August 23, 2018
Volume 48 - No. 34
By Friedrich Gomez
How our foreign neighbors (especially overseas) perceive America, and us Americans, can be quite surprising – even shocking – in the most common questions they ask about us, and the United States in general.
Remember, while many foreigners abroad visit the United States in high numbers each year, most do not. It’s a great big world out there: Russia, China, Japan, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, South America, Australia -- well, you get The The Paper Paper -- 760.747.7119 760.747.7119
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the global picture.
All in all, there are 195 different countries in the world, with inhabitants that speak over 6,500 different languages -- and most of them have never been to the United States.
Their only impressions of us Americans and our country are from what they glimpse in newspapers, fleeting broadcast news, and the steady diet of our sitcom shows, from “I Love Lucy” re-runs to “Gunsmoke” to our current ‘reality shows’ like “Beverly Hills Housewives,” all with foreign lan-
guages dubbed-in, or subtitles.
Make no mistake – our American culture is still the most recognized, imitated, and admired than any other! However, the reverse does not always hold true for Americans in general, i.e., we don’t (as a general rule) emulate our foreign neighbors or their cultures to the same degree that they admire/imitate us: our unrestricted freedom, our financial and entrepreneurial spirit, even our rebellious ways, are all the cultural traits which brought millions upon millions of immigrants, past to present, to our shores in search of this “elusive and uncen-
sored dream.”
To this very day, “The American Dream” and the ultimate freedom to prosper, surprisingly, remains our greatest ‘conceptual export’ to overseas countries! Our culture continues to resonate, powerfully, beyond our shores.
ELVIS PRESLEY PHENOMENON PERMEATES CHINA. Even in the most remote recesses of China (the most populated country on Earth), China’s reclusive, and (relatively) isolated culture reveres and recognizes Elvis Presley to the
Foreigners Views About America! - See Page 2