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Lucas Enrique Fernandez

America With Love

Thesis or Theme:

Interestingly, the “land of the free” where people are supposed to flock if they want to live the American Dream…does not have the best reputation. People abroad can insult the United States out loud and the people in the surrounding area would just mumble in agreement. In A.A. Gill’s America With Love he challenges this natural instinct to bandwagon the stigma the US has built. Gill pushes back on his fellow Europeans snarky, sometimes incorrect comments with factual accomplishments from the nation.

Well, how stupid can America actually be? On the international list of the world’s best universities, 14 of the top 20 are American. Four are British. Of the top 100, only 4 are French, and Heidelberg is one of 4 that creeps in for the Germans. America has won 338 Nobel Prizes. The U.K., 119. France, 59. America has more Nobel Prizes than Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and Russia combined.

Not only does he do this but he also throws the hypocrisy of Europeans back at them. The people complaining about America will do so leaving the movie theater where they watched an Avengers movie while listening to Travis Scott. In short, if you are enjoying American culture, inventions, and practices then you should not act like they are lesser than you.

In the second half of his article, Gill asserts that the main reason people hate the United States is because of how similar they are but how successful the US has become. The United States came from Europe, its culture is etched across many places and disciplines in the US. However, while Britain had declined during the 20th century, for example, the US became stronger than ever, using the World Wars to drag itself out of the Great Depression. In the short lifespan the country has had, it has become a global superpower and a resounding success story. In the end, Gill praises the United States for doing this and even berates himself for formerly agreeing with the notion of these other Europeans.

2 replies on “America With Love”

I really like your writing on this, as I also remarked on the Gill reading similarly. My whole life my family has done this exact thing, seemingly ignoring the fact that my parents, sister, and I are all American citizens and residents. You are totally right when you say it is the norm to do so, and how it is also incredibly hypocritical, which as I have grown older is something I am happy to joke about when I hear a relative chime in with some comment. I also like how you tie Gill’s ideas into the American Dream, which is a concept that is uniquely American and is one that seemingly appeals, or has historically appealed, to people all over the world. While they may criticize America, many also seem to have a hidden admiration for it, which you point out nicely.

I agree. When I read this I pretty much got the same ideas you state. It was pretty hypocritical of what Europeans state about America given how similar the two western regions are in schools of thought, it does seem to be more based out of jealousy than anything else. I like your thesis progym and it really drove home the points that Gill makes in the article and the language they use as well.

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