"Good" Americans

Bonjour!

Today, I want to talk about something that's been on my mind a lot this week. I'd LOVE to update you all with what I've been up to, as well, but honestly it's just been school and sleep. I'm way too exhausted  from speaking French all day to go do anything and I still don't have a phone number here, which makes it difficult to go out. So I thought I'd keep the blog fresh with some discussion!

As a lot of you may have seen, I made a post on Facebook recently about American stereotypes. For those of you who didn't see it, it went something along the lines of this:

"One stereotype that I do not like about Americans is that we're all extremely patriotic and narrow minded. Unfortunately, sometimes it's VERY true.I've found that a lot of people in the states do not know a lot about foreign affairs, where traditions and holidays originate from, other types of government, and so on.
I do not find myself a very patriotic person whatsoever. It's not that I hate the U.S. (although, with all of this government drama, I'm liking it a tad less...), but rather than I'm more curious about the rest of the world. I prefer to embrace all cultures rather than just my own. I want to put myself in other people's worlds. Having a broad perspective about the world genuinely makes you a more accepting person. That's one of the most important lessons that Rotary has taught me so far; you can learn a lot more from someone else's shoes than just your own.
I really hope that more people my age, and younger, are getting the word about Rotary Youth Exchange program. I'm learning very important skills and lessons that cannot be taught by textbooks, lectures, or classes. Hopefully one day, this stereotype will be proven wrong with the help of the American youth."

Now, after posting this, I got a lot of praise from friends and family, but mostly other exchange students. At first, I was a little surprised by this. My Brazilian and Aussi friends were talking to me about how happy and relieved they were to hear this sort of thing from an American. But after a lot of thought, I realised that I kind of answered my own question by referring back to the post; I'm the exact opposite of the stereotypes.

It's a really nice feeling when people tell you that you're a "good" American. They're not necessarily saying that Americans are bad, but if you Google "stereotypes of Americans", you'll get a good idea of why I'm a little embarrassed of what people think about us. Take a look at this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotypes_of_Americans

I know Wikipedia is not exactly the most accurate source of information, but I figured using something broad and public was a good way to get the idea across. Wikipedia is a website used and edited by millions to get a general idea of subjects, and if this is the general idea of Americans, then I'm very dissapointed.

There are pros and cons on this list. In my opinion, I think the pros are fairly accurate; generous, hardworking, and optimistic. We are a society based around the idea that anyone can make it and be the person they want to be if you're willing to work hard for it.

However, it also states that we're "materialistic, extreme capitalists, lacking education and gullible, ignorant, obese, racist, gun-loving and violent, environmentally unconscious, arrogant, and boastful".

I know that these things do not apply to a lot of people that I know. Maybe the reason for that is because I come from a VERY smart and open-minded family, I associate with Rotarians and Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) students, and I take advanced courses in school. Maybe I am a "good" example of an American because I'm surrounded with a generally smart and accepting environment. Not to mention I'm from a very liberal and wacky city where we encourage each other to be weird, hence our motto "Keep Portland Weird". But that doesn't change the fact that these things are being stated about the general public.

Some of these things I understand. The obesity rate is a numerical fact, so I can't really support that with an argument. I also hate the fast food industry so you got me there, Wikipedia. Racism most likely comes from the slavery issues we had, as that is a major part of American history (in fact, a friend from school told me that they study slavery the same way we study the Holocaust). Also, consider the fact that if the entire country was racist, why would we elect a black president?
*Cliff note: Europe loves Obama. One of my friends said that electing a black president made the U.S. look REALLY good. We really need to work on this racism nonsense.

But for the non-Americans who are reading this, let me inform you on what is NOT true (things might start to get a tad sarcastic at this point):
-Gun-Loving. If you haven't heard of the Gun Control debates and arguments, go look that up now. This statement does NOT apply to everyone.
-Capitalism. The U.S. is not 100% capitalist. We are a mixed economy, despite being one of the most capitalist governments in the world. For a better explination for those who are unfimiliar, check out this link:
http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/united-states-pure-capitalism
-Environmentally unconscious. This might be a biased opinion, considering I come from Portland and it kills me when people don't recycle or compost. But compare us to a country like China, where factories pollute the sky for miles. I don't think that this statement should be said about the U.S. because this is not a major issue here as it is in other parts of the world.

Now for being uneducated and arrogant, that's something I cannot argue. To support this statement, I'd like to let you guys know that one of my best friends, Reilly King, who is currently studying in Austria, had many people ask her why she was learning German to go to Australia. Then they proceeded to ask what the difference between Austria and Australia was.
There's also many late night talk show hosts who have done comedic bits where they ask strangers on the streets historical or geographical questions about the world and are given nothing less than ridiculous, dull answers.

Such things are what gives us such an unintelligent name. I'm not saying that Fallon and Kimmel need to start asking people in other countries random questions to make them look stupid. I'm not suggesting that we give every high school a lesson in geography. But maybe we should focus more on the good aspects of the good ol' U. S. of A..

We are a society based on individuality. People will fight for your right to be who you are. There thousands of people who are out there who do amazing things for human rights and social accaptance; people who fight for same-sex marriage, people passionate about sex education, rape culture and body image activists, people who fight racism, feminists, and every other controversial topic with a battle. That's the wonderful thing about our country, we love to be who we are. The American youth and young adults are incredibly driven to fight for things that we have our rights to. Because why fight for something that you already have? Our generation is seen as modern and welcoming for a reason.

So, to wrap this up, I'd like to give you guys some life tips so you too can be a "good" American:
Be open-minded. Learn new things every single say. Take another language just for fun. Travel. Read books. Study other religions. Watch Travel Channel. Try food you've never had before. Educate yourself. Take world history classes. Read the newspaper. Be aware. Watch BBC news (it's wonderful for world news). Compare things, absorb things, and most importantly, don't be a citizen of (insert home country here), be a citizen of the earth.

I feel like I'm really doing my job here. I feel like I'm a good example of what it means to be an ambassador for you country because that's what I am. That's one of the things that people lose touch with when they go on exchange: you're representing your home country. You're here with a mission to break stereotypes and to make the world a smaller place. We connect and network through exposure and immersion.

Welp, that's all I've got to say, but I would love to hear what you guys think! Leave me a comment on my blog or on Facebook with your responses, feedback, and thoughts. I love hearing other perspectives on this topic.


A bientot!

~Effy