When I first
moved to Australia, I wrote occasional pieces about the differences between the
USA and Australia. You can find them by
checking the archives of this blog.
You’ll see that I definitely did not write them in a spirit of
complaining about my new home. Rather, I
thought then – as I still think today – that the differences between countries,
especially countries that are superficially very similar, make for a
fascinating study of the results of geography, history and culture.
Sometime in my first year here, several Australian friends sent me an
e-mail that offered a favourable comparison of Australia against America. It was written by an American, a professor
who had spent some time here. Everybody
wanted to know what I thought of it. My
response was that, whilst the author clearly had his rose-coloured glasses
firmly in place, living in Australia is in many ways a very positive experience
for this American.
A few years back, from 1999 to 2001, Clara and I lived in the UK. A familiar trope there is: Americans and British – Two People Divided
by a Common Language. The point of
it is that, whilst the two peoples speak the same tongue, they attach different
meanings to words. This, not to mention
the different cultural contexts. So this
‘division’ is complex and can easily trip one up. But the truth is that it seldom does trip
up Americans and Britons, because most are aware of the pitfall and are
watching out for it.
Having now lived longer in Australia
than I did in the UK, I can say that the relationship of Americans and Aussies
is far more complex. The reason for this
is that the two countries seem far closer than America and Britain culturally,
but that closeness often does not go beyond the superficial. Although there definitely is a unique Aussie
dialect called ‘Strine,’ most Aussies I’ve met speak something close to what
I’d call ‘American’ English. For
example: our British cousins say garage
but Americans and Aussies say garage.
Here, a truck is not a lorry.
It is proper here to write ‘labour,’ But the Australian political party
with that word in its name, spells it ‘labor’ as we do in America.
In other areas as well, it is easy to get tricked into thinking that, in
contrast to Americans and Britons who differ so much, Americans and Aussies
share many cultural cues. There’s a
spirit afoot in this land, an individualism and self-reliance that Aussies
celebrate and believe guides their lives.
Just like in America. And the
truth is that it’s largely a national myth, not really operative in most
people’s lives. Just like in
America. I could go on and on, but I
think you get my point.
But there’s a point on which Australians are far closer to our British
cousins, than their American friends.
Lord Jonathan Sacks, retired Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew
Congregations of the Commonwealth, now lives and teaches in the USA. He observed a very important difference
between the two peoples. Americans, he
says, are imbued with a sense of openness and possibility. British, in contrast are imbued with a sense
of tradition and place. They’re two very
different mindsets, making the cousins across the Atlantic very different from
one another.
In Australia there’s a very strong egalitarian rejection of social class. Very much like in America. So it is easy to be deluded into thinking the
two peoples of similar mindsets. But the
truth is that the Aussie mindset is really closer in this regard to the British
than the American.
And that’s a trap where it is easy for an American to trip up with
Australians. Americans generally love
their land, but love to hate its institutions.
To criticize anything American, to compare it unfavourably with the same
thing in the UK, Europe, or just about any other place in the world, is
paradoxically considered almost patriotic.
You can’t make something better if you can’t criticize it, right? We even expect immigrants, to a point, to
compare America unfavourably with aspects of the land they left. After all, we tend to cherish immigrants – as
long as they’ve arrived legally! – and celebrate that they bring the best of
their former homes with them when they come to America. And this, in turn, makes America better and
stronger. President Obama recently made
that point in a speech. And the late President
Ronald Reagan made the same point in what many consider to be a very similar
speech, years ago.
And visitors? Bring on the
criticism! Even if we don’t agree with
it, we’ll make great sport of arguing it out with you. And then we’ll have a beer together! (We’ll probably buy.)
And that’s where an American can inadvertently cross the line with
Aussies. Australians, for all their
apparent irreverence and egalitarianism, are much more conscious of tradition
and place than Americans. Even when they
express criticism of their own country, and admiration for other countries,
they seem to have a much stronger sense of belonging than Americans. And they don’t like to hear visitors criticise
their country. I don’t think they’re
secure enough in their Australian-ness to take that. They prefer to hear that their land is a
utopia, The Lucky Country, even though when Donald Horne coined the phrase in
his seminal 1964 book he didn’t really mean it to be complimentary.
The other day, in a fit of frustration at a meeting, I blurted out that
this was ‘a miserable country.”
Wow! Did I ruffle some
feathers! And had it been a remark made
rationally, I’m sure I would have realised it would be taken as a hurtful
utterance, and avoided saying it. But it
was at an emotional moment. At least one Australian friend – and at least one Aussie who is definitely not a friend –
understandably took offence. I wish I
could turn back the clock so I hadn’t said it.
But obviously I cannot. An
American would probably have agreed with me had I said that America was a
miserable country, or at worst would have waved off the comment and entered
into a conversation about why it isn’t that miserable.
So…I’m asking my Australian friends – and non-friends – to look
back at the many positive things I’ve said in defence of their country over the
years, and find it in their hearts to forgive me. And cut me a little slack.
If you will, I’ll promise to remember never to declare that they drive
on the wrong side of the road here. And
I’ll promise not to talk about how I miss my guns and my concealed-carry permit. And I’ll promise to remember to say weekend
instead of weekend. These are
all very important. Most of all, I’ll
promise not to whinge (there’s an Australian word, eh!) about Chanukah
occurring in the Summer, for cryin’ out loud!
Nu, a great Aussie day and good on ya, Mate!
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