NY is actually my favourite place in the world that's outside Australia and quite a few of my closest and oldest friends are American. So it'd be nice to say I don't have stereotyping prejudices about Americans but I completely do. Then again I have them about Australians and the English as well. One of the things about stereotypes is that it's pretty hard to function with out them. The internet's upside might be that if you spend much time actually culturally involved online it's actually harder not to be sceptical about your own much-loved stereotypes, even as you refine them. All the little webs of people you end up being part vary and cohere in such shifting ways.
Catherine (had 8 hours sleep and is loving the world this morning)
-----Original Message----- From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org on behalf of James Heartfield Sent: Tue 24/11/2009 07:02 To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Subject: [lbo-talk] the internet's downside
Doug: 'James, you must really spend a little more time in the USA.' (and citing obesity stats in US).
Hey, I'm English. That Americans are lard-arses is one of our fundamental beliefs...
...along with the belief that you are all slave-owning Baptists, with sun-glasses, cameras and white podgy legs sticking out of your shorts, that your cars are too big, and you don't believe in anything, except free market economics and hanging people, especially ay-rabs.
Subbing to LBO I always hope that I will meet Americans I can admire, to dislodge my prejudices- which indeed I do - except that these same admirably urbane and sharp Americans then go to to tell such terrible stories about their countrymen that all my English snootiness is wholly reinforced. ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk