Mohsin Hamid has written an insightful and interesting piece for the Washington Post. Hamid was born and raised for a while in the United States before his parents moved back to Pakistan, and so he has a unique appreciation for the viewpoints of both anti-American radicals and American patriots. In this essay he asks the simple question, "Why do they hate us?" Here are a couple of poignant excerpts, although I recommend that you read the entire thing. Everything in Italics was originally written by Mohsin Hamid, and has been reproduced here without a scrap of a hint of permission.
"Talk about why so many Muslims hate the United States these days, and you'll hear plenty of self-flagellation, at least in some quarters of post-9/11 America. I have too much affection for the United States to join in. These people make up the "We deserve to be hated because we're bad" school of thought, which is simplistic and unhelpful. It is simplistic because there are 300 million different components of the "we" that is America. And it is unhelpful because it ignores so much that is good about the nation. Part of the reason people abroad resent the United States is something Americans can do very little about: envy. The richest, most powerful country in the world attracts the jealousy of others in much the same way that the richest, most powerful man in a small town attracts the jealousy of others. It will come his way no matter how kind, generous or humble he may be."
This is very true. The first paragraph makes sense. And the second paragraph is something I've seen firsthand. Even here on Curacao, a relatively developed nation that makes (possibly false) claims about how much better it is than its fellow nations, has relatively little to offer its people. The colorful local culture that is often advertised seems to be on the way out: in an effort to mimic the more affluent youth of America, young people here appear to have largely supplanted traditional Curacaoian culture with American rap music and style. There is still some local culture, but them emulation of American youth by Curacaoian youth is inescapable. The only place you'll see "traditional Curacao culture" is at tourist-oriented restaurants and resorts.
"But there is another major reason for anti-Americanism: the accreted residue of many years of U.S. foreign policies. These policies are unknown to most Americans. They form only minor footnotes in U.S. history. But they are the chapter titles of the histories of other countries, where they have had enormous consequences. America's strength has made it a sort of Gulliver in world affairs: By wiggling its toes it can, often inadvertently, break the arm of a Lilliputian."
This is more true than we'd like to think. Hamid goes on to describe how, when Russia invaded Afghanistan, the United States decided to back Mujaheddin fighters in Afghanistan through Pakistan. The sudden influx of cash and weapons drove crime rates up, and about that time Heroin was introduced. The sudden appearance of drugs, weapons, and cash in Pakistan altered everything in that nation. A foreign-policy decision that is often overlooked and which most people probably don't know about had consequences that are still rippling out today, although you won't find coverage of it in the mass media because people would rather hear about Britney Spears' underwear than they would about anything that, you know, matters. Hamid closes with an excellent couple of paragraphs that I have ripped off here from the article, which I once again encourage you to go and read.
"Americans need to educate themselves, from elementary school onward, about what their country has done abroad. And they need to play a more active role in ensuring that what the United States does abroad is not merely in keeping with a foreign policy elite's sense of realpolitik but also with the American public's own sense of American values. Because at their core, those values are sound. That is why, even in places where you'll find virulent anti-Americanism, you'll also find enormous affection for things American. That's why Pakistani rock musicians listen to Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana, why Pakistani cities are full of kids wearing blue jeans and T-shirts, and why Pakistanis have been protesting to give their supreme court the same protection from meddling by their president held by its model: the Supreme Court of the United States. All of which leads us to another, perhaps more fruitful question that Americans ought to consider: "Why do they love us?" People abroad admire Americans not because they back foreign dictators but because they believe that all men and all women are created equal. That concept cannot stop at the borders of the United States. It is a concept far greater than any one nation, no matter how great that nation is. For America to be true to itself, its people must broaden their belief in equality to include the men and women of the world. The challenge that the United States faces today boils down to a choice. It can insist on its primacy as a superpower, or it can accept the universality of its values. If it chooses the former, it will heighten the resentment of foreigners and increase the likelihood of visiting disaster upon distant populations -- and vice versa. If it chooses the latter, it will discover something it appears to have forgotten: that the world is full of potential allies. I'm one of them. I do not currently live in the United States, but I still believe in its potential for good. And like so many who wonder how our new and more integrated world can be built on a foundation that is humane and just, I look to the land where I, a writer, first learned to write, and allow myself to dream."
America's a great place. Sure, we have our problems and we need to fix them, but I like America rather a lot and there's nowhere I'd rather be. And we really are a great country to live in. It's safe, clean, wealthy, and filled with abundance for most people. And I am greatly looking forward to my return.
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Wow, that's a great essay. Thanks for posting it.
Yes, thanks for posting it. It really makes sense to me, as my background is similar to Hamid's. I ask myself all the time, why do so many Pakistani-Americans refer to the U.S in such negative ways? After all, if it were not for the U.S. most of them would still be living in poverty and ignorance for the rest of their lives. I know my parents would never have become so successful if they were still stuck there. And I know that I would never have had the opportunities that are available to me here. Growing up here, I know that I can do whatever I want to do (well almost)!