[lbo-talk] reptilian (was: polled while driving?

Wojtek Sokolowski sokol at jhu.edu
Wed Feb 16 14:54:38 PST 2005


Kelly:
> so I guess, phrased better, my question might be, well, I don't know
> exactly. I really can't believe it's just because USers are more
reptilian.
> :) Obviously, it's structural things -- like a weak labor movement, a
> commitment to individualism unaccompanied by anything much to mitigate the
> way it ravages our psyches, a populace that doesn't think Joe Lieberman is
> a raving Liberal, etc. etc.

Do not forget cherry picking in reverse. The more successful /well adjusted people stayed in Europe - it is the Podunk riff raff that had nothing to lose who decided to seek their fortunes in Amerika. They brought their Podunk/peasant expectations and traditions with them which became fossilized here for various reasons.

For me, meeting the Eastern European émigré communities in the US was like a journey back in time to the 19th century. Not everyone, of course, but quite a few. I hear the same about other immigrant communities (e.g. German aka Pennsylvania "Dutch" and Amish), Welsh (aka Appalachian hicks) etc. I also imagine the same can be said about Dutch in South Africa (aka Afrikaners).

Let's face it, for a long time the US was the human sewer of Europe - only with the rise of Nazism and cold war it became the destination of brain drain.

Wojtek



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