A nation of contradictions

What are they, the Americans? Simple or complex? Innocent or corrupt? Intelligent or duds? Liberal or orthodox? Crazy or sane? This technologically-wired nation, where sex is touted as a dire need and lives are lived on the fast lane, is a clash of opinions, of extreme views and actions, discovers JAYALAKSHMI K.

Aliens are no more extra-terrestrial visitors. Aliens are non-Americans! On national news was report of a bill against smuggling of illegal immigrants introduced by a Republican senator which was defeated in the House. Blaming it on vested business interests and liberal leftists was Senator Dana Rohrabacher, the sponsor of the bill that sought hospitals to identify ‘aliens’ or illegal immigrants before being reimbursed for the treatment. He was loud and clear in his feelings about who should and should not benefit from the nation’s free education and medical benefits! Well if there are those who believe that benefits are meant only for US citizens, there are also those who do not believe it right to take it out on illegal immigrants smuggled across on false promises!

A nation of controversies – that in essence sums up my impressions of the United States of America. From the word go it is a clash of opinions, of extreme views and actions, a melting pot?

The average American may detest the foreigner who has stolen his job prospects. Some even move away a seat when a brown or black sits down. But most will greet you with a sunny smile and a ‘How u doing?’ even if he does not wait for an answer. And when they greet a friend, there is no restraint. Loud and noisy and dramatic, they symbolise what their country stands for. Unrestrained freedom, to be who you want to be.

This is a technologically wired country, slowly doing away with the wires. There is efficiency and comfort in most walks of life here, right from guiding the first time tourist at the airport. Signboards decorate every few steps with all the details down to the very elementary, making one wonder are they illiterates who need to be spoon-fed so? But when despite all this someone walks up and asks a question, the answer to which is there printed in bold, all you can do is wonder again.

The man sweeping the floor may look a bit old to tackle the work but he is no shuffler. With his mop he is busy doing a good job regardless of whether he is being overlooked or not! The cab driver again looks a little over 60 but would rather that you wait for him to open the door and place the stool to step in.

For a nation obsessed about health and nutrition facts of food items, half the populace is obese. Not just over-weight, but FAT.

In city limits vehicles have to slow down from 70 mph to 25, and chances are you will find many a car driver allowing the pedestrian to cross the road. And remember they are all in a tearing hurry to reach wherever they are headed to. Lives are lived on the fast lane but come to a cruising slow at weekends.

Way of comfort

Computers are as essential as the heater or micro-oven at home and people are looking for ‘good deals’ to buy the latest laptop or tablet PC. E-shopping is no fad but a way of comfort. Many of the affluent have smart networks plugged into their homes to monitor the situation from workplaces. Weather checks are important especially if you live in unpredictable places and are setting out on a long drive. Observatories update their websites with clockwork precision. Assisted information is always a mere dial away by telephone. And while electronic voting is old hat here, a state like Oregon votes by mail, taking nearly 20 days to complete the process. It’s all about the freedom to choose.

Book sales are as popular as any other. At big stores, selected books are sold at throwaway prices while shop assistants leave notes on their pick for the day that could assist a buyer decide. In the US, you can find youngsters crossing roads with their heads buried in the books they are reading!

But for a nation of builders and dreammakers, these folks can surprise one by pointing out Alaska in the heart of the country! Half the nation has no clue about how many states go to make the US or even who their neighbours are, forget the world beyond the seas, rues a professor. No wonder then that any brown skin comes under suspicion of being al-Qaeda member!

Higher education

In this country that was behind much of science of the last century, takers for higher education especially in the sciences are coming down. Blame it on lack of vision or of funds or motivation. However, methods of learning have gone beyond rote memorisation and reproduction to one based on analysis and projects.

Assignments and levels of participation in classrooms help with the grades. A graduate student actively participates with his professor in assisting with the class of under graduates. But pressure to excel are so high that more students are taking to malpractices these days.

When it comes to Bush and Iraq, the country seems almost equally divided and equally vociferous. One half feels extremely patriotic and deems any criticism of soldiers as otherwise. The other half is equally patriotic but wants their soldiers alive and back. Simply consider the issue of the abuse of Iraqi soldiers in Abu Ghraib prison. If this is a country that has ended up being hated by the rest of the world for its autocratic ways, this is also the nation that rules by democracy and human rights. The court martial of Jeremy Sivits for ill-treating of detainees and dereliction of duty saw Sivits who pleaded guilty being sentenced to a year of confinement and demotion.

Prosperity levels are continuously going up as is evident by the frenzied rate of consumerism but very clearly it is not everyone who can afford the latest SUV or a summer trip every year with family. The unemployment graph has been steadily climbing say some, even as the labour department figures cite 288,000 new jobs since April. Democrat Kerry has accused the Bush government of favouring the wealthy with massive tax cuts. Homeownership by US citizens has been down 10 percent. In Renton near Seattle, families rendered homeless overnight from unemployment ended up pitching tents in the area and await court judgement for extending stay beyond 90 days!

Hot debate

Gas prices are going up and up. An email circulated asking citizens to stay off gas stations for a day was discussed on the news. The hot debate is whether the government should release oil from the reserves, something which could influence votes. While Bush and co maintain that the reserves are to be opened only in the eventuality of a security attack, the Democrats believe that a release could ease the situation. But as the newsreader pointed out, nothing can help as much as a concerted effort towards better public transport and car pooling. Today while the US produces two percent of the world’s oil it consumes 30 percent!

Car rentals are a dime a dozen and the most relied upon form of transportation for people travelling long distances or hopping across states. Fast and reliable but obviously quite a waste considering all the fuel spent for one person to travel across the nation. Considering the heating and cooling systems and many other add-on services within a car, the fuel consumed also goes up. The automatic system (to facilitate those who forget to put on the headlights) sees to it that cars have lights on during peak noon. Given the obsession with fuel guzzling SUVs, the spiraling gas prices send an ominous message. It’s time to cut down the flab and use more fuel-efficient small vehicles. Depends if that will find takers seeing how Americans do not believe in thinking of tomorrow.

The use and throw policy is convenient and comfortable. Garage sales and thrift shops, where used items from books to electronic items to art pieces are sold at throwaway prices, bring a good deal for those who cannot afford.

Wastage stalks the nation. Everything here comes in king size for they believe big is beautiful. Food is served in large portions. And the consumer has no qualms in pushing aside half of it uneaten. Any unpacked consumable item in a store has to be separately placed in plastic covers - to avoid contamination. Toilet papers and tissue papers are of course, indispensable. US paper users consume one billion trees per year. The disposable paper tissues are incinerated releasing carbon dioxide while the rest is buried in landfills, releasing methane! The US accounts for 39 percent of the world’s methane release. No wonder it is mulish about reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It simply can’t!

Now consider this: high school students have an end of year tradition that sees them trying to outdo last year’s students’ pranks. This often causes damage and massive amount of cleanup. This year five students from Georgia high school poured bleach on the football ground, others at a nearby school swapped pornographic tape with school announcements sending graphic images to classrooms, while at Tennessee students decorated the school yard with miles long toilet paper to mark their rite of passage from school. The US government spends half a million dollars annually cleaning up graffiti on public property!

Even as the orthodox Catholics under Bush oppose abortion and stem cell research, states like California and Oregon have legalised gay marriages. So, are the Americans liberals or prudes? Both, or at least equally divided. On CNN, the broadcaster is unequivocal in his comment about the latest of reality shows – on wife swapping. “This is as low as we can get,” he noted about the appetite even among educated classes for such low-brow entertainment. Watch some of these shows and you will end up wondering if you are watching porn.

As to how bizarre entertainment can get, sample this: a radio channel was sued by a mother for calling her daughter a ‘slut’ and a ‘whore’ for being instrumental in breaking another girl’s heart. The programme that is meant to provide solace to the hurt and wounded renders a service called the ‘Poopid’ wherein a bag of faeces is delivered to the doorstep of the heartbreaker!

As to crime and security, all you need to have the cops at your door is ring the number 911 and hold on for three minutes. They will be at your doorstep in three minutes and even enter and make a cursory check to make sure there are no kidnap bids!

But read the newspaper or tune in to the news and crime, followed by lawsuits, takes the cake. Even if the state reports claim the crime rate is down by 6.5 percent, murders are up they say by one percent! From 13 year olds on the rampage to wives killing husbands and vice versa, it is a crime-ridden world. Stemming from? Unhappiness? A lack of a support system?

That seems inevitable when the average teenager wants out by the time he is 16. One woman sounded exasperated that her 21 year old refused to leave home. The mom wanted time to spend in private with her partner.

With all this comfort and freedom, why is there an increasing market for shrinks? Perhaps down the way to economic prosperity defined by buying power and materialism, many have lost hold on simple values, be it of family ties or community living or simply a sense of purpose to life.

In the popular show ‘Sidewalks of New York’ Annie observes: “We have no real problems and so everything is centred around sex. Everybody imagines they have some or the other sexual problem.”

The concept of dating which starts right from school, believes in first testing sexual compatibility before any personality match. No wonder children pick it up fast. To see young high-school kids on the pavement locked in a promiscuous grip, gyrating to some bodily rhythm should come as no surprise. Sex is touted as a physical need as urgent as food or drinks and desperate people will go to any risks to appease this hunger. And then invent problems. To continue with life.
So what are they, the Americans? Simple or complex? Innocent or corrupt? Intelligent or duds? Liberal or orthodox? Crazy or sane?

That is a tough set to answer. I will end it this way. In a small shop in Chinatown, Portland, as you enter you see a jar filled with little thingumies tied up with neat ribbons and a note that says, ‘Take one of these free fortune cookies but do not eat them.’

I was tempted and curious to see what such a small gift could be. And there were so many of them in the jar. Opening one, I saw that it was a hand-written message that said, ‘Your life is worthwhile.’

God bless America!