Week 3

http://mirthandmatter.blogspot.com/2008/10/german-view-on-america.html

For this weeks blog task, I decided to discuss Germany and their views in relation to how they view America. I came across this blog and decided that it was a good analysis of how Germany acknowledges America, as it is written by a German living in America and is therefore experiencing America's culture first hand. Firstly, a significant and important aspect to point out about the issues surrounding German views of America, is that Germany recognises both the positive and negative points of the USA. As it states in the blog, traditional German views of America are highly stereotypical, with views that Americans are 'fat', 'stupid' and 'all armed to their teeth'. However, Germans do recognise Americans, as a whole, as very polite, friendly and willing to help out best they can, whereas in contrast to Germany, they themselves are very much 'everyman for himself'. In relation to Germany's stereotypical views, the writer of the blog, Czuratis, notes that these specific views are an unfair representation of American citizens, by suggesting that it is the governmental system that is at fault and not the Americans citizens themselves. For example, Czuratis states that it costs 49 cents to buy a MacDonald's ham burger, yet to buy an apple it will cost an American $1.29.

Furthermore, another positive Czuratis notes is that Americans are very interested in many other different cultures. Despite this, however, the country's patriotism is so significant that America is very much seen as culturally specific. In reference to the blog 'The only problem is: The average American has no access to relevant information. The local news channel prefer to cover stories on crime and rape rather than foreign affairs. In school, US History is often more important than World History'. In addition to the concept of patriotism, Germans feel that Americans are very manipulated by the governmental system, due to the fact that many don't question what the government and media tell them. This example of a Germans view of America is very negative, primarily because they see the negative points as outweighing the positive ones. Despite this, however, it seems that Germany and the rest of the world are still willing to follow America's way of life due to its size and cultural dominance.

In relation to the task, I believe that this is a very fair view of America because of the fact that it has been written by a German who is living in America, and therefore has experienced both the German and American culture. The blog takes into consideration both positive and negative views of America, and even criticises it's own country for the fact that Germany views the USA in a very negative light without taking into consideration the reasons behind certain issues.