $laster is cool a%ainst it * thin# of my %randfather s tears2 the %ri ly claw2 the

s#ewer2 the :and of N 2 C echoslo1a#ia2 tan#s2 and chocolateThe door o$ens once a%ain my father comes bac# into my room with a boo# *t is a

small %ray 1olume ;efore handin% it o1er to me2 he tells me that it mi%ht $erha$s hold some

of the truth about America He tells me 2 this was the boo# his own father %a1e him2 when he

as#ed him why he was cryin% y %randfather told him that he was cryin% because he

reali ed that the boo#2 which he belie1ed to be true2 was in fact ust a fairy tale He was

cryin% because he reali ed that the country he belie1ed to ha1e been built on that boo#2

turned out to be ust a fairy tale He cried 2 because he reali ed 2 that the America he belie1ed

in did not e/ist2 we ll ne1er %o there2 and it ll ne1er come to us

y father finishes the sentence and2 shru%s 2 than then he $oints at the boo# 2 and tells

me * should read it 2 and ud%e for myself Who #nows2 $erha$s * will choose to belie1e in it2

e1en thou%h#nowin% that it is ust a fairy tale ;ecause we all ha1e to belie1e in somethin%2

and it mi%ht as well be this boo#

The boo# is dusty2 e1en without o$enin% it * can see that the $a%es are yellowed2 the

chea$ $a$er has o/idi ed badly * o$en the boo# it is "n Li$erty by John s Stuart ill * start


107/253

to read it 2 it seems 3uite sim$le2 but e1en as * am readin% it * sus$ect that * don t fully

understand it2 and * am afraid * ll ne1er find the truth about America


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United 0in%dom

8iddlers and 8ailures

Terry Ea%leton

The story is told in *reland of a fiddlers com$etition out in the wilds of the Westwest 2 the

winner of which would become all-*reland cham$ion DThe title Pall-*reland cham$ionQ is

admittedly a little loose< one bum$s into scores of such uni3uely titled fiddlers u$ and down

the country2 as thou%h e1ery second woman on the street were to turn out to be iss

Ar#ansas The first com$etitor for the award ste$$ed u$ to the front< a s1elte2 distin%uished2sil1er-haired %entleman bedec#ed in e1enin% dress2 e/3uisitely coiffed and bearin% in his

hand no less a Stradi1arius Restin% the instrument a%ainst his chin with a confident

flourish2 he drew the bow 1i%orously across the strin%s and be%an to $lay

And by God he was useless

The second candidate for stardom then turned to face the audience a slic#-haired2

shinin%-toothed2 sli%htly flashy ty$e in a well-tailored %ray suit2 carryin% in his hand an

e/$ensi1e but not classic 1iolin With an in%ratiatin% bow2 he $laced the instrument under his

chin and be%an to $lay

And by God he was useless

The ud%es were ust on the $oint of declarin% a no-winner when there was a

commotion at the bac# of the room 7es$ite some e1ident reluctance2 a third com$etitor was

bein% forced to the front by his friends a tiny2 shrun#en2 octo%enarian fellow in a crum$led

old suit buttoned u$ with bits of strin% and hardly a scra$ of seat to his trousers *n his

withered claw lay a fiddle as decre$it as himself2 its strin%s frayed and $eelin%2 its body held

to%ether by elastic bands Shrin#in% from the crowd2 but ur%ed on by his loyal collea%ues2 he


109/253

$laced the fiddle beneath his chin with a 3ui1erin% hand2 and softly drew the tattered bow

across it

And by God he was useless too

* ta#e it that this is amon% other thin%s a dee$ly un -American story *ndeed2 the *rish

are in %eneral dee$ly un -American2 des$ite their lon% historical entan%lement with the

country as o$$osed to the ;ritish2 who are in %eneral not un -American but anti -American

*n the late 4= th century2 whole 1illa%es in the west of *reland were #e$t afloat by the !ew

"or# +olice 7e$artment2 whose *rish officers would send remittances home The so-called

Ps$ecial relationshi$Q is not with ;ritain but with *reland *t is the *rish2 not the ;ritish2 whodo not re3uire 1isas to enter the United States

Nne of the #ey differences between the ;ritish and the *rish is that the latter tend to

be fond of Americans while the former2 by and lar%e2 are not *n one sense2 this is scarcely a

cause for sur$rise2 since where would the ic#s be without the "an#s As one 7ublin wa%

commented2 when Saint +atric# dro1e the sna#es out of *reland 2 they too# refu%e in Chica%o

City Hall This affection2 howe1er2 is bemusin% to an En%lishman of *rish $ro1enance li#e

myself who has lon% li1ed in *reland2 since it is hard at least in terms of sensi$ility6 to

thin# of two more dissimilar nations The fiddler o#e is un -American to my own ears $artly

because it mischie1ously $ulls the ru% out from under a dewy-eyed sentimentalism which

that has more than a smac# of the States about it Americans in %eneral are more

sentimental than Euro$eans2 which is $art of their %eneral tendency to wear their

s$iritual innards on their slee1es *t is also the case that a hard -headed2 brus3uely $ra%matic

society2 where what mostly counts is money2 is li#ely to be sentimental sim$ly because

sentimentality is the only $oor $arody of %enuine feelin% such $ra%matism is able to

muster The *rish e/ist for other $eo$le to be sentimental about2 but they are a $rofoundly


110/253

unsentimental2 unromantic $eo$le themsel1es a fact which that is hardly sur$risin%2 %i1en

their catastro$hic history D* assume2 incidentally2 that %enerali ations about nations or ethnic

%rou$s are $erfectly acce$table2 howe1er ner1ous liberals may feel about them 8or a

materialist2 it would be astonishin% if a %rou$ of $eo$le had sha red rou%hly t he

same conditions o1er a considerable $eriod of time without de1elo$in% some

$sycholo%ical traits in common

:i#e a %ood deal of *rish humor2 the fiddler fable wor#s by u$endin% or in1ertin%

emotional common$laces As with the wit of Nscar Wilde2 it is nothin% if not $er1erse2

ta#in% some Dusually En%lish $iece of con1entional wisdom and fli$$in% it inside out2standin% it on its head2 turnin% it bac# to front Se/uality was one of Wilde s least interestin%

$er1ersities His wit re$resents an anti-colonial smac# at En%lish conce$tual and lin%uistic

assurances2 a %leeful deli%ht in debun#in% and deflatin%2 which in *rish culture stretches all

the way from Jonathan Swift to Samuel ;ec#ett The fiddler story maliciously baffles

con1entional narrati1e e/$ectations2 de$ri1in% us of our roseate Hollywood endin% :i#e

much *rish humor 2it is latently a%%ressi1e2 the wit of those with a secre t %rud%e a%ainst

the self-sa tisfied2 smoothly $redict able certain ties of the established order and in

this the *rish resemble not Americans as a whole2 whose humor is far heartier and blander2

but !ew "or# Jews *t is not in the least mysterious that the $rota%onist of the %reatest *rish

no1el e1er written bears the name of ;loom

The fiddler o#e wor#s by bathos2 buildin% u$ hi%h-minded assum$tions about the

1irtuous $oor only %leefully to $uncture them and bathos is by far the most common tro$e in

*rish literature Hac#in% the world sa1a%ely down to si e is a distincti1ely *rish $ursuit

7istincti1e2 thou%h not $eculiar2 since it is shared to some e/tent by the ;ritish Americans2

by contrast2 always seem to us Euro$eans to be inflatin% thin%s rather than deflatin% them


111/253

There is a chronic o1er-the-to$ness about the nation Sendin% twenty flashin%2 screechin%

$olice cars to arrest someone found smo#in% a oint mi%ht ser1e as an e/am$le American

$rison sentences2 fruit of a brutally $uritan $uniti1eness2 a$$ear %rossly inflated in our

s$inelessly liberal 1iew The United States is the land of hubris and hy$erbole *t cannot ust

%i1e u$ smo#in% or sto$ eatin% so much2 but must ma#e an almi%hty fuss about it D y own

rather eccentric theory of the American obsession with Dnon - smo#in% is that smo#e acts as

a contaminatin% connection between one s own body and someone else s2 in a country with

so much s$ace that an American will murmur YE/cuse me if he or she comes within ten

yards of you *t doesn t ha$$en in ;ei in%As far as hy$erbole %oes2 the nation also resounds with a solemn2 sententious2 mid-

ictorian2 hideously earnest $ublic rhetoric 2 which to our ears sounds merely

embarrassin% !o ;ritish $olitician could refer to God or This Great Country of Nurs without

$ro1o#in% an incredulous eer Americans seem to us either racily idiomatic or $onderously

rhetorical There is a 3uality of innocence about this hand-on-heart discourse which that

ma#es Euro$eans feel soiled and aded !o En%lish or *rish $erson would say somethin% li#e

P* a$$reciate your $atience and understandin%2 sir2 and will ma#e a commitment to you2Q as a

7u#e student once said to me They would sim$ly sus$ect you were ma#in% fun of them

8reud once remar#ed that the a1era%e indi1idual is both far less moral than he sus$ected2

and far more moral as well and of few human bein%s is this truer than Americans *f

only they would sto$ bein% so $ortentously2 self-consciously oral2 they mi%ht $ro1e to be

better $eo$le US American children s T children s $ro%rams2 for e/am$le2 are

e/traordinarily didactic com$ared to ;ritish ones2 as thou%h $lay is useless unless a ci1ic

moral can be instantly e/tracted from it oral earnestness in ;ritain is for sho$#ee$ers2 not

for the #ind of $atrician who m many of the En%lish would secretly lo1e to be The tric# is to


112/253

be lan%uid and off-hand in a stylish sort of way2 not $athetically $uffed u$ with your own

$etty-bour%eois sincerity When someone than#s you2 you re$ly P!ot at allQ or P7on t

mention itQ rather than P*t s my $leasureQ or P"ou re 1ery welcome Q

The En%lish are would-be Ca1aliers2 and loo# down on their American cousins as

unreconstructed Roundheads *f there is a cult of irony in ;ritain2 it is amon% other thin%s

because truth2 too2 is for the lower middle classes Truth is borin% and $etty-bour%eois2

whereas irony is $layful2 inessential 2 and hence aristocratic Aristocrats don t need the truth

because they ha1e enou%h money to insulate them a%ainst its more rebarbati1e im$lications

As a re%ular contributor to the ;ritish 9uardian news$a$er2 * was dumbfounded to be told by a New York Times ournalist who was inter1iewin% me for that news$a$er that * was

forbidden to use irony * couldn t ha1e been more astonished if she had told me that New

York Times ournalists were e/$ected to %arnish their re$orts with a liberal s$rin#lin% of the

most scabrous e/$leti1es they could muster Americans tend to admire $lain s$ea#in%2 which

is $art of their $uritan herita%e2 whereas some of the En%lish2 and certainly some of the

*rish2 tend to re%ard $lain s$ea#in% as a disability for which a course of thera$y mi%ht

be re3uired Why use only four words where forty would do Some Americans seem to

re%ard meta$horical lushness in fiction as Peffete2Q whereas an e/cessi1e re$etition of the

co$ula fi%ures as a si%n of 1irile authenticity DPand then he hit me in the aw and * fell o1er

and there was blood e1erywhere and he was still %rinnin% that %oddam stu$id %rin

and Q

There are other forms of hy$erbole as well !er1ous of all 1ul%ar self-1auntin%2 the

a1era%e *rish or En%lish $arent would ne1er dri1e a 1ehicle s$ortin% the si%n P y Child is

on the Honor Roll Q "ou mi%ht ust see a satirical si%n readin% P y Child is a Serial


113/253

0iller2Q but certainly nothin% as innocently self-affirmati1e as one occasionally sees in the

the


114/253


115/253

that e/actly three decades earlier2 the United States 1iolently o1erthrew the

democratically elected %o1ernment of Chile and installed in its $lace an odious dictator

who with U S conni1ance went on to murder far more innocents than e1er died in the

horror of =I44 The country also armed and cham$ioned an autocrat in *ndonesia who

almost certainly dis$osed of more blameless li1es than did Saddam Hussein *n its time2

Euro$e has committed atrocities to e3ual or e/ceed these massacres but the difference is

that Euro$eans do not $articularly re%ard themsel1es as %ood %uys in the way that some

Americans tend to do They are far too cynical for that2 which is one reason why they are

not e/actly %ood %uys but they are also commendably realistic not to $erce i1e themsel1es as such *t is a familiar truth2 howe1er2 that a belief in an absolute

o$$osition between %ood %uys and bad %uys belon%s to America s $uritan herita%e2

which is no doubt one reason why Jac3ues 7errida s style of deconstruction was so

ea%erly embraced by frustrated radical academics When in doubt2 the En%lish thin# of a

$endulum which that swin%s to and fro between e/treme $ositions A certain rela/ed

tolerance2 a dim sense of the mi/edness of thin%s DP*t ta#es all #inds to ma#e a worldQ

PThere s %ood and bad in all of usQ P*t d be a fu nny world if we all thou%ht the

sameQ is $art of their rou tine discourse This does not mean that they are $ara%ons

of liberal 1irtue Nn the contrary2 many of them would feel thorou%hly at home wearin%

$ointed white hoods ;ut a sus$icion of star# e/tremes is built into the way they #now

they are su$$osed to thin#2 and sometimes e1en do thin#

The astonishin% 1oluntarism of much American ideolo%y the belief that you can

crac# it if you try2 that the s#y s the limit2 that the word Pcan tQ is almost as offensi1e

as the term PCommunistQ has a %rossly na 1e rin% in the ears of a continent buried


116/253

beneath the historical detritus of centuries There is a dee$ly destructi1e 3uality about this

cult of the na#ed2 unhoused2 muscle-bound will2 which can end u$ burnin% the bodies of

Arab children :i#e all desire2 it is 1irulently anti-materialist *t fails to %ras$ that

constraints are constituti1e of our s$ecies-bein%2 not sim$ly obstacles to be surmounted

*f the United States indeed ends u$ annihilatin% the $lanet2 it will be its cra ed idealism2

not its crude materialism2 which will be to blame *t does not seem to ha1e learnt the

8reudian lesson that the chronically ideali in% su$ere%o is as much a source of

destruction and des$air as a well-s$rin%wells$rin% of 1ision and e/altation *deals tend

sadistically to rub your nose in your own ineluctable failure Nnce they %et out of hand2they can become terroristic !ot seein% this is a lar%e $art of what Euro$eans mean by

American innocence odernity has witnessed a form of discourse which de1otes itself

to in1esti%atin% the mechanisms by which the res$lendent re1olutionary ideals of the

middle class2 to which the United States ri%htly $ays such homa%e2 tend to twist into

their o$$osite whene1er one attem$ts to $ut them into $ractice This discourse2 howe1er2

is #nown as ar/ism2 and is not the most $o$ular idiom in Grand Ra$ids2 ichi%an Nn

the other hand2 Americans who s$ea# of money as Pthe bottom lineQ are unwittin%

adherents of ar/ s doctrine of base and su$erstructure

The 8austian myth of the American dream2 that $ernicious fantasy which that has

dama%ed and befuddled the li1es of so many decent men and women2 must accordin%ly

be countered by the idea of tra%edy * mean by the idea of tra%edy the reco%nition that

only those communities or indi1iduals twhich hat maintain a secret com$act with failure

ha1e a ho$e of flourishin% The writin% of Samuel ;ec#ett is a case in $oint *t is not in

the least irrele1ant to this fact that ;ec#ett was *rish D*ndeed2 when he was as#ed by a


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rather callow 8rench ournalist whether he was En%lish2 he 3uite $ro$erly

re$lied P Au contraire Q A sufferin% solidarity with brea#down2 loss 2 and futility2 so the

%reat tra%ic artists and thin#ers ha1e always insisted2 is the 1ital $re -condition for any

achie1ement that will not e1entually crumble to dust in your hands +sychoanalysis

understands this tra%ic doctrine in its own way2 as does the Christian faith2 which in the

United States has for the most $art been blas$hemously $ressed into the ser1ice of what

7 H :awrence called the bitch-%oddess Success *t is not the case in the USA2 as it is

not the case in Euro$e2 that you will reco%ni e "ahweh for who he is when you see the

hun%ry bein% filled with %ood thin%s and the rich bein% sent em$ty awayThe United States2 howe1er2 is a $rofoundly anti-tra%ic society2 e1en if it is now

li1in% throu%h one of the most tra%ic $hases of its history "ou cannot really flourish if

you hate a loser As in the finest tra%ic art2 it is only by reco%ni in% your own distorted

1isa%e in the scum and refuse of the earth2 discernin% in the monstrous terror at your

%ates a thin% of dar#ness which that you must ac#nowled%e as your own2 that you ha1e

the faintest ho$e of sal1ation American $oliticians tal# of ho$e Da #ey American term2

li#e Pcomforta$le with 2Q Preach out to 2Q Pawesome 2Q and P stay focused Q is intended to

by- $ass this unutterably $ainful $rocess of self-disin1estment2 not burrow all the way

throu%h it in the wan faith that you mi%ht emer%e somewhere on the other side This is

why all such tal# of ho$e2 chan%e2 mornin% in America 2 and bra1ely facin% the future is

as bo%us as tal# of world $eace in the face of the s3ualid concentration cam$ that is the

Ga a stri$

*f one would wish the United States a touch more reticence and obli3uity Das well

as that it should start usin% the rather beautiful word Pchildren Q in $lace of the u%ly


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monosyllable PkidsQ 2 one would also wish it to ac#nowled%e what He%el once called the

$ower of the ne%ati1e *n a s3uare- awed2 self-affirmati1e culture2 s$ea#in% ne%ati1ely

about somethin% be%ins to sound li#e a thou%ht crime PHow was your holiday Q an

American as#s P+erfectly dreadful2Q you truthfully re$ly2 watchin% the faint flic#er of

$u lement and discomfort in his eyes Where1er $ossible2 you are e/$ected to be u$ -

beat The American word for an unmiti%ated disaster is Pchallenge Q 8ailure is scarcely to

be admitted E1en cemeteries are to be s$o#en of as $laces where a %ood deal of acti1ity

%oes on D o%%in%2 flower-tendin%2 and the li#e 2 not as dum$in% %rounds for the dead A

mistrust of the ne%ati1e is one reason why there is so dismally little satire in the country2if one discounts the unmatchable Simpsons1 !e%ati1ity is mista#en for nihilism2 and

nihilism is bad for ideolo%ical morale This is why ri1al $olitical commentators ar%uin%

the toss on tele1ision must #ee$ smilin% and oshin%2 to assure the 1iewer that there is no

real conflict at sta#e here There is2 after all2 only one $olitical $arty in this su$$osed

democracy< the ca$italist $arty Such com$ulsory oshin% and %rinnin% also ser1es to

confirm that these indi1iduals are human 2 %i1en the 3uaint U S assum$tion that there is

somethin% sinisterly robotic about discussin% ideas without an occasional sob2 chuc#le2

P:oo#-itQ or PThere ya %o a%ain Q

There are many reasons2 then2 why not to li1e in the United States . one of the

most $ressin% of all bein% that its inhabitants rise and retire ridiculously early *n this2 too2

the $uritan linea%e can be %leaned2 alon% with the $roddin%s of the $rofit moti1e

!o ci1ili ed society would re3uire one to rise before 4( a m 2 or to retire before

midni%ht +re-dawn $ower-brea#fasts are 3uite as barbaric as throwin% Christians

to the lions Some Americans2 as a%hast at such inci1ilities as any Euro$ean obser1er2


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ha1e fled the country2 ta#en u$ home in !a$les or arra#esh or Co$enha%en2 and

embar#ed there on the $ainful $rocess of de-Americani ation Such cities these days are

thron%ed with reco1erin% Americans2 all of them at 1arious sta%es of the 4'twel1e -ste$

$ro%ram of AA "et there are se1eral %ood reasons to li1e in the $lace as well And in

case this statement2 after all this car$in% and critici in%2 mi%ht sound mildly im$lausible2

let me confess that some of my best friends are Americans y wife2 for e/am$le2 alon%

with two of my children *t is true that my eldest American child could scarcely be

described as a fanatical $atriot2 ha1in% rashly attem$ted to scale the s$i#ed railin%s of the

U S embassy in 7ublin durin% an anti-*ra3-war demonstration shoutin% obscenitiesrarely heard in the mouth of a =nine-year-old

E1en so2 few countries of my ac3uaintance manifest such a robust ci1ic

consciousness as the United States The *rish ha1e traditionally dis$layed 1ery little such

ci1ic sense2 lar%ely because the country for se1eral centuries was not their own There is

a co1ert connection between ;ritish im$erialism and all that shoc#in% sali1a on the

streets of 7ublin :aws are not matters that the *rish obey in too sla1ish or2 literal a s$irit2

e1en today2 since many such laws traditionally wor#ed to their detriment The ;ritish

ha1e little ci1ic s$irit lar%ely because of the admirable stubbornness or Pbloody-

mindednessQ of the traditional ;ritish wor#in% class2 who were ne1er fooled into

belie1in% that the country was their own in the same sense that it belon%ed to Winston

Churchill2 and who unli#e many American wor#ers would ne1er dream of s$ea#in% of

PourQ business or com$any Whereas American wor#ers and entre$reneurs tend to re1eal

a bri%ht-eyed Pcan-doQ attitude2 the stereoty$ical ;ritish wor#er will stand for ten

minutes before whate1er is to be fi/ed sha#in% his head disconsolately2 and will only by


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%radual de%rees be drawn into a %rud%in% admission that it is not ho$elessly beyond

re$air Nutsiders who are not familiar with this ritual2 and not $re$ared to collaborate

conscientiously in its e1ery baro3ue mo1e2 will be left with lea#y $i$es or blown fuses

The United States2 by contrast2 has #e$t ali1e somethin% of the sense of ci1ic

fellowshi$ and social res$onsibility which that ins$ired its re1olutionary ori%ins !o

doubt it needs to2 as a counterwei%ht to the di1isi1e effects of both multiculturalism and

ca$italist indi1idualism E1en so2 there are few $eo$les as $leasant and courteous to one

another as Americans ;y and lar%e2 the Chinese treat one another with notable

rou%hness2 whereas we En%lish $refer not to encounter one another at all *f we can %etaway with a $hone call or a coy note rather than a face-to-face meetin%2 we will most

certainly do so The En%lish re%ard human contact as %reatly o1errated2 not least by the

Americans ;y and lar%e2 they tend to belie1e that once you ha1e seen one s$ecimen of

humanity you ha1e seen the lot Americans belie1e in indi1idualism2 while the En%lish

belie1e in that 1ery different $henomenon2 idiosyncrasy And idiosyncrasy is amon%

other thin%s a way of #ee$in% others at arm s len%th *t is an acce$tably flamboyant form

of unsociability There are N/brid%e dons who would wish to be remembered not for

their $ath-brea#in% history of ;y antium2 but for the fact that they fre3uented a $ub e1ery

ni%ht with a lo3uacious $arrot $erched on their shoulder Nn the whole2 indi1idualism in

the United States belon%s to the economic realm2 while culture is lar%ely a matter of

conformity *n ;ritain2 culture is amon% other thin%s the domain of indi1idual

idiosyncrasy2 while too brash an entre$reneurialism still tends to be frowned on

*diosyncrasy is an e/tra1a%ant form of $ri1acy2 a #ind of ta#in% shelter from

others in the de$ths of oneself and it is this $ri1acy which that Euro$eans tend to find so


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absent in the USA !ot2 to be sure2 that there is any lac# of %ated communities or P0ee$

NutQ notices in the $lace The country is more thic#ly $lastered with stern $ublic

$rohibitions than any * #now What bemuses Euro$eans is the a$$arent assum$tion

Da%ain $uritan in $ro1enance that what is not instantly e/ternali ed or articulated does

not truly e/ist *t is this which that some Euro$eans tend to mista#e for a lac# of human

de$th or interiority *t is not that there are no de$ths2 but that the de$ths are more on the

surface than they are in Lurich or La%reb The *rish2 by contrast2 can a$$ear easy and

s$ontaneous2 but ha1e lon% nurtured D$artly for $olitical reasons a com$le/ culture of

secrecy2 and are much less instantly deci$herable than they a$$ear *f the ;ritish and theAmericans are di1ided by the same lan%ua%e2 in ;ernard Shaw s immortal $hase2 it is

$artly because the last thin% the ;ritish belie1e is that what you see is what you %et


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Russia

Wild-;looded En1oys of the 8uture < A isit to a useum

ictor Erofeye1

' 7isit to a Museum

The small $re%nant woman2 who somehow reminded me of Andrei ;ol#ons#y s wife

the one who died in childbirth in ar and Peace assembled the %rou$ of about a do en

Russians in front a $icture by Ce anne The blonde American smiled at us with a well -

studied2 in%enuous smile that was intended to hold our interest at least until the end of thetour2 introduced herself2 and $lun%ed into the dar# waters of the un#nown The one thin%

she did #now about this %rou$ was that she was facin% hi%h-$riority *+s who had come

to the useum of odern Art by s$e

Documents

Writers From Around the Globe Reflect on America