I had dilemma, long time ago, should I write something about this. All year long, I have been student at American University, and I was encountered with all sorts of geography wisdoms from AU students and random American people. Yet, when some of the wisdoms went "viral" on AU facebook pages, decision was made- its time for my side of the story to be heard- the right one.
“Montenegro? Where
the f**k is that?”
“Is that in Africa?
Asia? Latin America?”
“Europe is a
country right?”
“Omg, you are so
lucky to live in Africa!”
“You are from
Montenegro? You don’t look Asian?”
“IF YOU ARE FROM
EUROPE , HOW CAN YOU SPEAK AMERICAN?”
“Oh so Montenegro
is in Europe? Is that somewhere in the Midwest ?”
“Third world
country? Do you guys have TV? Reality shows? Democracy?”
SERIOUSLY PEOPLE?
Coming
to America last August, I didn’t quite expected everyone will be instantly
familiar with the place that I come from. Still I knew I will be studying in
Washington DC, the beautiful capital of the country – so I was thinking –
people cant be that ignorant , it’s the capital.
Leaving
Montenegro (for further reference- its in the south of Europe, in the Balkans)
people used to tell me to expect a lot of fat and stupidity around me.
Unfortunately, that’s media representation and stereotypes about America for
the rest of the world.
I am not
going to lie- you certainly find fat people somewhere. Stupidity too. But I
learned by time – its not stupidity. Its ignorance. And I don’t blame people,
or judge anyone. I simply believe that American educational system should be
more broad when it comes to worlds geography and history. Because USA is not
alone in this world. And not all the countries are important and relevant to
USA, which I understand. Still knowing and learning about the other countries
and cultures is important- for creating international relations and for
creating better networks and friendships, which can help the world we live in
become a better place.
For more than two centuries, Americans have gotten away with not
knowing much about the world around them. But times have changed—and they’ve
changed in ways that make civic ignorance a big problem going forward. While
isolationism is fine in an isolated society, we can no longer afford to mind
our own business. What happens in China and India (or at a Japanese nuclear
plant) affects the autoworker in Detroit; what happens in the statehouse and
the White House affects the competition in China and India. Before the
Internet, brawn was enough; now the information economy demands brains instead.
And where we once relied on political institutions (like organized labor) to
school the middle classes and give them leverage, we now have nothing. “The
issue isn’t that people in the past knew a lot more and know less now. “It’s
that their ignorance was counterbalanced by denser political organizations.”
The result is a society in which wired activists at either end of the spectrum
dominate the debate—and lead politicians astray at precisely the wrong moment.
If this
lack of knowledge is the result of the years of dumbing down of high school
curriculum and of families that don’t talk to their children about the past,
there’s another more pernicious kind of ignorance we confront today. It is the
product of years of ideological and political polarization and the deliberate
effort by the most fanatical and intolerant parties in that conflict to
manufacture more ignorance by lying about many aspects of our history and even
our recent past. I recall being stunned some years back when I read that a
majority of Americans told pollsters that Saddam Hussein was behind September
11 terrorist attacks. It struck me as a propaganda feat unsurpassed by the
worst authoritarian regimes of the past—many of which had to resort to labor
camps and firing squads to force their people to believe some untruth, without
comparable success. No doubt, the Internet and cable television have allowed
various political and corporate interests to spread disinformation on a scale
that was not possible before, but to have it believed requires a badly educated
population unaccustomed to verifying things they are being told. Where else on
earth would a president who rescued big banks from bankruptcy with taxpayers’
money and allowed the rest of us to lose $12 trillion in investment,
retirement, and home values be called a socialist? In the past, if someone knew
nothing and talked nonsense, no one paid any attention to him. No more. Now
such people are courted and flattered by conservative politicians and
ideologues as “Real Americans” defending their country against big government
and educated liberal elites. The press interviews them and reports their
opinions seriously without pointing out the imbecility of what they believe.
Still, I
don’t meant to judge anyone. Just to present some sad facts and point one
weakness of this educational and social system. And I must admit , ignorance
can be amusing to people. It was certainly sad, but at the same time it will be
endearing memory of my study abroad in the USA experience. I really have lots
of love and respect for America and its people. Yet I am often the one to be
judged and considered “savage” for not understanding how America works. But
that’s another story.
Farewell
to the next blog post!:) I am really looking forward to coming back home.
Africa- land of sun, jungles, hakuna matata, where the lions sleep tonight etc.. And I know all about it.. Because Montenegro is in Africa, right?J
By coming to DC you actually got to miss out on all the Americans who confuse Washington DC with Washington State or think that "District of Columbia" means the US capital is located in Columbia instead!
ReplyDeleteSomething interesting is that some of the geographic and other failures Americans exhibit can be attributed to the social and media echo chamber in which we all live. Scientists have proven that if we hear the wrong information often enough, even if we know its wrong, we start to believe it purely because it is repeated so often. This is why otherwise educated people can be convinced that Saddam was behind 9/11 or that President Obama is not a US citizen. The most unfortunate thing about this echo chamber is that the dumbest voices are often the loudest, and inadvertant repetition, even when trying to prove the rumors false, can sometimes lead to the idea sticking around.
Despite having known exactly where Montenegro was, I still found myself second guessing my own correct knowledge when I saw people talking about Africa instead of Europe.
There is a very great emphasis in the American education system on American history. In fact, I cannot remember studying world history until my second year of high school, and that was the only world history class I was required to take. Perhaps this has contributed to the idea that the US is more important and the disinterest in the rest of the world.