One of the biggest differences between the United States and Scotland is the amount of travel that the normal population has engaged in. You can walk down the street and ask random people what countries they have visited or lived in and you will get a startling response. Almost everyone that I have encountered here has traveled to another country, which is manifestly different than their own (no Canadas here).
This also causes some differences in the way they handle things in their own country. They have contact with a powerful Otherness (no Mexicos here), which steadfastly stays Other. This changes the way they view the world in profound ways. Americans, on the other hand, do not have anything like that. They dominate or have countries which are very much like their own.
This of course is nothing new. People have been saying the same thing for a very long time now. It is only now that I see how it acts first hand in comparison with my own country that I see the truthfulness of the arguments. It is very easy to nod your head and say, "yes, that is true" when you have not ever seen it but when you have, it is a completely different type of experience.
posted by Chris #10:35 AM | 0 comments |
