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From a foreign viewpoint, U.S. both big-hearted, big-mouthed By
Scott Chisholm So we are all in mourning now. Flags are flying outside our homes. In Paradise, where I live, everyone is united in solidarity against a terrorism that, at long last, has awakened America to its vulnerability. Two oceans and two friendly nations on our flanks will not save it. Both the great and famous have come together in a national day of remembrance. The eloquence of leaders has carved the language into the best semblance of grief possible. It is genuine grief. Unimaginable grief. Who could fail to be inspired by Billy Graham's inspired sermon at the national cathedral or a president's heart-felt tears. Once again, as at the Kennedy assassination, Oklahoma City or Pearl Harbor, national tragedy has demonstrated where the greatness of America truly lies -- in its people, their sacrifice and unity, "one nation indivisble." But as a Canadian who has lived most of his life in the United States, I've cultivated an unapologetic outsider's view. Unlike many, my first response to the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington was neither shock nor horror, neither rage nor indignation, but a profound and cynical sense of sadness -- not merely at the immensity of this tragedy, but by one question that was not asked publicly until a day after the World Trade Center's towers collapsed. Best put by a local patron in a small town Pennsylvania cafe, he asked, "Why do they hate us so much?" There is, of course, the ready answer that this is the work of fanatics, persons for whom human life has no value. There is the inevitable stigmatization of all Muslims as fanatics. But this is the "Hitler" argument, the same argument leveled at the Japanese kamikaze pilots of World War II who came to be regarded as national heroes much in the same way as those Americans who attacked the hijackers of a suicide flight over Pennsylvania have become heroes in facing their own death. The United States, like other nations, whether friend or enemy, have thousands who will die for what they perceive as a larger cause. In World War II, German soldiers went into battle with belt buckles inscribed, "Gott Mit Uns." God is always on "our" side. So let me suggest three reasons why "they hate us so much?" First, the United States has become a nation less of international humility than hubris. An over-weening self-pride and self-confidence has been translated into egocentric self-congratulation (the "American Dream," for example) that other nations, my own included, would like to hear a lot less about. Chest thumping is always offensive, even juvenile in appearance to other countries. It's one thing to be a nation of hope; it's another to be a nation of hype. Second, the United States has always had a tendency to retreat into isolationism (now defined as "the national interest"), a go-it-alone attitude that other nations of the world have historically resented. Two world wars might have ended sooner had the United States entered them in 1914 and 1939. That they did and saved the world is commendable but in 1941, sadly, it took Pearl Harbor to awake "the sleeping giant," a phrase that's being bandied about as a threat in the wake of the current terrorist catastrophe. All nations have national "interests." But in the so-called "global society," the United States must act consistently globally, not merely nationally, even when it's uncomfortable. Taking its ball and going home at the recent conference on racism (stacked, I'll admit) is but one example. Backing out of the Kyoto Treaty (only one nation, Norway, signed it) is perceived as another by many nations. As the lynch-pin in the free world, the United States can ill afford not to be at any table to cast a "yea" or "nay" vote, even when it considers the proceedings rigged. Bullying the rest of the world with displays of disdain serves no useful purpose and only adds to animosities and hatreds. Otherwise, the "American Dream" becomes a "Big Snooze" when it's time to wake up. Third, the "national interest" of the United States seems to many outsiders as little more than sustaining its economy and "progress" at the expense of other nations -ñ especially those of the third world. While the U.S. goes to war to protect oil and gas reserves half-way around the world which it considers vital to its own economy, it appears much less willing to upset other, more volatile, apple carts (other than jaw-boning), in the "national interest" of other peoples. The Palestinians come readily to mind. As unpopular as it is, some "world leader" has got to say -- unequivocally -- that while the United States respects and supports the sovereignty of Israel, there has got to be an accommodation for a Palestinian state. After all, the United States was a signatory in creating the state of Israel. Can it suggest no less for Palestine. No matter the political shock waves in this country, a "world leader," in name as well as fact, must "lead." Where did the United States grow overconfident and self-congratulatory? Did it begin with the successful subjugation of Native Americans and the constant "revision" of treaties meant to protect Indian claims to at least part of their homelands? Was it lurking in the 1850s in that early version of American dreaming called "Manifest Destiny?" Is it in the shadows of Teddy Roosevelt's big bluster: "Walk softly but carry a big stick?" Did it come from unprecedented military accomplishments in two world wars or the need to rebuild confidence and damaged pride in the wake of the failure that was Viet Nam? Or did it emerge from the hope for new beginnings that dogged the masses that stepped onto American soil at Ellis Island? Or is it simply flabbergasted at its own wealth? No one -ñ certainly not this Canadian -- can question America's greatness. But a great many outside the United States do question its perspective -- it's tendency for "Texas talk." Mulling over the recent terrorist tragedies with a friend of mine the other day, he paraphrased a comment from a recent editorial in Forbes magazine: "The seeds of the temple's destruction are growing in the temple." Not too many Americans, I suspect, will appreciate being reminded of this. But when the beloved Stars and Stripes are flying in front yards, we might hope that the "kinship of grief," as president Bush put it at the memorial service in the national cathedral, might lead to a "kinship of humility" in U.S. dealings with the rest of the world.
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