Beset as we are by the gloomiest, doomiest economic forecast in living
memory, if not since the Great Depression, it’s easy to forget or take for
granted the blessings America offers its citizens and immigrants. So it’s
occasionally helpful to get a foreign perspective – like that of Mumbai-born
Aniruddh Chaturvedi.
After two years in the U.S., Chaturvedi, a computer science major at
Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, found certain aspects of American society
weirdly surprising; he jotted down comparisons and contrasts with his native
India, which were then posted online last week at Business Insider (which also links to a previous, similar post by Chaturvedi elsewhere last year). His observations,
while subjective, highlight some positives for which Americans should be proud
and grateful.
Prominent among the things that shocked Chaturvedi was his experience with
food – “the pervasiveness of fast food and the sheer variety of
products available,” for example. “The typical supermarket has at least a
hundred varieties of frozen pizza, 50 brands of trail mix, etc. I was just
astounded by the different kinds of products available even at small gas
station convenience stores.”
The abundance didn’t end there. “American serving sizes are HUGE!” although
“Americans waste a lot of food and a lot of money on their obsession with
coffee,” lining up in Starbucks every morning for a $6 mocha grande. Not to
mention the fact that “the concept of virtually unlimited soda refills was
alien to me, and I thought there was a catch to it, but apparently not.”
Hand-in-hand with that abundance is an “over-commercialization of festivals,”
which exists in India, “but America takes it to a whole new level. Black
Friday, Cyber Monday, etc., and an almost year-round sale of Christmas,
Halloween, Easter, etc. items.”
At work in the tech field, Chaturvedi found that “everyone is highly
private about their accomplishments and failures. Someone’s performance in any
field is their performance alone. This is different compared to India where
people flaunt their riches and share their accomplishments with everybody else.”
And yet he encountered a surprising willingness to offer patient guidance: “People
will sit with you patiently till you get it.” He observed the same attitude in school:
“Students were highly collaborative, formed study groups, and studied/did
assignments till everyone in the group ‘got it.’”
He admired our emphasis on outdoorsy physical fitness — biking, boating,
hiking, camping, barbecuing, etc. “Americans take pride in the natural beauty
of their surroundings and tend to make the most of it.” Unlike in India, “the U.S.
flag was displayed everywhere: I was surprised to see that it is displayed
in schools, on rooftops of houses, etc.” We show “support towards the LGBT
community”; and interestingly, “girls are not very promiscuous, contrary to
most Hollywood films.”
Socially, Chaturvedi was struck by “an almost-classless society: I’ve
noticed that most Americans roughly have the same standard of living,” and “everybody
shops at the same supermarkets, malls, stores, etc. I've seen plumbers,
construction workers and janitors driving their own sedans.”
“Almost every single person in America has access to basic food, clothing,
water and sanitation,” he noted. “I haven't been to states like Louisiana [hit
hard by Hurricane Katrina] and cities like [bankrupt] Detroit, but from what I
can tell, nobody is scrambling for the basic necessities required for
sustenance.”
There is poverty in America, of course, but overall it is mild compared to
the crushing poverty in other parts of the world, like Chaturvedi’s homeland.
And there are far more options for
poor people here to receive assistance from the government and private charity.
Not only that, but the lack of a rigid class structure means that the poorest
American can theoretically work his way out of poverty into success. At the
risk of sounding insensitive, even the American poor are by and large more
blessed here than anywhere else.
An abundance of affordable goods and food. The freedom for economic and
social advancement. Individual pride and team effort. An appreciation for our
natural resources and the leisure to enjoy them. Patriotism. Tolerance. With
these qualities in mind, it seems appropriate that Chaturvedi ended his earlier
post with a link to the hilariously unapologetic, pro-liberty, pro-capitalist
anthem from the movie by the libertarian South
Park satirists, Team
America – World Police: “America, F___ Yeah.”
(This article originally appeared here on Acculturated, 9/4/13)
