Americans are now among the most insular and least curious people in the world. — I’d agree with this thesis under most circumstances except for one thing. Who is better? Are the Middle Easterners who think that somehow the Jews flying remote controlled places blew up the WTC more on the ball? Hah. And while there are plenty of worldly Europeans, most never leave their town or village. I was watching a CBC report on the open borders in the EU and someone was interviewing a German. The guy was asked if he’s be more likely to go to Paris more often since it ws so easy. He’s never been to Paris, he said. And he wasn’t sure if he was interested in going. I’m thinking that for this guy Paris was like a two hour train ride on a high speed train. I’d be going every weekend. But he’s not interested. This is not uncommon throughout the world. To pin Americans with this “least curious” tag is total bullshit. And now that things are so expensive and everyone bitches at us when we travel, what do these jokers expect?
These comments are a reflection on the fact that Bush never left the country before becoming President and didn’t seem interested in ever doing so. So he is the standard by which we are all judged. Great, huh?
Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka used to ask people not to exaggerate the insularity of Americans by saying things like: “Can you imagine the Americans? Nobody else plays baseball and yet they call their series the World Series.” He used to say, “C’mon, that’s not the issue. That’s superficial.”
He does not defend us anymore. “I’m sorry,” he says, chuckling. “I’ve come around to the conclusion that it’s not superficial at all, that it is an index we better be aware of.”
Soyinka, who turned 70 last year, is in Cambridge to be honored by Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute. In an interview yesterday, Soyinka, who has braved death many times in his native, turbulent Nigeria, says that for all of our technology, Americans are now among the most insular and least curious people in the world.
And while there are plenty of worldly Europeans, most never leave their town or village.
That might *possibly* be true for post-Communist Eastern Europe, but there is no way that it’s true for Western Europe. I’m British, and have met many Europeans (Brits, Irish, French, German, Swedes, Dutch etc) and I’ve never met anyone who’s never left their town or village. I’ve never even heard of anyone who’s never left their town or village.
I mean, off hand, I can’t think of anyone I know who’s never even left the *country*. Certainly, all my friends and relatives have travelled abroad. The only one I can’t say this about for certain is my maternal grandmother (now dead). But she had certainly travelled extensively in the UK, having lived in Liverpool, London, Cornwall and Hampshire.
In the UK, most people will holiday abroad on cheap package holidays, so not only is it not true to say that most people will never have left their village, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it wasn’t even true to say that most people have never even left the *country*.
I suppose what I’m saying is that your statement seems anecdotal in the extreme, and given that the subject of your post is how knowledgeable Americans are about the rest of the world, I’d be interested to know what you base it on. Because it honestly doesn’t even come close to matching my personal experience.
Regular people only care about 2 things: celebrities and sports. The only problem is that only USA rule the world. If you wanna be a superpower you must take the responsability and act accordingly.
“This is one of the most insular societies I’ve ever encountered anywhere”
That’s total BS. Obviously he’s never heard of this little country called Japan. A culture so xenophobic they refuse to eat foreign rice. A culture so xenophobic that even one foreigner who enters the room can destroy the “wa” (harmony). A culture so obsessed with differences that people are stereotyped and discriminated against for having rare blood types. A culture where Koreans who have lived in Japan for three generations are still considered alien and are forced to carry visas whenever they travel in public.
Oh yeah, the US is insular!
George Bush’s proposed appointee to the post of Ambassador to Canada has been (t)here exactly once; thirty years ago, to Niagra Falls.
So true! Of course, don’t expect the Yankees to admit this (sorry, John), but anybody who’s had an opportunity to travel will tell you the same: the US population in general is shockingly narrow-minded and self-focused.
John,
I don’t agree with the absolute that Americans are the “most”. I do agree that they are “very” insular. I think imafish’s post is accurate.
I currently live in a small town in the mid-west. There are quite a few locals here who have never left the state. Most have no idea where Canada is other then some foggy notion that it is “up there”. Many are not even sure in which direction New York is. Forget about world geography.
Eating foreign food is narrowed down to (pseudo) Chinese or Mexican.
Although I have personally never left the continent, I would dearly love to visit Britain someday.
I stopped “serious” travel, beaucoup years ago, John. But experience tells me I’d also have to agree with the insular bit. And Americans often are just as embarrassing when they do wander abroad — especially the collegiate types who think they’re setting forth to Spring Break European Style.
The first few times I visited Europe, I learned very quickly to stay away from any place seriously populated by American tourists. Often on foot, sometimes hitch-hiking or taking a bus, I was always received the way folks in lots of other lands receive travelers — with ease and welcome. They always differentiated between Americans and American governments — even if my peers from the States belligerently refused to do the same.
Can you imagine Ima Fish visiting a mosque in Turkey or even a karaoke bar in Taipei? The built-in American sneer is diametrically opposite to what one might experience — prepared with a little history, knowledge of the “why-for” of other folks’ culture.
The average American abroad whines about missing hamburgers. The average American at home whines about whatever doesn’t fit on American Idol or the sports page of the newspaper that he doesn’t read the rest of!
Insular? When I worked at Avondale Shipyard in Harvey, Louisiana, I knew guys who’d never gone to New Orleans. That was 30 miles away! They probably still haven’t.
If you want to go to the UK, wait for a sale and simply go.
For the other posts. Not everyone in the world goes everywhere in the world. It’s not that important to most people. I personally go a lot of place because I need to — for what I do for a living. Yes, I do enjoy it and think many Americans in particular would benefit from “getting out of town.” Serious world travel gives you a competitivie edge no matter what you do since it gives you perspective. Still, it’s not the most important thing in the world. For Americans it is inconvenient. Then again how many Americans have made the simple trip to the incredible Montreal?
I have mixed feelings about all this, as you can tell.
Anyone who thinks Americans are greatly different from other humans being is a fool.
Pride is the man who find faults in others while overlooking his own,
I think the main reason we’re insular in the US is because there are so few nearby places to travel to. In Europe you could drive to Italy, Spain, France, etc. In American, you can drive to Mexico or Canada. That’s it. No offense to those two countries, but they’re not quite the same.
The other thing to remember is that European holidays are quite different from ours. While we’re lucky to get two weeks off, our European neighbors are getting a month. It’s almost impossible to imagine. An entire month off to do whatever you want! They’re free to leisurely travel abroad while we’re stuck trying to maximize our time.
And to Ed Campbell, I don’t understand why you slammed me. I don’t know you and you sure in heck don’t know me. Let’s not get personal again, OK?
“Least curious”? The US leads the world in innovation. How can the most innovative people also be the least curious? I’m with you, John. This is absolute BS. This guy is a Nobel Laureate from Nigeria and the best he can do is jump on the Blame-America-First bandwagon? Perhaps he should focus on something meaningful like AIDS or government corruption in Africa. How did this guy get a Nobel Prize for anyway? Is there one for Whining now?
Speaking as an American who started traveling abroad in high school, I find this whole idea laughable. For one thing, most of the French I lived with in 1970 had never been outside France. These were blue collar and rural types, not urban sophisticates. There’s a lot of them. Our British pal, above in the comments, who has never met such a person, probably does not move much outside of his own social class — or else things have changed a lot since 1970. Second, what most Europeans fail to realize is the absolute size and sweep of this country. You could travel for years and not see it all, and not repeat anything either. Look: England (not the UK, but England) is very nearly the same size and approximate shape of my home state, North Carolina. France is the size of Texas. Nothing could be more different than North Carolina and Texas. Which are not the same as Oregon. Which is not the same as Montana. Which is not the same as New England. And so on. I am all for visiting other countries (proud of my nephew who is working in Japan), but the truth is that certain Europeans have got to find something to feel superior about when it comes to America, even when it does not fit the facts.
“When I worked at Avondale Shipyard in Harvey, Louisiana, I knew guys who’d never gone to New Orleans. That was 30 miles away! They probably still haven’t.”
I worked on assignment a few years back on a town in Louisiana called Larose. One night, we ventured further south towards the gulf in search of restaurants.
We thought we’ve driven a long way already and came across a bridge. Before going further we stopped by a gas station and asked a local what was on the other side of the bridge. His reply was “I lived here 10 years and have not never crossed that bridge yet.”
Needless to say, we turned around.
>I’ve never met anyone who’s never left their town or village.
Not too surprising. They’re not going to be coming within sight of you!
Soyinka says Eskimos live in igloos. They don’t. So who’s the ignorant one? Igloos are hunting lodges.
As to the comment that Bush had never left the country before becoming president, this is another sign of elitism. Bush had been to 4 or 5 countries, but the media felt that Mexico, Egypt and a few other countries was not enough foreign travel for their taste.
Also similar to this is the idea that Americans don’t speak foreign languages. That’s not a sign of intelligence but rather adaptation. People in Vermont are more likely to speak French, and the Southwest are more likely to speak Spanish. That doesn’t make them smarter. Of course Europeans speak more languages, look at their map.
I’ve got a news flash for the europeans. We have states bigger than several of your countries put together. Travelling within the US is akin to travelling across Europe and then some. Last time I checked the US was about 3000 miles across. I could travel for a lifetime and not see all there is to see in the USA, never mind North America.
In addition, we have tons of diversity right here. I can get any kind of food or culture I want in any major city. Even little old Tucson has every type of ethnic food you can imagine. Even Ethiopean! We also have festivals for a variety of nations: Mexico, Greece, Italy, Japan, etc.You can immerse yourselves in their culture and language for a whole weekend if you like. We have Italian markets, Asian markets, Mexican markets, and on and on. How does all this make us insular and less curious? Just because we may not travel to other parts of the world does not make this true.
I get tired of windbags from other parts of the world knocking the US. I really don’t give a shit if some jackass from Nigeria wants to criticize us. Perhaps he ought to apply his brain power to cleaning up the cesspool that his own country has become first.
OK. I’m european. I’m almost 40. I never left my country (though I still want to travel as soon as I can). I rarely go far away from my home town – just work, go home, go shopping, go for a walk. I basically live within a 30 mile radius area.
A former boss of mine, who was american, once said jokingly I was ‘the most portuguese american’ he knew.
Really 😉
I know I’m kinda unique… and my life is kinda poor… That’s why I want to change… I just don’t want to do it alone – you see, I’m still single. A single geek. You get the picture.
I didn’t read the other comments, honestly. I think the major thing in saying americans don’t travel much is this – America is bigger than Europe. Instead of countries it has states. When you travel, you do to another STATE, not another COUNTRY… You’d have to travel half the world to get to another country. That’s it. Here in Portugal you drive for a couple of hors and you’re in Spain. If you live in Belgium or the Netherlands it’s even better, you just have to drive what – 10 minutes – to get to a different country?
🙂
For one thing, most of the French I lived with in 1970 had never been outside France. Our British pal, above in the comments, who has never met such a person, probably does not move much outside of his own social class — or else things have changed a lot since 1970.
Well firstly, things have changed hugely since 1970 – with the cost of air travel falling hugely for example. My parents find it bizarre that I might fly to Ireland on a Saturday afternoon to attend a party at a friends house and then fly back the next morning. To them, Ireland is a place you take a long drive followed by a ferry to for a week’s holiday.
Secondly, John didn’t say “most Europeans have never left their own country”. If he had, I might well have agreed with him, because when poor and older people are taken into account, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the proportion of people in most countries who’d never left their country exceeded 50%. (Although I wouldn’t expect it to exceed it by much).
But what he actually said was that most Europeans have never left their own town or village – which is leagues away from being correct, and I suspect has been incorrect since railways were developed in the 19th century. (Apart from anything else, we’re densely populated enough that you can usually walk to the next town or village).
Ahh, the Elitist Snobbery of the Enlightened Traveler and the Droll, Pathetic Existence of Those that Don’t.
Let’s put things in perspective, shall we? A typical, weekend get-away for me is hopping into my car and driving 500 miles to a location I can enjoy. The people there don’t resent me for being American, they don’t put on airs of superiority, and they certainly don’t give a damn about my politics. They are only interested in separating me from my money, and as long as they make the process pleasurable, I am more than willing to go along with their efforts. The fact that this location is not in a foreign country has nothing to do with my insularity or lack of curiosity, but with geography: there isn’t a foreign country within that 500-mile range for a weekend jaunt. Anything beyond 500 miles requires substantial investment of my vacation time and money.
Now for the Europeans to lure my vacation dollars will require them to offer me a package I find worthy of my investment. Sorry, but insults ain’t a gonna do it.
And I find it laughable for those that imply my lack of exposure to their “worldly” values somehow makes me ignorant.
they don’t put on airs of superiority
And American’s don’t have an air of superiority? It’s my perception that Americans are constantly telling us that they’re better than us.
American’s don’t say, “this is a generous country” – they say “this is the most generous country in the world.”
They don’t say, “this is a good country” – they say “this is the best country in the world.”
They don’t say, “We are an intelligent and industrious people” – they say “we are the most intelligent and industrious people in the world.”
They don’t say, “The American Revolution was one of the first wars fought not for reasons of race or nationality but for a political ideal” – they say, “The American Revolution was *unique* for being the first war fought not for reasons of race or nationality but for a political ideal” (Hint:- The English Civil War took place more than a hundred years earlier).
They don’t say, “We as a country have a commitment to democracy” – they say, “We as a country have a greater commitment to democracy than any other country in the world.” (Hint: Chile 1973)
You also often say things that seem to imply that you’re unique for being a democracy and having a constitution that guarantees human rights – when it fact pretty much all Western countries are democratic, and nearly all of them have written constitutions with guarantees of human rights.
Being the richest most powerful, country in the world doesn’t *necessarily* make you the best, and telling everyone that you meet that you’re better than them is going to: a) put their backs up; and b) make them watch you like a hawk for the tinyest slip-up you might make.
Imagine a big, powerful, rich guy walking into a party and loudly declaring, “I’m the greatest person in this room!”
That’s a bit how people this side of the pond feel about America.
And just for the record, my personal experiences are that you are a very warm, generous and hospitible people, certainly more so than my people, the English. But you’re not the most hospitable people I’ve met – that would be the Irish.
I work at a summer camp where we have many international counselors. A good deal of them are English and they constantly put down America, and Americans – I have not gone more than 2 days without hearing the term “stupid American”. Maybe one of you Englishmen can explain that? I don’t understand where the resentment comes from. I am not the most patriotic person in the world, however, when I am sitting in my country, one that I consider great and I have a couple of foreigners dissing my country I get a little angry. I know Americans don’t go to England and just start putting down the country right in their faces. It is not even like it’s these few people, it has been happening since I have been working there – 11 years ago- all different English people – coming in and out and saying the same thing. What gives you the need to put us down? What do you think you gain by doing so? It reminds me of the bit of child psychology you hear in elementary schools, “You put others down to make yourselves feel better.” Of course we have ignorant people in our country – the American stereotype of loud, redneck and idiotic… but do you think your own country is without these things? I have been to Europe and all of the wonderful countries over there – I agree with the statements above… your countries, in comparison are SMALL. Like, as small as our states… so, while you may be able to travel 4-5 hours in any direction and be in another country, some of us have to drive more than that to just leave our home state… you don’t understand this because you don’t live here. When a lot of people on that side of the pond take shots at us, they really don’t realize how ignorant THEY are. It is not necessary to always put America down… no reason to – what exactly spurns this?