The not-so-quiet Americans

Recent surveys have shown a general dislike for Americans. While it is not surprising to hear Arabs and Muslims refer to Americans as the Great Satans, the growing anti-American sentiment in Europe is something else. I was watching a BBC report last weekend on how Europeans feel about America and it’s sad to see how the North Atlantic alliance seems to be breaking up because as Europeans put it, the Americans just don’t understand. In other words, Americans are perceived to be showing insensitivity or even possibly, arrogance.

In the developing world, the American image needs drastic refurbishing too. Unless you are Israel, America can no longer be looked upon on for genuine assistance. Yet, America demands so much from us by way of protecting Bill Gates’s property rights to fighting America’s war on terrorism. And how did Mr. Bush respond to rising hatred of America in the Third World? By hiring a top advertising executive to be an assistant secretary of state in charge of propaganda or something like that.

It is typically American to approach a serious problem the way McDonald’s would sell its burgers. One would have thought that given the violent response of some cultures to the golden arches, the White House leadership would have a more sophisticated view of why there is rising anti-Americanism in the world today.

Running commercials on al-Jezeera on how great and loving America is, cannot even be the beginning of the solution to America’s problems. But that’s what they are doing and aggravating the negative feelings towards America in the process. They need someone not so much to sell America like a potato chip but someone to teach America how to act as a superpower with grace.

The problem with America and American leadership today is the way it carries its big stick around. Everyone knows America is the only superpower in the world today, but somehow, Washington finds it necessary to remind everyone at every opportunity, like some schoolyard bully.

The way the Bush administration withdrew from the Kyoto agreement on the environment is a good example. It delivered the message that America can do as it wants and no one in the world can stop them. Going to war without UN sanction will reinforce that image.

In the private sector, that’s precisely what is going on as well. Take the case of ATT and WorldCom against our telecom companies. Even as other telecom companies in the world have agreed to the new revenue sharing scheme for international calls based on guidelines of the International Telecommunications Union, these two American corporate giants would have none of it. Not only are these American giants refusing to pay the new rates, they have refused to pay back accounts based on the old rates and want the American government through the FCC to back them up.

We have yet to see if the American government will use its might to bamboozle the struggling phone companies in this terror stricken Third World country. But knowing the cozy relationship between the regulator and the regulated in America, we can’t hold our breath. It is a purely commercial dispute, yet the American giants sought to involve their government. This bastion of laissez-faire, free enterprise system is apparently a fake.

It is the same thing with the open skies proposal. No less than the American Ambassador here is putting extreme pressure on our government to accede to their demand for open skies. The concept by itself may seem harmless and even desirable. But closer examination reveals that the proposal on the table is so unfair that it could result in the demise of our own flag carrier. The reciprocity offered on paper is no reciprocity at all in practical terms. Rumors have it the Yanks will ram it through when Ate Glo visits Washington next month.

Thus, getting their way with the finesse of a bulldozer, the Americans gather resentment from countries all over the world. No amount of Madison Avenue advertising will smooth over the bad feelings generated through years of international bullying by America’s government and corporations. In the end, America pays a heavy price. Hundreds of thousands of its young people end up fighting and dying in needless conflicts all over the world.

Those of us who have been in contact with ordinary Americans know they are simple Joes who look forward to living simple lives with their families, maybe a six pack of beer with a game of bowling with friends now and then. It must shock them to find out their image has unfairly evolved to that of monsters that the world now sees them to be. Little do they know that quiet as most Americans might be, the not-so-quiet Americans who call the shots in corporate America and in Washington have seriously damaged the American image.

Fixing that image requires a thorough soul searching. Selling the concept of America as if it were Pringles just isn’t going to do it. If only America practices what it preaches, living up to the great principles of the Founding Fathers, a very good start could be made towards reversing the hatred the mere mention of its name now generates.

Sirens

Reader Hernan Santos complains about a pet peeve of many of us – sirens. The President would win a lot of brownie points if she orders a total ban on sirens except by emergency vehicles like police cars and ambulances.

I thought only a certain number of high government officials are allowed to have sirens (wang-wang) in their cars.

How come so many civilian cars have these sirens. Today, a civilian Ford Expedition with plate number WSC 770 was using his siren along Edsa.

How do we report these people so that they do not abuse the use of the siren?

Oh, that!!!

This one’s from Marilyn Mana-ay Robles.

A man is lying in bed in a Catholic hospital with an oxygen mask over his mouth. A young auxiliary nurse appears to sponge his face and hands.

"Nurse," he mumbles from behind the mask, "Are my testicles black?"

Embarrassed, the young nurse replies, "I don’t know, I’m only here to wash your face and hands."

He struggles again to ask, "Nurse, are my testicles black?"

Again the nurse replies, "I can’t tell. I’m only here to wash your face and hands."

The ward sister was passing and saw the man getting a little distraught so marched over to inquire what was wrong.

"Sister," he mumbled, "Are my testicles black?"

Being a nurse of long standing, the sister was undaunted. She whipped back the bedclothes, pulled down his pajama trousers, moved his penis out of the way, had a real good look, pulled up the pyjamas, replaced the bedclothes and announced, "Nothing wrong with them!!!"

At this the man pulled off his oxygen mask and asked again, "Are my test results back???"

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]